Recalibrating the SDR 1-on-1
Unprepared and disorganized 1-on-1's are certain to be painful for both reps and managers. Whether you're a rep or a manager, if you want to make sure the time spent in a 1-on-1 is productive and effective, both sides need to be prepped going in with an agenda.
I've experienced them from both sides. As a manager, you aren't doing your best work if you're sessions start with "so what do you want to cover this week?". Same goes for reps if you're coming into it not sure what to expect.
The prep for a 1-on-1 should be short and organized so both reps and managers can understand what will be covered, and where you need to spend the short time you have. Through a long series of trial and error, I've settled comfortably on an outline that both reps and managers have input on, and places split accountability.
This post follows a guide on how to use the 1-on-1 that I've developed, and included a place where you can download the exact template that I use.
Overview
The 1-on-1 template is broken down into 4 key parts; Key Metrics, Brag Time, Goals for the Week, and Development. Each section is broken down to highlight key areas of rep's work, results, and personal/professional development to allow you to see how reps are performing, and what factors might be affecting their performance, good or bad.
The effective way to host sessions with this template is simple. Reps fill it out. Create a deadline for your reps to fill out and submit the document to you. With the deadline you should have time to review it before the session. Under no circumstance should a manager ever go into these sessions without reviewing the reps work.
This will ensure that you are able to trust & verify, and understand how your reps are feeling and performing.
Now, let's dive through the steps of the sheet.
Key Metrics
The information that we track may be different than the info that you track, but here is the part where we highlight the key metrics that we are looking at.
Meetings booked are broken both by week & month, with qualified meetings being broken down by week, month, and quarter. The reason it's broken down so much is because the overall goal is to build consistency in the team.
When I'm running a 1-on-1, using the information here, I'm looking at:
- Are you on pace to hit target?
- Are your prospects showing up?
- Are you putting in consistent effort to hit your goals?
- Are your meetings valuable - are they converting to qualified, and ultimately top pipeline & revenue.
To reiterate, we want the reps to fill out the whole sheet themselves, but this is a section we double check. Remember, trust but verify. We want accurate numbers so that we can assess where each rep is, and gives us a snapshot of if there are any specific areas of the SDR process that we need to look at.
Brag Time
This section is all about reflection. It's a chance for your reps to brag about the things that went really well this week, but also reflect on areas of improvement.
I can't stress this enough, but this is not always strictly about on the job performance. things going on in your reps personal life can and will trickle into their job performance, and sometimes we need to take a step back and make sure our reps aren't struggling outside of work. Part of the job as a leader is being human, and showing your reps that you care about them through thick and thin. If things are going bad in their personal life, this is an opportunity to hear them out, and support them however you can, and reiterate that they are not just a number on your team, that you do care about them as a person.
If someone has entered a series of personal victories, take time to congratulate them in the beginning of the one on one. At the same time, if the struggling section is personal, take time, listen to your reps, and do what you can to address the personal first. There may be times that they are in a bad spot, and it is okay to take this time to talk to them about their personal struggles, and reschedule this 1-on-1 to later in the week when their head is straight.
Listen to your reps, understand more about them than just the numbers they are producing. If your reps know you believe in them no matter what, then they are more likely to fight and work harder for you. It may seem counterproductive to make a 1-on-1 strictly about headspace, but in the long run, it will pay off.
Goals This Week
Switching gears, after reflecting on the week that was, we can't lost sight of the present. I've reiterated a few times that consistency is a big focus for me and my team, and to do that, we need consistent accountability every week. These goals are broken down not only by metrics and results, but also creating a plan of action about how you are going to achieve those results.
The easy way for your reps to get out of this section is to use the quotas that they need to hit to be on target. This is a chance for you to work with your reps to create goals that benefit the company, but also are realistic for them.
If they are having a few weeks of low meetings, it wouldn't be realistic to shoot for the stars, and they are probably trying to appease you. The goals set need to be a balance between organization and rep progression, make them realistic, without sacrificing business goals.
On the other side, do you have a rep that's consistently a high performer? Again, business goals are important, but you also want to push all your reps to be growing. If they can consistently hit above target, setting and achieving personal goals that are above quota, this helps them grow in their role, and also sets them up for the career progression they are looking for.
In summary, work with your reps, understand where they are at, and how you can help them grow and perform in their job to the best that they can.
Development
This is the last section of the 1-on-1 template, and is specifically focused on growth and development. This is your reps' chance to talk about how they are make sure they are able to hit their goals consistently, and grow both in their role and in their life. Similar to the brag time section, this is focused on job performance in tandem with personal life events.
Reps needs to take care of themselves both on and off the job to make sure they are able to perform at their best. The first section will most likely always be something unrelated to work that helps them stay focused and feel 100%.
The second section is all about how you can support your team. Your reps will need different things from you in order to do their job. This is their chance to be honest with you about what you can do to give them the chance to be their best. It's open ended and this is more of a call to action for you. Again, this is a chance for you to show your reps you have their back, by talking about how you can action the things they talk about in here (within reason of course).
The last section is again strictly personal. What are your reps doing to grow as individuals. This section gives you insight into their life and how they're applying a growth mindset.
Summary
In this entire sheet, your rep should be filling this out, and you are checking and verifying, and reading through everything so you can prepare for an effective 1-on-1. This works best when both you and your reps are 100% honest in every section.
With this entire sheet, you should be engaged with every part, whether it's an open dialogue, offering advice and perspective, clarifying things you don't understand, LISTENING TO YOUR REPS, and working together to create an action plan for your reps to be successful.
If you think that this template could you and your team execute more effective 1-on-1's, right at the bottom of this post, there is a download link to get a copy of it for free. Don't worry, no strings attached (unless you want to get our newsletter).
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