Why SDRs Should Be Part of Your Marketing Team Instead of Your Sales Team

When should the SDR role roll up into marketing?

There are certain situations where it makes sense for SDRs to join marketing and others where they’d be better off in outbound sales. 

The first thing to consider is whether the marketing leader has any interest in working with outbound sales reps. If your CMO enjoys being involved in the sales process, that’s a good sign they’re the right person to manage SDRs. 

Next, consider how outbound sales and marketing currently function within your organization. Would they be open to greater collaboration? Bringing your SDRs under marketing requires both teams to be open-minded about working together.

Benefits of outbound sales and marketing working together

Better content

At Bloobirds, Marc’s marketing team has a weekly meeting with their outbound sales counterparts, where the SDRs provide feedback on the marketing content. 

SDRs spend all day talking to prospects, which makes them a valuable resource for Voice of Customer (VOC) data and content ideas. According to Marc, some of their best marketing content comes straight from the outbound sales team.

More precise outbound sales messages

On the other side of things, the marketing team can help SDRs become more aware of what content is available. Regular meetings help keep the outbound sales team up to date on current and upcoming campaigns. 

At Bloobirds, Marc’s team sits down with their SDRs to let the reps know what kind of leads to expect, and provide advance notice to start working on messaging, pitches, and emails before the next marketing campaign. 

Better qualified leads

In the traditional scenario where SDRs operate in outbound sales, marketing qualified leads (MQLs) often go to waste. SDRs are focused on cold outreach or are unsure how to approach inbound leads. The result is that many of these warm leads slip through the cracks. 

But when SDRs belong to marketing, the two functions can work together to close those opportunities. For example, when an MQL downloads an eBook, that reveals a lot about the prospect, their problem, and their interest in solving it. The SDR now has great information to work with when they reach out.

Taking this a step further, marketing can create more content so the SDR has something helpful to send the prospect (for example, Part 2 of the eBook). This type of warm selling is much more effective than traditional cold outreach.

Bringing outbound sales and marketing together changes the dynamic

According to Marc, marketing leaders should be compensated based on closed opportunities, rather than the number of leads generated. Their actions should be directly tied to outbound sales results so that both teams work together toward the same revenue goal.

This model provides an added incentive for the marketing team to become more involved in the sales process. For example, if a marketing leader sees that an MQL was generated and hasn’t been touched since, they can follow up with the assigned SDR. 

One way to transition toward this model is to start keeping track of how many opportunities marketing influences before the meeting is booked or the deal is closed. This will provide an overview of all of marketing’s touchpoints throughout the sales process and identify any potential gaps.

Bringing SDRs under marketing also helps keep communication lines open. When reps are unhappy with the quality of leads, the marketing leader can check in on things and facilitate any necessary discussions. It’s always better to air these issues upfront.

How marketing can move a deal forward faster

Aside from the methods above, marketing can also help generate custom content for prospects that SDRs are already talking to; for example, a case study that overcomes the prospect’s specific objections. 

Check out this blog post for more on how marketing and sales messaging can work together.

What marketers can learn from outbound sales

Oftentimes, marketers fall into the trap of writing in a complex way that doesn’t resonate with customers. The problem with using industry jargon on your website goes beyond just understanding–SDRs often end up copying phrases from marketing material.

Instead, marketing copy should be inspired by outbound sales. It should be simple, conversational, and easy to understand. Working together helps keep both functions speaking the same language as their customers. 

The downside to bringing SDRs under marketing

As mentioned earlier, the ability of SDRs to function under the marketing team depends on the team lead. If the CMO is uninterested in outbound sales, that’s not a recipe for success. 

Additional problems can arise if there’s a staff change and a new leader is brought in. Managing both outbound sales reps and marketing together is a time commitment, and not every leader will be interested in taking that on.

If your SDRs are functioning well as a part of your outbound sales team, there’s no need for drastic change. You can start small by bringing marketing content into the outbound sales process or bringing on a few mid-bound reps to handle MQLs. 

If you need help with your messaging or expanding your team, click here to book a free discovery call with our coaches.

Final thoughts: Where do SDRs belong?

Whether or not you decide to restructure your entire organization, the takeaway here is that great things happen when marketing and outbound sales work together. Greater collaboration is key to better results.

If you want to connect with Marc to learn more about bringing SDRs and marketing together, reach out via LinkedIn.

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