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Our salespeople hear this line everyday. "We don't make outbound calls." I understand, not every sales rep. makes hundreds of dials per day, but every salesperson has to make some type of outbound calls. Don't They?
How do they qualify a sales lead? Conduct a demonstration? Follow-up on a sales proposal? Close a deal? Why do they have a phone on the desk?
Or are salespeople just frustrated with how difficult it is to reach their prospects on the phone and they just move on?
I'll admit, it is harder to reach decision makers by phone. Our friends at the Bridge Group report that the average Sales Development Rep makes 7.3 attempts to reach just one person for a live conversation and conduct an average of 8 conversations per day. If my calculator is working properly, they are making 56 dials per day.
Sales Roles and Outbound Calling
Traditionally, organizations have separated sales roles between development reps from field sales or account managers.
Business development representatives will qualify incoming sales leads and generate their own opportunities by making outbound calls, networking, social media research, etc. Their calling volume is high, but conversations are infrequent and call duration's are short.
Field sales and inside sales reps. will make lower volumes of calls but the calls will connect more frequently and the call duration's will be longer.
Account Managers who manage existing accounts will have even lower call volumes with longer duration's.
Full-cycle sales representatives are responsible for the full sales cycle from prospecting to account management.
| Biz Dev. Rep. | Inside/Field Sales | Account Manager | |
| Call Volume | High | Medium | Low |
| Connection Rate | Low | Medium | High |
| Call Duration | Short | Medium | Long |
Dialing Technology can Improve Calling Productivity
The Bridge Group also reported that dialing technology can improve outbound calling productivity, even if calling volumes are low to moderate.
Source: Sales Development (SDR): Metrics & Compensation Report, The Bridge Group
Improving outbound calling productivity can help your sales team accelerate the sales process and talk with more prospects in less time. Calling productivity technology can also help growing companies expand sales territorities and sell more without hiring additional sales reps.
