SteveMadden

Sales Exec

Valued Contributor

Asking for a friend... Tenure Discussion

A friend of mine has been a peasant - I mean BDR - for upwards of 4 years.

3 different companies - spent at least a year at each position

All three were startups that grew from around 15 --> 75 employees - so there was a ton of growth potential (or so they thought)

After taking some time to think, they are realizing that its not the company, it may just be that they suck...

Any insights on expected tenure in that position - and besides play the politics role - how to ensure that their growth is a serious consideration as to why they are staying with the current company company...

P.S.A

I'm the friend

How long should one be "stuck" in the BDR position?

Attached poll

6-12 Months 1-2 Years 2+ years However long it takes for you to understand your current/next role

*Voting in this poll no longer yields commission.

🎈 Mentorship

🚀 Career Goals

🤘 Personal Growth

4

7 comments

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ARRisLife

Politicker

2

Account Executive

I can empathize with the feeling of 'stuck' but would urge the consideration that it's a very critical role to really learn the job/market/product ect. I'm curious what led to each occurrence of jumping ship.. was there reason to believe that promotion was off the table or was there some impatience on individuals outlook.

It's really common for bdr/sdr's to be laser focused on promotion to AE and when they're confronted with the reality check that they aren't quite ready to carry a bag or that the person hiring them perceives that- they want to say screw this I'll go somewhere else and get promoted faster when in reality they're just setting themselves at zero again.

Without knowing the specific circumstances it feels like this person is impatient and doesn't want to put in the additional work to prove themselves at these companies but I don't want to make the assumption. Perhaps there's very good reasons for leaving.

I would encourage them to have very candid conversations with their manager AND the manager of the team they'd like to join (AE manager) about what skills they need to develop in order to be ready and what measurable exercises you can do along the way to 'show and test' those developed skills. Additionally, working with a mentor to start getting further knowledge about day to day things.

It's a long process but the skills you develop as a bdr/sdr will define your value as an AE.

Good Luck!

SteveMadden

Opinionated

1

Sales Exec

This is all great @ARRisLife

TLDR:

-First was based off of comp change and lack of communication from management
-Second was covid related
-Third is a current position that feels like the path just isn't clearly written out (and I know that's up to me to get written in stone)

With micro cultures being more prominent in the WFH situation, I have found it more difficult to have a serious 1:1 where the push to ask for more is actually seen as a "for real, give me more work to do - I can take it" and is more looked at as a "im bored, i need something to do" type of thing. It may just be a one off, but your response is truly appreciated.

SteveMadden

Opinionated

1

Sales Exec

BTW, 10 answers and 1 upvote? Sheeeeeesh

HarryCaray

Notable Contributor

1

HMFIC

I feel ya man. We gotta do better.

DadFather

Politicker

1

Enterprise Account Executive

Companies make it too easy to jump ship as an SDR/BDR as there is only one path forward (ISR/AE) and if you don’t get it in that cycle, you gotta wait or leave. I’ve seen it happen too many times.

Tough scenario though. Maybe he should be asking his manager about progression paths - what should i do to get to the next role? Who should i use as a mentor to guide me?

Coffeesforclosers

Notable Contributor

1

Director Sales and Market Development

It really depends on the complexity of the product. Some software and low dollar amount 0-100k, average sale you could be ready in a year or 2. Business changing full enterprise software $250k-7 figures and complex you may need more time. We have all been there and you do not suck, could be wrong company or leadership. We try to promote from within and have had 6 sdrs go to the field. So it does happen.

BlueJays2591

Politicker

1

Federal Business Dev Director

12-18 months tops. anything past that without a clear end in sight is just overkill and you should be looking elsewhere.

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