To Qualify or Disqualify?

Why do SDR’s push so many disqualified leads?

Yesterday I stumbled across a LinkedIn post from an Account Executive that was furious about the amount of disqualified leads they receive from SDR’s and BDR’s on a weekly basis. 

“Don’t they understand it’s a complete waste of time!?” 

“SDR’s should have their bonuses clawed back if they book too many poorly qualified appointments.”

“This will never help them advance in their career.” 

Sure, it doesn’t help SDR’s in their careers to book poorly qualified demos. Yes, it’s a waste of both the Account Executive AND the prospects time. But why is it done? 

Aside from the obvious reasons: 

1. Poorly formed compensation structure 

2. Unrealistic targets 

3. Lack of training 

4. Poor synergy between SDR’s and Account Executives

I want to introduce another possible reason. Something that a sales manager can address right away AND can help take some of these “disqualified” leads and develop them into qualified leads in the not so distant future. 

Lack of options. When an SDR hops on a call with a prospect they’re trained to book the call. Since that’s the only option they have. It’s either a call with an AE or a follow-up call with the SDR in 6 months. 

What if that wasn’t the case? What if you armed your SDR’s with free trials, live webinars (hello COVID), or calls with customer referrals? 

What if your lead generation funnel looked something like this? 

This will give SDR’s the opportunity to make more tailored options for their prospects. Ensuring a better experience for the prospect, freeing up Account Executives time, and keeping your SDR’s happy! 

Enforcing this is easy too! How? PAY THEM, for webinar signups, trial logins, and demo calls! 

Thoughts?