# Data-driven sales (for BDRs/SDRs) By [Yu](https://paragraph.com/@yu-10) · 2022-05-29 --- Some of you asked how to leverage data to improve your performance as a BDR/SDR. _\*BDR = business development representative, SDR = sales development representative_ 🙋🏻‍♀️ As someone doing tech sales → data analytics and operations at a B2B sales company, I wanted to write this to help BDRs and SDRs who want to leverage data to improve performances. Assuming your responsibility is to book intro/qualification meetings, qualify leads, and pass them to AEs, here are some metrics you can track & actions you can take to improve your performance (and hopefully get paid💰!) \*Those metrics are focused on cold emails \*My experiences are in B2B sales, although some parts may be applicable to B2C ✉️ What Can You Track? ---------------------- Here are some examples of the numbers you can (hopefully) track as a BDR/SDR using sales tools and CRMs * emails you send out * emails successfully delivered without getting blocked or bounced * emails your prospects opened * positive and negative responses you received * intro meetings/appointments you booked by sending cold emails * intro calls you held * sales-qualified leads you generated We’ll go into more details about the metrics below! 🤔 Why Should You Track Sales Metrics as a BDR/SDR? =================================================== The ultimate goal is to increase the # meeting booked and # sales-qualified leads you can generate. To achieve that, you can increase both **quantity** (#emails you can send in a limited time) and **quality** (how many of those turn into qualified leads). **Improving each metric helps you achieve the qualitative side of your performance.** 📊 How To Calculate Metrics & Improve Them ------------------------------------------ ### 🔑 Delivery Rate How to calculate: **_\# emails successfully delivered (without bouncing) divided by # emails you sent_** … the likelihood of your emails successfully going into prospects’ inboxes without bouncing or getting flagged as spam. **How to improve this metric:** * If the emails are **bouncing** due to inaccurate mailing addresses, review how you’re sourcing those emails & implement tools and methods that can get you more accurate emails * If your domain is getting **flagged as spam**, you may want to reduce emails sent per minute, remove file attachments, and install tools/systems to check if your email may be flagged as a spam ### 🔑 Open Rate (to Delivered) How to calculate: **_\# emails opened divided by # emails successfully delivered_** … the likelihood of prospects opening your emails when successfully delivered. **How to improve this metric:** * Review your **subject lines & first few words** of the email body (ie. any correlations between **keywords** you use in subject lines & high/low open rates?) * Reconsider if your subject lines are attractive to the (group/type of) prospects you’re targeting * Review your sequence/cadence …don’t send too many emails in the same day or two because that may appear too spammy and lower your open rates * If you can, monitor **which days of the week and which time slots** you’re getting more # open, and schedule your emails around those times ### 🔑 Positive & Negative Reply Rate (to Opened) How to calculate: **_\# positive and negative responses you received divided by # emails opened_** … the likelihood of getting responses when emails are opened. **How to increase positive reply rate:** * Make it easy to respond (ie. clear ‘call to action’) * Review if you’re reaching out to the right targets with the right messages that are interesting to them * Show that you researched the company and the prospect, and that it’s not an automated scaled email (i.e. the first email is personalized while the follow-ups are automated) ### 🔑 Meeting Booking Rate (to Positive Replies) How to calculate: **_\# intro meetings you booked from cold emails divided by # positive responses you received_** (i.e. “I’m interested”) … the likelihood of those who are interested accepting to book a discovery call with you. **How to increase this metric:** * Don’t forget to **follow up** with those who showed interest * Try to **book a placeholder** if they suggest meeting in the future ### 🔑 Meeting Held Rate (to Meeting Booked) How to calculate: **_\# intro calls that happened divided by # intro calls you booked_** … the likelihood of your intro meetings not being canceled or ghosted. How to increase this metric: * Send **a reminder** a day before the meeting * Communicate how you might be able to help the prospects (their benefits) ### 🔑 Sales-Qualified Lead Rate (to Meeting Held) How to calculate: **_\# leads qualified for sales divided by # intro meetings being held_** … the likelihood of leads being qualified after having a discovery call. **How to increase this metric:** * Try to (dis)qualify while interacting with prospects before booking a discovery call * Research thoroughly prior to reaching out ✅ What Actions Can You Take to Improve Your Performance? -------------------------------------------------------- ### Improve each metric Please see above for my suggestions on how to improve each metric. ### Compare the metrics across different groups Find out which groups are performing better. You can group prospects by i.e. * **Company profile** (industry, headquarters location, # employees, # revenue, tech stack, etc.) * **Prospect profile** (persona/occupation, seniority, location, # steps in a sequence if you have it automated, etc.) * **A/B testing** your sequences (day and time you send emails, different call-to-actions, tones and phrasing of the emails, types of subject line, etc.) ### Find the gaps * **_High open rate_** + **_low reply rate_** → Prospects read your email but decided not to respond. You may consider this as **a sign of targeting the wrong (group of ) prospects or the wrong message/approach** * **_High reply rate_** + **_low positive reply rates_** or **_meeting booking rates_** → This specific group is giving you many objections. You may want to further analyze to figure out what are the reasons for them not taking meetings * **_\# difference between positive responses and meeting bookings_** shows the opportunities for you to convert ‘low-hanging fruits’ … those prospects already showed interest in your offerings or having a chat with you, so they’re a great place to allocate your time and effort ### Plan your pipeline Earlier I wrote the section “✉️ What Can You Track?”. You can **compare each of those metrics against # emails you sent**. This will help you find **how many new emails you should be sending** & if you’re on the right track to hit your quota. _For example, for 100 emails you send, you get 3 bounces (=97 delivered successfully), 60 opens, 30 responses, 10 of them being positive/interested, 7 meetings booked and 5 of them show up, 3 of them being sales-qualified leads._ _If your quota is 15 sales-qualified leads in a month, how many emails should you plan to send /month?_ _Your sales-qualified lead rate to # emails sent is 3%, so 15/0.03 = 500 emails that you should send (at least) to achieve your quota._ _And how many responses should you be getting to attain your quota? If you’re getting 150 responses or more by the end of the month, you’re on the right track._ — — — Do you have feedback/opinions on the contents? Did I miss anything? Please feel free to comment below or reach out to me! I’d always appreciate a healthy discussion🤗 ✉️ [contact.yuteshima@gmail.com](mailto:contact.yuteshima@gmail.com) LI: [linkedin.com/in/yu-teshima](http://linkedin.com/in/yu-teshima) --- *Originally published on [Yu](https://paragraph.com/@yu-10/data-driven-sales-for-bdrs-sdrs)*