The CRAP Report

If you’ve spent any time teleprospecting and making cold calls, or maybe if you’ve spent time managing a team of business development representatives, you know that typically the turn-over rate is pretty high.  I mean, let’s call a spade a spade here – teleprospecting is not a glamorous job; nobody is getting a Nobel peace prize or a Grammy for doing it.  However, that doesn’t mean that the job is not important.  I, for one, have always felt that what folks in our industry do is very important.  Our clients depend on receiving qualified sales opportunities that hit their forecast and close as quickly as they can.  Sales qualified leads are important to our clients, their families, my colleague’s families, my BDR’s families, and my family.  If you’ve got great BDR’s working for you, or maybe you’ve got a great vendor providing you sales opportunities, how do you keep a BDR from burning their proverbial candle at both ends?  How do you keep them invested in a job that, typically, isn’t glamorous?

I know in this economy that people are happy to even just HAVE a job; I get that.  What I’m talking about though is helping those folks, that may currently be producing quality sales leads for you, stay with you without burning out as quickly as they do.  They make hundreds (hopefully for you) of dials each week, leaving a shit ton of voicemails, and talking to people who, for the most part, curse the fact that they even picked up the phone.  I see three distinct ways that the folks who manage teleprospecting reps can help them from burning out and/or fading away: 

1. Offer them opportunities to switch up projects.
2. Offer them career development.
3. Help them with their career planning.

First, offer your BDR’s the opportunity to switch up projects.  Let’s say that you’ve got a great BDR who’s passing 10 – 12 leads per month, but maybe their leads are not as thorough as they used to be, or maybe they’re not passing as many as they used to.  That BDR may just need a new product to call on to invigorate them.  They may need the stimulation of learning a completely different piece of technology to generate leads for to give them the morale boost that gets them back on track.  I know for a lot of folks, when you do the same thing over and over again for a long time, boredom sets in.  By giving your BDR’s the chance to move around project-wise, you’re giving them the opportunity to learn new technologies and expand their mental horizons.  The benefit you get here is that you may be able to extend the “life span” of a great BDR who just needed a kick in the ass to get themselves back in gear.  Alternatively, you may learn that a particular BDR is beyond the point of no return, speaking from a “burn out” perspective, and maybe its time to help them move on.

Second, offer your BDR’s career development.  Sure they get training when they first start with you, but what happens after that?  Is career development up to the person or the organization?  I believe it’s the responsibility of the organization to offer career development.  By investing in your BDR’s professionally, you’re not only building good will, but you’re showing the BDR that you’re loyal to them, too.  You’re looking out for their career right along side of them.  If you’re managing a team of teleprospecting reps, or you’ve outsourced that function, make sure you’re giving them the chance to better their skills.  Have some in-house training sessions for them.  Sit at their desks and listen to them make phone calls.  Better yet, as my friend Trish Bertuzzi, President of The Bridge Group, says, pick up the phone and have them listen to you!  Whatever you do here, do SOMETHING.  Let’s recognize that, for the most part, good BDR’s don’t stick around forever.  The more you invest in their development, the greater likelihood you have of extending their time with you.  The longer you keep a good BDR around, the better it is for everyone – you, your managers, but most importantly, your clients.

Lastly, help your BDR’s with their career planning.  This is a little bit different than offering them career development.  Here, I’m talking about helping them plan out their career beyond teleprospecting.  Sounds crazy, right?  Well, if you’ve got good folks one of two things is eventually going to happen with them – they’re either going to eventually get bored or they’re going to eventually realize they’re good and find another opportunity elsewhere.  If they’re good, you want to keep them, so help them plan their career WITH you, not AWAY from you.  I’ve had the opportunity of helping some great BDR’s extend their stay with me by helping them figure out what they want to do after they’ve had their fill of teleprospecting.  Help your BDR’s with planning their career with your organization and you ensure that you keep your best folks close to you.

I always hate seeing good people leave my organization, and I’m sure you do, too.  If we can help our BDR’s by giving them other opportunities, by developing them professionally, and helping them plan their careers, I believe we’ll see fewer head for different pastures.  What do you think?