Marketing automation requires more than just software; it requires people to interact with leads as they’re nurtured through the revenue generation process. But who should interact with them? Marketers? Expensive sales reps?

In this final segment of Software Advice’s 3-part educational whiteboard session, Jon Miller, VP of Marketing at Marketo, talks about their Sales Development Reps (SDRs) – important people who fill in the gap between marketers and full sales reps.

At Marketo, SDRs call on leads that hit the “Leads” section of their funnel in a carefully planned cadence. Here are some interesting highlights:

• Typical Marketo Sales Development Reps can handle 250 to 300 leads per month
• As of March 2011, Marketo was pulling in approximately 2,500 leads per month, so they require 10 SDRs to meet this demand
• There are 2.5 to 3 SDRs for each Account Executive
• The cost of an incremental SDR is low compared to the cost of “missing a deal”

Enjoy!