When I moved to London 18 months ago, I started working in a consumer and entertainment PR agency. I was excited to enter the glamorous world of entertaining clients, meeting journalists for lunch and expensing my bi-weekly manicures. I quickly realised that actually this was not the case. My time was spent in spreadsheets, updating coverage logs, packaging direct mail and chatting up the post office staff so I could get a queue jump.
What I learnt and didn’t realise at the time is how important those skills would be in B2B sales. Firstly, a CRM is a blessing. Tech can really help with everything and if something is taking too long then I’m not using the right tool/ method. I have also noticed a trend that B2B sales is using many B2C ideas to engage customers and improve the buyer journey experience. I think we should all tap into this and be a little more creative in our strategies and game plans when breaking through to decision makers.
I thought I would help other BDR’s by sharing my secrets from 10 months in PR and how those skills help me to book in more meetings at Reachdesk.
Writing and reading content is something all BDR’s should practice and test. Creating engaging content for LinkedIn, sales articles, pitching emails, podcasts, to name a few can really help to build a personal connection with your customers. Copywriting skills is something I really struggle within my career and I know I am not alone. I’ve found reading articles that your prospects will be reading helps gauge a tone of voice that they can relate to and understand. It also allows me to write, and share content based on what matters most to them. It’s important to refresh and update sequences, produce articles that help your prospects, and not rely on Marketing to do this for you!
As a BDR we may not have all the experience in the world but we are the future of the industry. This is important to remember as we pave the way and direct how we want it to look. I believe this is a really exciting time as B2C trends are coming more noticeable in the B2B space. Many of us will have a presence on social media in our personal lives and I feel this is something we can really use to our advantage on sites such as LinkedIn when building out a personal brand. I used to be hesitant to tag people in my posts but @James Ski has been an incredible inspiration and encouraged me how to push past my comfort zone. Worst situation they ask you to remove them or ignore it.
Be nice to everyone. We all work in sales and we should grow a community that helps each other. A lot of my leads and research into an account will come from another BDR. Growing your network and helping others may give an immediate result but also in the future we are going to be the leaders of the industry. Having a network, you can rely on and reach out to for advice and support later in our career will be so valuable. I have seen this work really well in the PR industry and is something I hope to see more in the tech space. Networks such as Wiser, Sales confidence, Venatrix are really helping do this and I encourage everyone to take part.
Events are a great place to build confidence. When I was working in PR at a very junior level I would see myself running events, broadcast days, client workshops and really being thrown in at the deep end. In B2B sales, we have the opportunity to do the same. I recommend going to as many events as possible, walking up to a stranger and having a chat. It is still the most uncomfortable thing in the world for me and you may see me shaking as I hold my vino but I know this is something that will help as I do it more often. Not only at events but I am seeing this confidence come out in my cold calls, on demos and when contributing ideas in a team environment.
I know, sometimes the manicures would happen, and this is something I am excited to bring into my sales process. Everyone is busy and nobody really wants to work outside of work hours. If you are struggling to break through to a prospect why not try and find out what your prospect enjoys and send them an invite to meet there. Send them a gift, handwritten note, do something unexpected and creative. What’s the worst that can happen, you send them a calendar invite and they say no?
I hope this has helped and if you are due a manicure and want to learn how Reachdesk can help you with your direct mail efforts let me know!