It’s officially back-to-school season, which means it won’t be long before teachers and students nationwide have returned to the classroom.
But at VSA, “school” is in session year-round. We might not be teaching history, science, or math, but there are still plenty of lessons to go around.
Our Program Managers and Quality & Training team work continuously with our Business Development Representatives to help sharpen their lead generation skills and deliver the results our clients expect. Whether it’s accentuating the BDRs’ strengths or identifying areas that need improvement, the VSA leadership team is always looking for ways to ensure they get a little better each day in the work they do on behalf of our clients.
Even our top-performing, longest-tenured BDRs never stop learning and looking for ways to increase their production and grow professionally. It’s no coincidence that many of them have “graduated” to other positions within the company.
While we recognize that BDR performance is one of multiple components of a successful lead generation program, they are in many ways the lifeblood of our operations, and we are committed to seeing them thrive.
Here are seven of the ways VSA consistently trains, coaches, motivates, and educates our employees:
1. Skill development workshops
Each month, our Quality & Training team hosts a series of themed, interactive video sessions to reinforce existing best practices or introduce new ones. The workshops, simultaneously designed to be both enjoyable and constructive, have been a big hit with our employees, in large part because they’re a chance to interact with co-workers. Making outbound cold calls or handling inbound customer service calls in a remote environment can feel lonely and isolated at times, and these workshops help build camaraderie and keep employees engaged.
The theme of last month’s workshop was Professionalism in the Workplace, focusing on topics such as maintaining professionalism, fostering positive work environments, and enhancing interpersonal skills.
2. Weekly team meetings
The workshops aren’t the only chance for VSA employees to collaborate directly with their co-workers. VSA also holds weekly team meetings for each client program. Not only is this an opportunity to get direct feedback from the Program Managers (and sometimes the clients themselves), but it’s a chance for BDRs to bounce ideas off their fellow callers and share experiences, habits, and strategies that can benefit each other’s job performance.
And since the Program Managers leading the meetings are all former BDRs themselves, there is always plenty of first-hand knowledge to absorb.
3. Easy access to training materials
It’s difficult for students to succeed in school without access to the appropriate educational resources, and VSA knows this mindset also applies to the working world. That’s why all the information about client programs our outbound and inbound agents need—phone scripts, power points, one-sheets, program overviews, call dispositions, or any other client-specific materials—is readily available.
Whether the info is shared via a Microsoft Teams channel or provided by the Program Manager as a packet of documents, our callers never have to go searching to find the reference materials they need to successfully represent our clients.
4. Call shadowing
Listening to successful calls from more experienced reps is a great way for newer BDRs to grasp the nuances of cold calling and hear what works. Often, these call recordings are played back during the aforementioned team meetings, allowing multiple reps to benefit from hearing them at the same time.
This is also a valuable training tool for when a rep moves to a new client program. It’s one thing to read and rehearse a new script on your own, but listening to someone relay the words over the phone—and hearing how a prospect responds—can dramatically impact your own delivery. It’s also an extremely effective method for learning how to handle common objections (for outbound) or customer questions and complaints (for inbound).
5. Cross-training and uptraining opportunities
VSA never wants our employees to feel like they’re stuck in a rut. So almost all our BDRs are trained for multiple client programs, providing the opportunity to learn about various industries and experience different types of calling campaigns. This also allows us to identify areas where certain reps excel, which is important when selecting the calling team for a particularly challenging program.
Recently, three of our top-performing BDRs were promoted to Program Support Specialists. And a group of our outbound callers were trained to work on our inbound programs. We’re always looking for ways to help our employees expand their skills and grow professionally.
6. Incentives and recognition
Every “student” wants to feel appreciated for their hard work. In school, strong performances are rewarded with good grades. At VSA, we recognize excellence with bonuses and “thank you” gifts.
It’s no coincidence that the average tenure of our BDRs exceeds the industry standard of 1.8 years, and more significantly, there is only a 3% turnover rate among our top-performing agents.
“It really motivates employees to do well, because they all want to receive that bonus,” says Senior Program Manager Lisa Doyle. “Certain people already set goals for themselves before we implemented the bonus program, but having that bonus is just one more reason to want to produce and better themselves.”
7. A forward-thinking mindset
The first of VSA’s four core values is to “rise above every challenge and forge new roads,” and this mindset certainly applies to the steps we take to coach and train our employees. Since becoming Manager of BDR Development and Quality Assurance earlier this year, Corey Duffy has overseen a revamped QA process that was officially rolled out this month.
The goals, as always, are to make sure each BDR receives the individual attention needed for them to thrive, to keep them motivated and feeling appreciated, and to help them continuously improve.
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If you’d like to talk about how our Business Development Representatives can go to work on behalf of your company, drop us a line or give us a call. Whether school is in session or not, we’re always excited to learn new ways to help our clients grow their business.