VSA has always prioritized promoting from within—in part because we encourage personal and professional growth, but also because it makes smart business sense and directly benefits our clients.
Nowhere is this philosophy more apparent than in the ascension that so many of our Business Development Representatives have made over the years.
Our Senior Program Manager and all other current Program Managers started at VSA as BDRs. So did our newest sales rep, our Content Writer, members of our Quality & Training team, and multiple former managers.
It’s no wonder that so many key roles at VSA have been filled by former BDRs. When it comes to understanding the intricacies of B2B lead generation and appointment-setting campaigns, who better than the people who have spent significant time on the phones—making cold calls to prospects, engaging in preliminary sales conversations with decision-makers, dealing with rejections and objections, learning firsthand what works and what doesn’t.
We recently spoke to our current Program Managers about their experiences as BDRs, and how it’s helped them in developing and overseeing productive, ROI-positive lead generation campaigns for our clients:
Relatability
Being a BDR making cold calls is not an easy job. It takes a certain mindset to spend an entire day on the telephone, knowing that most calls aren’t going to yield the results you—or the client you’re representing—are hoping for.
Program Managers who formerly worked as BDRs can relate to these frustrations and challenges, and thus can express empathy while at the same leveraging their own experiences to help BDRs improve their techniques and increase production.
“We understand more of what they’re going through when they encounter frustrations such as the rebuttals aren’t working, or the system is running slow,” says Senior Program Manager Lisa Doyle, who started at VSA as a BDR in 2013. “But we also know we can set expectations for ‘X’ calls per hour, or ‘X’ number of appointments because we’ve been there and know which goals are not unrealistic.”
Jamie Wood has been involved with calling campaigns at every level, from a BDR to a Team Lead to a Junior Program Manager to Program Manager. She also recently joined the VSA sales team.
“I know what the BDRs go through on a day-to-day basis because I did it for a long time,” Jamie says. “I know how to coach them because I know what they’re experiencing when they hear certain responses, so from a coaching and training perspective, having been in their shoes once is definitely something that helps.”
Inside knowledge
VSA has multiple dialing platforms, each with unique features designed to optimize client success. And while a Program Manager who hadn’t previously called on these platforms is certainly capable of learning the intricacies of each system, there’s simply no substitute for firsthand experience.
“I think it would be very difficult for someone to be a Program Manager within our unique company, and the unique way we do things, if they hadn’t been a caller first,” Jamie says. “It really helps as far as communication with the client—you have to utilize and really understand the platform to explain it to a client the right way. If you never sat and called on any of our platforms, but you’re going to manage them, that can be difficult. Having that firsthand knowledge is so helpful.”
Program Manager Michelle Wiener is one of VSA’s longest-tenured employees, recently celebrating her seventh anniversary with the company. Michelle started at VSA as a BDR in April 2017.
“There’s a gradual learning process with each piece of technology we have, so starting with the different platforms as a BDR is really helpful in preparing you to become a Program Manager,” Michelle says.
Lessons learned
VSA Program Managers are the stewards of their clients’ lead generation campaigns, so the more knowledge they can bring to a program, the better chance it will be successful and deliver the type of ROI-positive results clients expect.
If a Program Manager previously worked as a BDR calling decision-makers within certain challenging industries—say education or healthcare, for example—there’s a very good chance they learned lessons and best practices that can be put to practical use during their current client campaigns.
“We’ve called into so many different industries before that we know what to expect, so we can say to our clients, ‘This is what we typically see, and these are the types of conversations we’re going to be looking at.’ Like if we’re calling into schools, we know it’s going to be mostly gatekeeper conversations, because it’s hard to get a hold of the principal,” Jamie says. “So we can tell the client, this is why we chose the opener we did in the phone script, or whatever it might be.”
Mutual respect
Coaching, training, and quality assurance resonate so much more powerfully when the words of wisdom come from people who, as the saying goes, have been there, done that. It makes sense that BDRs are more likely to accept constructive criticism and advice from Program Managers who walked in their shoes at one time.
Several of our long-time BDRs worked the phones at the same time as our current Program Managers, so there’s a level of familiarity and respect that can’t easily be duplicated. But even the newer BDRs can appreciate the stories and experiences that our Program Managers can share about their calling days.
“The fact that we have stories they can relate to really helps develop a camaraderie between Program Managers and BDRs,” says Holly Romond, who supervises many of our inbound customer service programs, as well as outbound lead generation programs. “Being able to say, ‘I know what that was like,’ can help boost their confidence and build relationships, too.”
*****
There’s no rule that says VSA Program Managers must be former Business Development Representatives to thrive; however, having experience on the phones has always been a huge asset in developing and maintaining successful lead generation programs. All our current Program Managers will still hop on the phone if necessary, and all of them feel very comfortable doing it.
“Being BDRs really created building blocks for the Program Managers, and it has been beneficial for all of us … and our clients,” Lisa says.
If you’d like to learn more about how VSA’s Program Managers and our BDRs can put their lead generation experience to work for you, give us a call. We’re always excited to help companies find new ways to grow their business.