Perfecting the SDR to AE Handoff

Madeleine Work
December 7, 2022
min to read

Perfecting the SDR to AE Handoff

Madeleine Work
December 7, 2022
min to read

What do you do when budgets are halved but goals are doubled? 

First, you cry. 

Then, you try to do more with less. 

And one area you might not think about… is leakage that happens during the SDR to AE handoff. 

Like when… 

  • Prospects are tired of sitting through yet another discovery call, so they go with your competitor
  • Qualified prospects are disqualified 
  • SDRs frantically scroll through a giant spreadsheet to assign a rep, and the prospect loses patience and hangs up

It’s times like these when your handoff really falls flat.

So if you’re ready to open your mind when it comes to your handoff process… 

We talked to the best in the biz and rounded up 4 of their best handoff tips.

1. Make sure everyone knows what “qualified” means 

“Qualified” is just like the phrase “I’m on my way!”

Everyone has their own idea of what it means. 

FWIW, when I text “I’m on my way”, I’m actually on my way. 😑

Luckily, when it comes to the definition of “qualified”, there are steps you can take to create alignment.

“Qualified” usually comes down to… 

An objective element 

  • Does this prospect use Salesforce?
  • Is this an industry we serve best? 
  • Is the company size in our sweet spot? 

A subjective element

  • Is this the right person to evaluate our product?
  • Are they ready to buy? 

And, as a sales professional, you’ve probably gotten into a disagreement (or two or ten) about whether or not an opportunity is “qualified”.

That’s why everyone needs to be crystal clear on qualification criteria.

This both:

  • Makes sure SDRs are only passing the best leads to AEs
  • Empowers SDRs to push back when AEs are hesitant to accept an opportunity into their pipeline

2. BANT, ANUM, MEDDIC… RIP

Acronyms are so fun, right? 

But it might be time to say goodbye to some of our old, all-caps friends. 

Especially those that prioritize budget as a core qualification criteria for passing leads. 

When too much emphasis is placed on budget before any value is demonstrated, it can be detrimental to deals. 

“When we talk about budget in the first call, instead of proving the value and the impact,  it costs us more deals than we realize. If I say the price point is $100,000, the prospect is going to be thinking, ‘Is this really worth a hundred grand?’”
-Drew Coryer, Sales Development Manager at Webflow

Instead, Drew advocates for newer qualification frameworks. Specifically the SPICED model from Jacco van der Kooij, founder of Winning by Design. (Another acronym, who’s surprised).

In the SPICED model, the business impact is prioritized over budget.

As a result, reps are able to uncover the underlying reasons the prospects are engaging — I mean they said yes to a meeting for a reason, right? Where are they seeing the potential value. 

If you can prove the value, oftentimes your prospect can find the budget.

This revised qualification framework not only enables deeper conversations, it also lets SDRs pass on leads that would otherwise be considered “unqualified” based purely on budget concerns.

3. Skip the SDR discovery call 

The time it takes for a prospect to get from “schedule a demo” to actually seeing a demo… is a lot longer than it should be. (That's why Chili Piper always demos on the first call)

A lot of times you have to talk to an SDR, who leads a discovery call. 

Then, the SDR connects you with an AE… who leads another (longer) discovery call. 

This means prospects don’t get a glimpse of the product until the third (or sometimes fourth) call. 

This is frustrating for buyers. 

As a vendor, you should ask yourself… do we really need that many calls? Can we consolidate? 

Here are some things you can do: 

  • Ask qualifying questions during cold call: If an SDR gets ahold of a prospect on a cold call, have them ask the basic qualifying questions right then and there. Don’t schedule a second discovery call.
  • Preview the product during your discos: Your prospects want to see the product. Why not give it to them? Show off your product, while also letting your reps ask their discovery questions

4. Automate scheduling

This is the easiest and most impactful thing you can do to empower SDRs.

Back in ancient times (the early 2010s), each time a prospect agreed to a meeting, an SDR would perform mental gymnastics trying to coordinate calendars, time zones, and availability for all relative parties. 

But with Chili Piper, you can handoff from SDR to AE in under 60 seconds. 

Seriously. We timed it:

The bottom line

Automating your SDR to AE handoff process means your reps can instantly route and schedule handoff meetings. 

No fumbling through spreadsheets.

No skipping reps. 

No playing favorites. 

Just handoff. 

For more great content like this, read:

What do you do when budgets are halved but goals are doubled? 

First, you cry. 

Then, you try to do more with less. 

And one area you might not think about… is leakage that happens during the SDR to AE handoff. 

Like when… 

  • Prospects are tired of sitting through yet another discovery call, so they go with your competitor
  • Qualified prospects are disqualified 
  • SDRs frantically scroll through a giant spreadsheet to assign a rep, and the prospect loses patience and hangs up

It’s times like these when your handoff really falls flat.

So if you’re ready to open your mind when it comes to your handoff process… 

We talked to the best in the biz and rounded up 4 of their best handoff tips.

1. Make sure everyone knows what “qualified” means 

“Qualified” is just like the phrase “I’m on my way!”

Everyone has their own idea of what it means. 

FWIW, when I text “I’m on my way”, I’m actually on my way. 😑

Luckily, when it comes to the definition of “qualified”, there are steps you can take to create alignment.

“Qualified” usually comes down to… 

An objective element 

  • Does this prospect use Salesforce?
  • Is this an industry we serve best? 
  • Is the company size in our sweet spot? 

A subjective element

  • Is this the right person to evaluate our product?
  • Are they ready to buy? 

And, as a sales professional, you’ve probably gotten into a disagreement (or two or ten) about whether or not an opportunity is “qualified”.

That’s why everyone needs to be crystal clear on qualification criteria.

This both:

  • Makes sure SDRs are only passing the best leads to AEs
  • Empowers SDRs to push back when AEs are hesitant to accept an opportunity into their pipeline

2. BANT, ANUM, MEDDIC… RIP

Acronyms are so fun, right? 

But it might be time to say goodbye to some of our old, all-caps friends. 

Especially those that prioritize budget as a core qualification criteria for passing leads. 

When too much emphasis is placed on budget before any value is demonstrated, it can be detrimental to deals. 

“When we talk about budget in the first call, instead of proving the value and the impact,  it costs us more deals than we realize. If I say the price point is $100,000, the prospect is going to be thinking, ‘Is this really worth a hundred grand?’”
-Drew Coryer, Sales Development Manager at Webflow

Instead, Drew advocates for newer qualification frameworks. Specifically the SPICED model from Jacco van der Kooij, founder of Winning by Design. (Another acronym, who’s surprised).

In the SPICED model, the business impact is prioritized over budget.

As a result, reps are able to uncover the underlying reasons the prospects are engaging — I mean they said yes to a meeting for a reason, right? Where are they seeing the potential value. 

If you can prove the value, oftentimes your prospect can find the budget.

This revised qualification framework not only enables deeper conversations, it also lets SDRs pass on leads that would otherwise be considered “unqualified” based purely on budget concerns.

3. Skip the SDR discovery call 

The time it takes for a prospect to get from “schedule a demo” to actually seeing a demo… is a lot longer than it should be. (That's why Chili Piper always demos on the first call)

A lot of times you have to talk to an SDR, who leads a discovery call. 

Then, the SDR connects you with an AE… who leads another (longer) discovery call. 

This means prospects don’t get a glimpse of the product until the third (or sometimes fourth) call. 

This is frustrating for buyers. 

As a vendor, you should ask yourself… do we really need that many calls? Can we consolidate? 

Here are some things you can do: 

  • Ask qualifying questions during cold call: If an SDR gets ahold of a prospect on a cold call, have them ask the basic qualifying questions right then and there. Don’t schedule a second discovery call.
  • Preview the product during your discos: Your prospects want to see the product. Why not give it to them? Show off your product, while also letting your reps ask their discovery questions

4. Automate scheduling

This is the easiest and most impactful thing you can do to empower SDRs.

Back in ancient times (the early 2010s), each time a prospect agreed to a meeting, an SDR would perform mental gymnastics trying to coordinate calendars, time zones, and availability for all relative parties. 

But with Chili Piper, you can handoff from SDR to AE in under 60 seconds. 

Seriously. We timed it:

The bottom line

Automating your SDR to AE handoff process means your reps can instantly route and schedule handoff meetings. 

No fumbling through spreadsheets.

No skipping reps. 

No playing favorites. 

Just handoff. 

For more great content like this, read:

Madeleine Work

Madeleine Work is Product Marketing Manager at Chili Piper. She loves bringing people together, learning new things, and making hilarious jokes. When she's not typing away at her laptop, you'll probably find her running, hiking, or hanging out with her baby. Follow Madeleine for laughs and product marketing tips on LinkedIn.

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Perfect your SDR to AE handoff, and start booking more meetings. No spreadsheets required.