The Traits of Top Performing SDRs

Sales Development is a wild ride. The highs are high, the lows are low, and the experience is unforgettable.

Beyond the cold-calling, constant A/B testing, failing forward, and rejection, is the opportunity to get into a closing tech sales role or get a foot in the door with a dream company.

If your curious about what traits will help you become a great SDR, or what your next interviewer might be looking for, here are 11 Traits that can maximize your chances of success during your time as a sales development rep and beyond:

1) Drive / Desire to Learn. What drives you? Is it a hard challenge? Is it taking on the world? Is it having an impact? What about working for a company with a deeper mission? Whatever it is, drive helps you get up in the morning, to take the extra step at work when things get tough, and the thing that helps you do what others won't.

2) Be Proactive. Start-ups move fast and the only constant is change. By being proactive, you don't wait for someone to tell you what to do. You use the resources you have, and get to it.

3) Be Coachable. Like any team sport, players have a coach to help them improve. This is no different in sales, where the sales manager (hopefully) is providing coaching. In this role, you will fail. Often. And you will need to take feedback in order to change. Believe it or not, feedback is a gift. At times, it may suck, it may sting, and some might be better than others at providing that feedback, but it's there to provide a supportive perspective to help you improve.

4) Ownership & Accountability. The quota you have... is your number. Fair or not, easy or difficult, that is your number. The best reps do whatever it takes to hit that number, whether that's saying no to other projects or blocking off more time to ensure they get the right number of touches out to hit goal.

Quota is how we are measured. Simple as that. Without that number, we don't know how we did, and we don't know what success looks like. Ownership & accountability mean that we acknowledge that we do make an impact. We are important. What we do matters!

5) Team Oriented. Yes, we have an individual quota, but it's just as important to share what's working and make sure others on the team are successful. Think of this another way, some might be good at certain tasks, like email writing while others might be good at cold calling.

By supporting them as much as you sharing what works for you, you can maximize your chances of being successful.

6) Integrity, Respect, and Empathy. Treat others the way you wish to be treated, and do everything by the book. This creates the type of environment and collaborative culture that breeds success and encourages the environment you want to work in. It also attracts the type of talent that will come in help you get better. a win/win.

7) Grit and Perseverance. As mentioned above, this job is tough. You'll likely read that this can be one of the toughest aspects of sales altogether. The important part is to stick with it. Rarely do great things come easy, and sticking it out helps you build the foundation for a successful career in sales and beyond.

8) Have a Positive Mindset. Seems obvious, but it can be easy to get discouraged or get negative when things aren't working out, or when times are tough. Just as the seasons of life, so are there seasons of sales. You can do everything right and still have a tough day or week. Focusing on the positive allows you to view challenges as opportunities, and you'd be surprised the rewards you get for thinking like this when things get tough. If Tony Robbins, one of the most well known motivational speakers globally, has to pump himself up everyday, it's a sign that this is ongoing. Be deliberate in making sure you create the space to be positive.

9) Be Goal and Process Oriented. Sales is a numbers game. It's also a systemic process. Without goals or data, we don't know what success actually looks like. When you have a clear picture of what being a top performer means, you can walk through the numbers and it can actually be much more rewarding, but also give yourself grace, when things get tough. It becomes less personal and more operational. The No's then become part of the process, not the end of the process.

10) Affinity for Sales / Solving Problems. There are alot of bad images about sales and salespeople out there (at least there were when I was in college). The reality is, sales is about solving problems and/or removing a perceived pain someone might have that you can solve. For those that aren't sure whether they want to go into sales, you can still be successful in this role if you like to focus on solving problems and helping people out.

11) Be Creative. With the rise in social media and technology, there is a reason sales people are paid good money to spend all of their time solely on the efforts of earning time on the calendar. If you have a knack for thinking outside the box, this will be crucial in today's changing world.

What traits would you add to the list?