Hey Savages,
Y'all have been great at answering my dumb 22 year-old BDR questions so far, so I've got another that's been sitting on my chest for a minute.
In my last performance review (in which I received a metric sh*tload of praise), my boss and I had a discussion about the possibility of being promoted to BDR manager in the near future; bear in mind, I'm not quite finished with university and have a few straggling classes. Despite that conflict, I'm undisputable as the top performer.
This idea has been brought up a couple of times before, and I've reasserted that I'd like to go the AE route to end up in a closing role. That being said, I understand the logic of making me a BDR manager because I was the first hire for that role, and I've survived several who have come after me. Getting started in my shop was a little rocky, but I ended up building the program we now use today for BDR outreach.
With respect to the AE position, when I've (carefully, gently, like I'm holding the core of a nuke) inquired about what the timeline to promotion, the answer has consistently been 'at some point after you graduate'. Honestly, after graduation would be preferable for that move because I've still got classes to do (asynchronous online so it doesn't f*ck up calling hours).
By the time I graduate I'll have been with my company for 18 months; it doesn't feel unstable for me until then. At that point, I imagine they'll try to suggest being a BDR manager again.
For the people with a little more time under their belts, what would becoming a BDR manager do to my career? Bear in mind, I want to close and I f*cking love money (hence B-School -> Sales), but with everything going on in the market stability also looks cozy.
I understand the pay is typically the huge gap between these two positions (asides from being in a closing vs. non-closing role), but I'll still be making six figures at 23 either way. It's the longview I'm worried about here. I need fat f*cking gualler to pay for expensive kids and even more expensive wife when I really grow up (let's be real, she's gonna take half), and I understand the differential of earnings between the top end of sales management and top AEs is skewed in favor of the person in the closing role.
Will becoming a BDR manager muck up my ability to become an AE in the future (is this a fork in the road)? What's the right choice here? Would I be safer than a BDR with respect to layoffs during a recession as a manny? Could I just be overthinking this?
I'm gonna put a poll in this to see what the general consensus from y'all is, but if you've got general advice on how to navigate this as a young dude in sales, feel free to drop it below.
-Scooter
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