Flipping the Script on BDR Attainment: 3 Steps to Successful Prospecting Through a Downturn [6sense]

Marcin Baga

Hi, @Marcin Baga here from the 6sense BDR team in EMEA! Read on for a summary of my talk from Inspire UK. And here are the slides:

How to Help Your Team Flip The Script on BDR Attainment.pdf

It’s no surprise that BDR attainment can drop off during an economic downturn. But we’ve seen that you can flip the script and help BDRs and SDRs thrive by focusing on the following areas:

• Increase support: Supply better intent and contact data 
• Help BDRs prioritise accounts and when to engage
• Make prospecting easier with relevant content and cadences

Strong Support and Better Data

In our recent survey of 500 B2B BDRs, we found EMEA-based BDRs perceived they were getting less support from their leadership teams compared to last year. This directly correlated with a decrease in time spent on prospecting. Quota attainment also declined, with only 80% reaching their quotas in 2023 compared to 90% in 2022. 

The simple solution is increasing support to help BDRs spend more time on prospecting. But what does this actually look like for BDRs? In EMEA, BDRs told us they wanted more investment in better intent and contact data so they can understand who to reach out to, when to do it, and what to say.

Prioritising Relevant Accounts with 6QAs

At 6sense, we use 6sense Qualified Accounts (aka 6QAs) to identify and prioritise ICP accounts and when to engage them.

6QAs alert BDRs to reach out when an account has moved into the sweet spot of the buying journey between consideration and decision. Timing is crucial, so our SLA for reaching out to these “in-market” 6QA’d accounts is one day. 

Once BDRs know who they need to reach out to and when, they need the right message to engage buyers. 6sense provides keyword insights to reveal prospect pain points and persona maps so BDRs can engage the wider buying team and personalise outreach and messaging accordingly.

Streamline Prospecting with Relevant Content and Cadences 

Now that BDRs know when to reach out, who to speak to, and what to say, they need pre-built multi-stage cadences fueled by these insights. Cadences should encompass various outreach methods like:

• Linkedin connection
• Emails
• Calls
• Video snippets
• Linkedin messages / engagement, and
• Direct mail 

(Our favored cadence has 18 steps.)

To help your BDRs quickly draft targeted messages, create easily accessible content libraries with relevant themes, personas, and pain points. 

Today, the day in the life of a BDR isn’t about crawling different lists and trying to find prospects on LinkedIn. Everything should be two or three clicks away in a central place where BDRs can understand which accounts they need to prioritise and quickly take action.

Apply these three strategies and you’ll quickly see an uptick in BDR attainment and a happier, thriving team.

**** To view all Inspire UK sessions, click here.

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