Learn about the Google Cloud Customer Development Representative salary, culture, and role.
Role Basics
What does a Customer Development Representative (CDR) do at Google?
A Google customer development representative’s main responsibility is to identify and qualify sales opportunities in Google’s Select accounts. You will be responsible for cold calling, cold emailing, and prospecting via LinkedIn. You do not have a strict daily prospecting requirement in the CDR role as you only have limited accounts, most of which Google already has an existing relationship with. The ultimate goal is to build a quality pipeline for the field sales rep and key account director on the territory.
The CDR might also do some account management type work, such as organizing training events for customers.
The difference between the CDR role and the traditional BDR role at Google is that the CDR specifically covers Google’s Select accounts (also known as the key accounts) and does some account management work. The BDR will cover smaller, lower priority accounts and not do account management work
What type of work experience do you need for this role?
You should have at least 1-2 years mid-market, enterprise, or strategic account SDR experience at another tech company.
How is the sales org structured?
Google segments their sales org by account size, vertical, and geography.
The account sizes are SMB, Enterprise, and Select (key accounts).
Verticals include healthcare and life sciences, retail, financial services, etc.
Geographic locations might be one city (New York City) to a whole region (TOLA).
SMB and Enterprise Accounts will only have a field sales rep covering the account, whereas the Select accounts will have a key account director as well as multiple field sales reps.
Which locations does Google hire for this role?
All CDR’s are currently WFH. Pre-pandemic, CDR’s worked in the San Francisco, New York, Atlanta, Chicago, and Austin offices.
What level are Customer Development Reps?
CDR’s enter Google as Level 3 (L3) or Level 4 (L4). Your level depends on the years of experience and type of work experience you have.
Culture and Daily Life
What's the Google Cloud sales culture like?
The culture is team-oriented, supportive, and not your traditional high pressure sales environment. However, because the bar to get into Google is set so high, you will be surrounded by high performing individuals who naturally want to exceed expectations.
Generally, there is very little turnover at the CDR position.
Does the CDR role offer upward mobility at Google?
Yes. Most CDR’s aim to progress into a field sales role covering the accounts they currently support and Google has done a good job of consistently promoting CDRs into these roles.
Outside of the company, it is fairly easy to move into an Account Executive role as the Google brand opens many doors.
Salary, Commission, and Quota
How much does a Google Cloud Customer Development Representative make?
Your compensation will depend on what level you come in at and what office you’re based out of. CDR’s are either level 3 or level 4.
A level 3 CDR will earn on average a $67,000 annual base salary, $29,000 in commissions (bonus), and $15,000 in stock (based on 2020 data). You can potentially negotiate up to a $5,000 cash signing bonus as well.
For more detailed Google Cloud compensation information, visit our Google Cloud company page.
How are the quotas structured?
Your bonus is based on the dollar amount of pipeline you generate. The pipeline dollar amount is based on the territory’s prior year performance.
At the CDR level, there’s a floor and a ceiling for the bonus. Because some accounts don’t need as much prospecting, you lose out on the opportunity to generate pipeline. To make up for that, Google currently (subject to change) guarantees at least 50% of your bonus. The bonus will also be capped at 120%.
Tips to Succeed
How big of a role does territory play in your success?
Territory plays a large part in your success as a CDR because you only have five to six accounts. If a few of your accounts are having a down year, you will need to rely on your other accounts to pick up for those poorly performing accounts.
Who does Google Cloud compete with?
Your main competitors are Oracle, AWS, IBM, and Microsoft.
Google Cloud is known as the third place cloud provider behind AWS and Microsoft Azure.
What is the Google Cloud sales training like?
Google’s CDR training consists of a week-long virtual sales bootcamp that you will complete with other new hires, of various roles, in the sales org.
The bootcamp will consist of general sales modules that all participants need to complete, as well as dedicated breakout sessions specific to your role.
What advice would you give to a new rep?
- Learn as much about the products and cloud technology as possible
- Develop strong relationships with your field reps and key account directors
- Network internally across sales orgs and teams to set yourself up for an internal promotion
- Be flexible – things change constantly as the role is new
Is now still a good time to join Google as a CDR?
Yes. Google Cloud is rapidly growing, further building out their sales org, and consistently promoting CDRs into field sales roles.