Boosting Sales with Employee Ambassadors: The Honorary SDR Strategy
Many companies are recognizing the value of employee brand ambassadors and leveraging their potential to promote the company and its products or services. However, not all companies are utilizing employee brand ambassadors as effectively or as often as they should. Some businesses may be missing out on this powerful strategy due to a lack of awareness, resources, or a well-defined program. Employee brand ambassadors can offer several benefits:
Authenticity: Employees can provide genuine, firsthand experiences and insights about the company, making their advocacy more credible and relatable to potential customers
Cost-effectiveness: Compared to hiring external influencers or investing in traditional advertising, employee brand ambassadors can be a more cost-effective way to promote the company and its offerings
Increased reach: By tapping into the personal and professional networks of employees, companies can reach new audiences that may not have been accessible through traditional marketing channels
Improved employee engagement: Actively involving employees in promoting the company can boost their sense of pride, ownership, and commitment to the organization
Enhanced company reputation: When employees speak positively about their company and its products or services, it helps improve the company's overall reputation and brand image
Every employee has the potential to contribute to a company's growth beyond their primary job responsibilities. By engaging non-sales employees and incentivizing them to seek new sales opportunities, businesses can create a team of dedicated ambassadors, all working to expand the company's reach.
The Power of Personal Networks
Non-sales employees have extensive personal and professional networks that often remain untapped by traditional sales processes. By leveraging these networks, businesses can gain access to potential customers who may not have been reachable through conventional marketing channels. When employees share their positive experiences and the value of the company's products or services, they are more likely to convince others to consider the company as a solution to their needs.
Creating a Referral Program
A referral program can be set up to encourage non-sales employees to share their unique referral links with their networks. By assigning unique links to each employee, companies can easily track the source of new leads and sales. This also enables businesses to accurately reward employees for their contributions.
Incentivizing
To motivate non-sales employees to actively participate in the referral program, offering a range of incentives is crucial. These incentives can include:
Cash bonuses: Employees can be rewarded with a percentage of the gross sale for every successful referral.
Non-cash benefits: Alternatively, companies can offer additional paid time off (PTO), special gifts, or credits to purchase items from a company benefits partner.
Paying out quarterly rewards is proven to be the best cadence, helping maintain employee engagement and excitement for the program.
Maintaining Fairness and Transparency
To ensure the referral program's success, creating a fair and transparent system is vital. Clearly communicate the program's goals, rules, and rewards to all employees. Provide guidelines on how to share referral links responsibly without violating privacy or spamming regulations.
Additionally, make sure to set up a system to track leads and sales from each referral link accurately. This will enable the company to reward employees for their efforts fairly.
Making it happen
The following is a guide for introducing the honorary SDR strategy to leadership for buy-in and also serves as a guide for introducing the concept to the company as a whole. Adjust as needed for your specific use case.
Introduction
Maximizing Sales Through Employee Networks: The Honorary SDR Program
Introduce a new initiative to incentivize employees to generate sales through their personal networks.
The Current Situation
Highlight the importance of generating new sales and leads for company growth
Discuss the role of traditional Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) in the current sales process
Mention the untapped potential of employee networks
The Honorary SDR Program
Define the Honorary SDR program: A new incentive initiative that rewards employees for generating sales through their own networks
Explain that employees will be paid like an SDR for each sale they generate, without limitations on the number of sales
Introduce the use of UTM link tracking to attribute sales to individual employees
Program Implementation
Explain that the program will only apply to new sales generated after its launch
Describe the process of creating and distributing unique UTM links to employees
Emphasize the importance of accurate tracking and reporting to ensure fair incentives
Compensation and Taxation
Outline that the percentage of each sale will be paid as a bonus quarterly
Clarify that the bonus will be subject to taxation
Reiterate that there are no limits to how much an employee can sell
Benefits of the Honorary SDR Program
Increased sales and revenue from untapped networks
Improved employee engagement and motivation
Enhanced company-wide understanding of the sales process and products/services
Potential to discover hidden sales talent within the organization
Potential Concerns & Solutions
Ensuring fair and accurate tracking of sales
Maintaining employee focus on their primary job responsibilities
Maintaining the quality of the sales process and customer experience
Provide solutions for these concerns, such as clear guidelines, training, and monitoring systems
Convey that the program is voluntary and participation is not factored into their performance evaluation
Next Steps
Recap the benefits of the Honorary SDR program
Outline the next steps for program implementation, such as gaining leadership approval, setting up systems for tracking, and training employees
Open the floor for questions and discussion
Is it legal/ethical for employees to act as SDRs?
It is not inherently illegal or unethical to provide staff with a way to make money like a salesperson does, as long as the program is designed and implemented fairly, transparently, and in compliance with applicable laws and regulations. In fact, many companies use incentive programs, like commissions or bonuses, to encourage employees to generate leads and contribute to the company's growth. Ethically speaking, it’s important for employees to know the program is voluntary and participation is not factored into their performance evaluation.
However, there are a few factors to consider to ensure the program remains ethical and legal:
Compliance with employment laws: Make sure that the program complies with relevant labor laws, wage regulations, and tax laws. This may include ensuring that employees are properly classified and that the incentive payments are accurately reported and taxed.
Fairness and transparency: Ensure that the program is designed and implemented in a fair and transparent manner. Clearly communicate the program's goals, rules, and compensation structure to all employees, and provide equal opportunities for participation.
Work-life balance: Be mindful of the potential impact on employees' work-life balance. Encourage employees to pursue sales opportunities in a way that does not interfere with their primary job responsibilities or personal lives.
Maintaining quality standards: Ensure that the incentive program does not compromise the quality of the sales process or customer experience. Provide proper training and guidelines for employees participating in the program.
Avoiding conflicts of interest: Ensure the program does not create conflicts of interest between employees and the company or among employees themselves. Be clear about the company's referral policies and managing potential conflicts.
Passive selling by employees
There are several ways employees can passively share their custom referral links without actively selling the company's products. Some of these methods include:
Email signature: Employees can include their referral link in their personal or professional email signatures, making it visible to everyone they communicate with via email
Social media: Employees can add their referral link to their social media profiles, such as in their bio on Twitter or Instagram or as a featured link on LinkedIn or Facebook. They can also occasionally share posts related to the company or its products, including the referral link
Personal blog or website: If an employee has a personal blog or website, they can add their referral link to the site's sidebar, footer, or in relevant articles
Online forums and communities: Employees can share their referral link in their signatures on online forums or in the profile sections of online communities they are part of, provided that it's allowed by the forum or community rules
Business cards: For employees who frequently attend networking events or meet new people, including the referral link on their business cards can be an effective passive-sharing method
QR code: Employees can generate a QR code for their referral link and add it to their printed materials, presentations, or even on a sticker they can place on their laptop or other personal items
Autoresponder: If an employee uses an autoresponder for their personal email, they can include the referral link in the automated message
Video conferencing backgrounds: Custom virtual backgrounds for video conferencing platforms like Zoom can include the referral link or QR code, making it visible during online meetings or webinars
It's important to remind employees to share their referral links responsibly and to avoid spamming or violating the privacy of their contacts. By incorporating their referral links in natural and passive ways, employees can contribute to generating leads without actively selling the company's products.
Active selling by employees
Employees can actively sell using their referral code by engaging with their personal and professional networks and actively promoting the company's products or services. Here are some strategies for active selling:
Personal conversations: Employees can talk about the company and its offerings with friends, family, and acquaintances, mentioning the benefits of the products or services and sharing their referral link when appropriate.
Social media engagement: Employees can actively participate in conversations about the company or industry on social media platforms, offering insights and sharing their referral link with interested parties.
Online reviews and recommendations: Encourage employees to write reviews and recommendations for the company's products or services on relevant websites, forums, or social media platforms, including their referral link when appropriate.
Content creation: Employees can create blog posts, videos, or podcasts discussing the company's products or services, and share their referral link within the content or in the description.
Networking events: When attending industry events, conferences, or meetups, employees can actively promote the company and its offerings, sharing their referral link with potential customers or collaborators.
Note: It's important to provide employees with the necessary guidance and support to effectively promote the company and its offerings.
By empowering non-sales employees to help grow the company through new sales opportunities, businesses can unlock the full potential of their workforce. Implementing a referral program with unique links and attractive incentives can create a team of motivated ambassadors striving to promote the company and its offerings. This strategy increases sales and revenue and fosters a strong sense of unity and pride among employees, as everyone contributes to the company's growth and success.
