PIPELINE MANAGEMENT
The Best SDR Might Be Your AE CHRIS BEALL
Aaron Ross’s book, Predictable Revenue, popularized and put math behind the idea of functional specialization in sales – instigating the era of the SDR (sales development representative).
In the decade since, sales develop- ment has gone from being a leading- edge foundation for the scalable sales machines – desired by growth-at-all- costs companies funded by venture capital – to a standard. As of 2021, if you don’t supply your
full-cycle account executives (AEs) with SDRs to prospect for them, you are at the deep end of the old-school pool. After all, why should you have AEs prospect for themselves when you can have someone less expensive do all the research, emailing, calling, and so- cial outreach needed to set meetings? Like all ways of seeking the benefits
of functional specialization, though, the standard SDR model has some challenges. Here are a few: • SDRs tend to not last very long in their role. Even if they don’t wash out in a few months (an all-too-common occurrence), they have a strong tendency to either leave for greener pastures or get promoted to their dream job as an AE.
• SDRs are not easy to find, on- board, train, and (frankly) manage. Combined with the first challenge, this means the functional life of an SDR is often quite short – mea-
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sured in months, not years.
• The SDR’s job has, interestingly, morphed into a generalist role, requiring a wide range of skills, including researching, writing compelling emails, and engaging socially (often as a pseudo-peer of prospective executives very senior to them). And there aren’t many great generalists available for hire.
• The meetings set for an AE by an SDR (sometimes seen as “their” SDR) often get a negatively bi- ased reception by that AE. Why? Because in sales, as in golf, the fine art of making excuses for one’s failures is always being per- fected. We don’t have to re-watch Glengarry Glen Ross to recognize the phrase, “The leads are weak!”
• SDRs aren’t actually as inexpen- sive as advertised. With billions of dollars of venture capital flooding the startup market – and every startup having a bottleneck at
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