How to Source, and hire the Best SDR Candidates
Part 2: How to build a High-Performing SDR Team
Read time: 2 min
This week, I had the pleasure of having Chris Ritson on the podcast for the second time.
In today's newsletter, I'll share insights from our conversation about sourcing and hiring.
Last time, we talked about the foundations you need before hiring. If you missed that newsletter, here's the link.
For those interested in more detailed content, a more extensive version of this newsletter is available in both audio and video formats on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts.
Sourcing, and hiring the best SDR candidates
1. Extreme Ownership in the Hiring Process
Chris emphasized the critical role of SDR leaders in taking full ownership of the hiring process rather than overly relying on the talent acquisition teams.
So you make sure that the candidates selected align perfectly with the specific needs and culture of the team.
You should be actively involved in all stages of the hiring process, from defining the role and the desired behaviors to participating in interviews and decision-making.
Regular communication with the recruitment team is essential to maintain alignment on the candidate profile and to ensure that the recruitment efforts are targeted effectively.
2. Strategic Candidate Sourcing
Chris highlighted the importance of both inbound and outbound strategies to create a diverse and qualified candidate pool.
This approach is analogous to managing a sales pipeline, where having more options allows for better choices.
Implement a hybrid sourcing strategy that includes:
Inbound tactics: Work with HR to optimize job postings and leverage digital platforms to attract candidates.
Outbound tactics: Personally reach out to potential candidates from competitors or related industries. This personalized approach increases engagement and the likelihood of attracting high-quality candidates.
Networking and referrals: Encourage current team members to refer potential candidates and actively network to build relationships with potential hires, even before a vacancy arises.
3. Building and Maintaining a Robust Talent Pipeline
Maintaining a continuous and proactive recruitment effort helps in quickly filling roles with the best candidates without compromising on quality.
Chris discussed treating recruitment as a continuous process, much like nurturing a sales pipeline.
Regularly engage with potential candidates and keep them informed about the company and its culture.
Develop a "hot list" of potential candidates and keep in touch, ensuring they consider your company a top choice when they're ready to change jobs.
Use recruitment agencies respectfully and as partners, ensuring they fully understand the role and your expectations to bring in high-quality candidates.
I hope you enjoyed Part 2 with Chris.
We delve deeply into the foundations of building a high-performing team, and Chris shares a lot of information that has worked for him.
A longer format of this newsletter is also available in audio and video on
Spotify
YouTube
Apple Podcasts
As soon as you're ready, I can help you in 3 different ways:
Promote your product or yourself to 3,800+ subscribers by sponsoring this newsletter. If you are interested, reply to this email, or send me an email at bonjour@elriclegloire.com
Work with me 1-1: I help build SDR teams and outbound GTM strategy. Reply to this email, or send me an email at bonjour@elriclegloire.com
Check my podcast, where I interview top-performing SDRs and share prospecting tips that work best today, you can watch the episodes on YouTube, and Spotify.
Thank you for this article. It's an extremely complex subject when you consider that SDR is a profession that seems easily accessible to many people but which nevertheless requires a lot of soft skills and real competencies.