This episode of Sales Education discusses the productivity levers by which the most successful Business Developers differentiate themselves.
Most sales people spend less than 30% of their time actually selling, in front of customers and prospects.
With so little time dedicated to pure sales, it is challenging to reach your goals. Productivity then becomes a crucial skill.
This new episode of Sales Education discusses the productivity levers by which Business Developers the most efficient ones differ:
⚡️ Optimal organization
⚡️ Foolproof focus
⚡️ Professional rigor
⚡️ Feedback put into practice
By applying these recommendations with persistence, you'll get a foothold as a Business Developer - and feel the joy of reaching your goals!
To develop the set of skills that allow you to excel and thrive in a Sales career, also take a moment to discover the Akimbo Bootcamp.
But what makes the most productive Business Developers different from the others? It's time to answer the question!
1. Optimal organization
What makes some Biz Dev more productive than others — B1-1The best Business Developers organize their days carefully.
Using Google Calendar to plan your day is the foundation for productivity. Two methods of managing the schedule should be followed:
1. The “time blocking”
Block restricted time slots in your agenda for various subjects such as prospecting, customer appointments, the creation of commercial data, administration, etc. And above all: always stick to these slots to monitor the allocation of your time. Do not hesitate to modify them afterwards.
👉 Block 2 x 1 hour for prospecting on the slots that your prospects respond to most often.
2. Task management
Be uncompromising when it comes to managing your to-do, even if their number complicates your daily routine between (i) your general to-do, (ii) your CRM tasks, (iii) your email box (which is a to-do in itself). Become a Gmail/Outook ninja. Also adopt the inbox zero method.
Finally, grouping similar tasks together to complete them in a sequence reduces interruptions and promotes good concentration.
👉 Instead of replying to emails throughout the day, choose two specific time slots for this activity.
In addition to Google Calendar, at Akimbo we use Notion.
It's a great tool for centralizing your tasks, notes, and important data. It allows you to quickly access crucial information and to structure your priorities.
Other tips for flawless organization:
👉 Give strategic names to your folders and files by choosing the “Year-Month-Day File Subject” format, the date giving vital information.
👉 Organize all your documents, files, and information in a structured way to save time finding them. Don't overlook how you even take notes.
Want to know more about the Business Developers organization? Discover the typical day for a Business Developer who works in start-ups.
We all have 24 hours in a day, but some Sales seem to have more time than others because they focus on high value-added actions. It is the absolute KEY to their success.
2. Foolproof focus
Productive Business Developers have the healthy instinct to think about the benefits of an action, in relation to the time it requires. As a BizDev, it's easy to not be efficient when you work 8 am to 10 am a day.
It's called spreading your time. And it's a very common mistake.
The best BizDevs ensure that their time is spent on what matters most, and therefore prioritize actions that have the most impact on their business results.
What are the most common examples of time wasters?
1. Targeting the wrong customer category
2. Do too much research on prospects before contacting them
3. Spending too much time creating sales data.
It also means thinking ahead of time about the questions that make it possible to qualify a prospect quickly: and discovering if their needs are aligned with what the company is selling.
Being productive also means freeing yourself from certain mental burdens, for example by setting up automated reminders to make sure you get back to your prospects.
Obviously, create a library of email templates. Whether in your CRM, or via tools like Briskine.
It will save you time for:
💌 Your cold prospecting actions.
💌 Your customer appointment validations.
Business Developers are sometimes referred to as Sales Development Representatives (SDR) when they're starting out. But not only... Here is an article to understand the differences between BDR and SDR.
Productivity is also strongly influenced by the quality of the actions carried out. Limiting the time spent on an activity requires having the fewest number of corrections to make.
3. Professional rigor
What makes some Biz Devs more productive than others — B3The best BizDevs also stand out for their great rigor. Normal, given the wide variety of missions to be carried out.
So, at the time of each interaction with a prospect, take detailed notes during the meeting, without losing your attention to the customer.
Take these notes directly into your CRM. These notes will allow you to personalize your future communications and show your prospects that you take their interests into account. We advise (future) Business Developers to:
- Go back to their agenda for the day every morning
- Block slots to prepare all their appointments in advance
- Create their own processes (e.g. to-do before an appointment)
- Use spell checker tools
- Listen again yourself 2/3 recorded calls per week
- Ask their Manager for feedback often
Working with wrong or inaccurate customer information wastes a lot of time. Regularly cleaning your database to eliminate duplicates and obsolete information saves time.
Apply “double check”
Before sending an email or report, review it twice. The first reading helps you refine the quality of the content, while the second allows you to correct spelling mistakes. Or vice versa 😉.
We created a list of items to check when sending a prospecting email.
Productivity also means measuring the achievement of specific objectives and the margin of progress towards them over time!
4. Feedback put into practice
This is another characteristic of the best Business Developers: they are coachable. Not only do they ask for feedback from themselves without getting discouraged, but they do everything they can to put it into practice.
To help you see more clearly your performance and identify your own areas for improvement, identify the KPIs that best reflect your commercial performance such as:
🔺 The number of prospects contacted per week via various channels
🔺 The conversion rate of prospects into customers
🔺 The turnover generated
Monitor these metrics to assess your progress.
Ask for feedback from your Manager
Don't limit yourself to moments of success or failure for every sale. On the contrary, ask for regular feedback on how you:
👉 Handled the prospect's objections or questions
👉 Created a sense of urgency and value
👉 Introduces the next stage of the cycle
Ask for feedback from your customers
Once you create a good Intuitu Personae with your customer, ask them to give you their opinion on your actions. Their feedback can provide you with valuable information to improve your sales pitch.
Share best practices with colleagues and learn from others. Collaboration is a source of inspiration and professional growth.
