Arguably one of the hardest positions in the game of basketball, the point guard has to simultaneously know their plays, get their team into position, and create scoring opportunities. No surprise then that this amount of responsibility makes the point guard one of the most important positions on the team.
In the Sales and Marketing world, we couldn’t help notice a striking similarity between the point guard and the Business Development Rep (BDR). The BDR bridges the gap between Sales and Marketing to create sales opportunities, just as the point guard creates scoring opportunities.
As March Madness kicks off and teams get into scoring position, we thought we would take a closer look at how the BDR can be used as the point person in your organization to create growth opportunities and enable the alignment between Sales and Marketing teams– Smarketing.
Know Their Plays (Define the Game Plan For Predictable Growth)
Just as point guards internalize their plays before each game, a BDR has to have a full understanding of their company’s strategy and the needs of their prospective clients. Bridging the gap between the efforts of your Marketing and Sales teams can be tough, but with BDRs working in between to nurture Marketing Qualified Leads into Sales Leads, more deals can be closed and more quotas can be reached.
Luckily, Business Development Reps also have a playbook, created by both Sales and Marketing. This playbook comes in many forms, like buyer personas, lead scoring, marketing data, customer testimonials, and the content upon content that your teams have at their fingertips. With access to all of these, BDRs are able to gain insight on your company’s leads, provide them with valuable information, and nurture them through the sales funnel.
Get Their Team Into Position (Provide Insights and Prospect Intelligence To Both Teams)
BDRs serve as the point person for prospect intelligence for both Sales and Marketing. On the Marketing side, BDRs can offer insight about what sorts of questions or concerns leads might have, which allows Marketing to create more valuable content for them. On the Sales side, BDRs can prep sales reps before making contact with leads, letting reps know beforehand what is most important to them. This allows both Sales and Marketing to spend more time working on the right things that will help attract leads and close deals, and will get them into scoring position.
Create Scoring Opportunities (The Hand Off Between Marketing and Sales)
After their team is in scoring position, the BDR makes the pass. Based on your company’s SLA between Marketing and Sales, and the established criteria which separates Sales Qualified Leads from Marketing Qualified Leads, the BDR will know just when to pass a lead along to Sales to create that scoring opportunity.
The marketing data gathered about the lead, based off what pages of your website they have visited, what blogs they’ve read, and what eBooks they’ve downloaded, paired with the personal engagement BDRs have had with leads, puts BDRs in the position to hand off leads to the Sales team at the optimal moment. As mentioned, BDRs can also provide insights to your Sales team to make the sales process more efficient, saving them both time and effort–time that can be used on the other SQLs passed along to them.
Keeping Possession of the Ball (Maintaing Success For Future Growth Opportunities)
One of the most important benefits of having a BDR on your team is their ability to keep possession of the ball–to keep leads engaged with your company. While passing a lead off directly from Marketing to Sales is inefficient and ineffective, leaving leads unengaged and off on the sidelines is even worse.
Business Development Reps are the point person, the go-to resource between Sales and Marketing. They are crucial in game time, enabling strategic scoring opportunities through Sales and Marketing support. This support comes in the form of prospect intelligence and lead nurturing that allows Sales and Marketing to only work the most optimal leads, saving them time and creating more efficient sales processes. This season, the BDR is your organization’s MVP.
Learn more about the role of the BDR and the impact this MVP could have on your organization. Download our BDR eBook below and learn about BDaaS–Business Development as a Service.
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