What to Keep in Mind When Onboarding SDRs Virtually
To have a robust remote onboarding program is soon going to become a top priority for businesses, given the rise in remote work today and the growing popularity of hiring globally distributed teams without limitation to their physical location.
Remotely onboarding new SDRs in B2B and tech is a different game in itself. Sales and marketing executives and leaders play a very crucial role in shaping the company’s growth trajectory and image. SDRs play a vital role in supporting the process. A sound training program that takes care of the usual concerns that can come with a remote onboarding and remote training process will help companies reduce lags in new hires especially when it comes grasping basic product and service fundamentals, understanding the common counters to respond with, and being able to sustain a sales conversation.
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Any remote onboarding or training process will need to be programmed and built out separately for specific roles and purposes. Here’s what can help when it comes to managing the remote onboarding process of your new SDRs.
Create a Structured Training Module
The onus lies on sales leaders to bring new SDRs up to speed, when onboarding SDRs virtually, the lack of an across the table conversation or face to face physical training session can make it more challenging if there is no structure and thought to the process.
By building out a training curriculum, sales leaders and SDRs both have a roadmap to follow and this will help new hires grasp the basics of the product and the sales process in the organization more efficiently.
- A few quick tips:
- Short 30 minute sessions help ensure you have your SDRs attention, avoid keeping lengthy virtual training sessions
- Include more than one trainer: If your training module is week-long for instance, having more than one trainer will help add more flavor to training methods and presentations / interactions
Share a Proper Training Time Table (with Explanations ) with your SDRs
A new hire in any role will look at their existing team members and their reporting leaders to help them plan their day initially to help achieve tasks. Structuring a formal schedule with a detailed explanation of what training will happen when and sharing it with new SDRs before the training begins will help give them a basic understanding of what to expect, it can help them make some timely preparations too.
To Save Time, Keep the Basic Logistics in Place
A remote onboarding process for your SDRs will likely mean lots of Zoom meetings, (therefore the need to keep all relevant account logins active) and lots of Calendar invites sent to every SDR based on the time table above.
Once you have your remote sales training curriculum in place, it will be easier to keep a checklist of what needs to be ready before a virtual training starts. Virtual training sessions are handy and beneficial in many ways but in order to optimize the “training week’’, all logistical items like booking meetings, gathering materials, updating lists, etc should be done in well in advance.
For larger teams who have strict security guidelines to follow while working remote, the process will have to be synced with IT teams to ensure smooth running of the training process and week.
It is important to especially keep in mind, many of the logistical planning for live onboardings don’t apply to a remote onboarding model.
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Keep Company Collaterals and Other Reference Materials Ready and Handy on a Central System
Adding the main marketing and sales collaterals in the CRM (HubSpot for instance) and using a centrally accessible system to run through important aspects of each is a good way of bringing new SDRs up to speed on main product features and sales training scripts based on it.
- Key Takeaway:
- Before starting a new training session for a new batch of SDRs, ensure all company collaterals are updated with latest statistics and information
Focus on Building Team Momentum During This Time
A remote onboarding session and video calls will never have the same impact as in-person interactions. When sales leaders onboard a big team of SDRs at the same time, besides building out a sound virtual training model, it is also important for sales trainers and sales leaders to build the team momentum during the training session.
Working remote or being onboarded for a new role while starting a new job remote can make employees feel distant and out of touch with the company culture. This is why sales leaders have to put in that added effort to adjust training formats (by making it more interactive virtually) and encourage everyone to keep their cameras on! Building interactivity and a strong bond during this time will help new remote SDRs feel part of the bigger picture thereby making the whole training experience more fruitful.
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