Maximizing Growth: Crafting an Effective BDR Metrics Scorecard
Real-world examples to drive rep and company performance
Business development representatives (BDRs) play a pivotal role in driving growth and revenue at B2B tech companies. Sometimes BDRs report directly into marketing allowing tight alignment between marketing programs and priorities but also supporting outbound prospecting. At other companies, BDRs may sit in sales, being more tightly aligned with sales territories and focusing more on outbound motions vs. marketing follow-up. I’ve heard anecdotally from peers that there’s a 50/50 chance that BDRs sit in sales vs marketing at B2B tech companies. So as a CMO, you might need to become an expert in managing BDRs, even if they aren’t on your team today.
To ensure your BDRs are on track and performing their best, a well-structured metrics scorecard is critical. This scorecard guides your BDRs and provides essential insights for continuous improvement. What should be included in a BDR metrics scorecard?
A few weeks back Saima Rashid, SVP of Marketing and Revenue Analytics at 6sense shared their BDR dashboard and I was enthralled. Let’s check it out:
Inbound BDR team dashboard
The first dashboard was for their inbound motion:
This chart measures several important things correlated to better performance
Team and individual rep performance - at the top we see team attainment, including limitations of ramped reps. But we also see rep-by-rep details below. It’s critical to get behind the team average to get maximum performance out of the team and figure out if the balance of lead flow from marketing is sufficient for the # of reps. Hiring too far ahead can starve reps. Flooding them can lead to bad conversion rates and slower follow-up times.
Stage 0s - 6sense defines Stage 0 as a booked meeting. The attainment (green/yellow/red) is based on the rep hitting the targeted # of Stage 0s. What contributes to a rep being able to meet their Stage 0 goal…?
Volume of inbound contacts — Did the rep get enough leads to work? The next three columns show 6QLs, MELs, and Drift conversions. 6QLs 6sense’s Qualified Leads, are shown to meet a bar of potentiality by 6sense ’s prediction engine - these leads might come through different marketing engagements, demo requests, or in-market signals. MELs are Marketing Event Leads, leads generated through being at an event, and Drift conversations are the conversation-bot engagements from potential prospects on their website. These three columns show if the rep has received sufficient qualified contacts to contribute to their goal
Activity Metrics - The next three columns show how many of the received 6QLs, MELs have been worked by the rep
Speed - Then we see how fast the rep is getting to an important channel for 6sense - the online chat of Drift.
Volume of critical activity - Lastly we see raw activity numbers of Calls and Emails. Higher numbers here generally correlated to higher rep performance.
Engaged Account / Not Just Contact - A unique aspect of 6sense’s BDR team (and company / product philosophy) is that BDRs work the account, not just that lead, multi-threading into an account beyond just reaching out to the person who came inbound. This allows for more effective qualification of the RIGHT buyer before passing the lead to sales.
Outbound BDR Dashboard
This outbound BDR dashboard has many of the same elements and a few new variables:
Team and individual rep performance
Weekly and monthly attainment to see trends in whose performance is consistent
Activities and Performance - Calls, email volume, and overall # of activities are tracked, but also the ability to connect, and convert via calls.
Response time
# of contacts in a qualified account. 6QA is 6sense’s definition of a qualified account - an account that has met a threshold of different in-market, interested, or qualified variables that make it a hot prospect. In 6sense’s experience, the more contacts engaged in a sales cycle, the higher the chance of the opportunity closing and often at a higher contract value.
As you’ll note, these dashboards have a lot of GREEN on them - indicating the executional rigor of measuring, comparing, and improving is working quite well. I find Saima to be one of the most insightful operational leaders I’ve met - which was why it came as no surprise when she was recently promoted to Head of Marketing of 6sense
You may need to adapt these dashboards to your organization’s unique motions and priorities. The key to a successful BDR metrics scorecard is figuring out which numbers to monitor closely and constantly using the insights to adapt and improve your strategies. With a well-structured scorecard, your company can empower BDRs to excel, driving growth and success for themselves and your company.