A bird-dog in sales is an individual who identifies and refers promising sales leads and opportunities. The term originated from hunting dogs who sniff out and locate birds for hunters to shoot. In a similar manner, sales bird-dogs sniff out potential customers and pass those leads along to salespeople to close deals.
What Does a Bird-Dog Do?
The responsibilities of a sales bird-dog include:
- Identifying potential customers or clients
- Collecting contact information for promising leads
- Qualifying leads based on budget, need, authority, etc.
- Making initial contact with leads to gauge interest
- Passing vetted leads along to sales reps
- Maintaining records and tracking lead status
- Networking and building relationships to uncover referral opportunities
Essentially, the bird-dog sources new business opportunities, connects with potential buyers, and passes the most promising leads to salespeople for follow-up and closure. They function as a critical component of the sales pipeline by driving new lead generation efforts.
What are the Benefits of Using Bird-Dogs?
Implementing a bird-dog program provides several advantages, including:
- Increased lead generation – Bird-dogs focus solely on finding new leads, allowing sales teams to concentrate on selling.
- Better lead quality – Bird-dogs qualify and filter leads before they reach sales staff.
- Enhanced sales productivity – Salespeople spend less time prospecting and more time closing.
- Greater reach – Bird-dogs can identify leads sales teams may miss.
- Cost-effective – Bird-dogs are paid on commission vs. a sales salary.
- Sales support – Bird-dogs provide valuable data to optimize sales efforts.
For sales organizations, bird-dogs provide a scalable, cost-efficient model for driving new business opportunities, freeing up salespeople to focus on selling rather than lead generation.
What are the Drawbacks of Using Bird-Dogs?
While bird-dogs provide some advantages, there are also some potential downsides to consider:
- Lead quality control can be inconsistent without proper training/oversight
- Sales teams lose some control over initial prospecting outreach
- Relationship building between sales rep and prospect is weakened
- Sales messaging may not align with company’s brand/style
- Overlapping prospecting efforts if not properly tracked
- Bird-dogs can become “order takers” rather than strategic partners
- May not fit every sales model or industry
Organizations need to weigh the pros and cons to determine if utilizing bird-dogs is the right approach for their business.
What Qualities Make a Good Bird-Dog?
Successful bird-dogs possess some core attributes:
- Persistence – Tenacity to push through rejection and keep prospecting.
- Outgoing personality – Ability to build rapport and relationships.
- Business acumen – Understands the company, products, customers, and market.
- Organized – Carefully tracks leads and details in a CRM system.
- Goal-oriented – Motivated by targets and metrics.
- Self-starter – Can work independently and take initiative.
- Communication skills – Listens, probes, and engages effectively.
Bird-dogs should also align with the company’s values, brand, and sales process. Cultural fit is key.
What Industries Use Bird-Dogs?
While the bird-dog model can work in many sales environments, it thrives in certain industries more than others:
- Real estate – Identifying promising listings and leads is crucial.
- Mortgage and lending – Referrals are key in this relationship-driven field.
- Insurance – Connecting with prospects takes persistence and networking.
- Financial services – Building a book of business is core to success.
- Staffing and recruiting – Sourcing great leads and candidates is critical.
- Business-to-business – Requires relationship-based prospecting.
The common thread is these industries all rely heavily on new business development and relationships.
Bird-Dog Commission Structures
Some common commission and payment structures used for bird-dogs include:
- Flat fee per lead/referral – For example, $25 per lead called and sent to sales.
- Tiered commission on closed deals – Higher % commission on the sales bird-dog’s leads produce.
- Percentage of revenue generated – E.g. 5% of total sales from referred accounts.
- Salary plus commission – Provides a guaranteed base plus upside through commissions.
- 100% commission – Pay is based solely on sales resulting from leads.
The optimal structure aligns the bird-dog’s compensation with behaviors that benefit the sales team. The mix of base and variable pay depends on the role’s level of strategic value.
Bird-Dog Strategies and Tactics
Effective sales bird-dogs utilize some proven tactics and plays to drive results:
- Network continuously to cultivate lead sources.
- Mine existing client/prospect lists for referral opportunities.
- Prospect online through LinkedIn searching, Facebook groups, forums, etc.
- Work warm leads and circle back to old prospects.
- Host referral partner events for top clients to expand reach.
- Attend industry conferences and association events to connect.
- Partner with centers of influence to get introductions and referrals.
Leveraging existing relationships and expanding networks both online and offline are key skills for sales bird-dogs. They must always be networking and selling.
Sales Tools for Bird-Dogs
Bird-dogs integrate a variety of sales technologies and tools:
- CRM – For capturing leads, tracking outreach, and reporting on metrics.
- Email – Email outreach and email signature advertising.
- Social media – LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter for connecting.
- Contact databases – Access prospect contact info from sources like ZoomInfo.
- Phone/text – Calling, texting leads for initial connection.
- Web analytics – Identify online visitor trends to optimize SEO and marketing.
Sales tech stacks help bird-dogs work efficiently, capture lead data, track outreach, and prove their sales impact.
Bird-Dog Reporting Metrics
Key metrics used for tracking bird-dog performance include:
- Number of leads sourced
- Lead-to-opportunity conversion rates
- Number of opportunities generated
- Sales pipeline driven
- Referral partner signups
- Sales influenced or attributed
- Sales cycle time of leads
- Lead quality grades
CRM solutions help bird-dogs monitor these KPIs to quantify their impact and fine-tune processes.
Month | Leads Sourced | Opportunities Created | Sales Influenced |
---|---|---|---|
January | 250 | 125 | $250,000 |
February | 275 | 150 | $300,000 |
Here is an example table visualizing some sample bird-dog metrics over time.
Conclusion
A bird-dog can provide tremendous value in driving new sales opportunities through dedicated lead generation activities. Their success depends on persistence, relationship-building skills, and alignment with the sales organization. With proper processes, reporting, and coordination in place, sales bird-dogs enable sales teams to boost productivity and pipeline velocity.