In this market where lay offs & hiring freeze are seen & heard daily, how should a BDR (who has never missed monthly quotas in last 9 months) look at his career progression to the role of an AE?
runnerboy
BDR career progression
11
Sit down with the manager of the AE's and let him/her know of your interest to become an AE. Share your accomplishments and what you've done to ready yourself. Ask what else you should be doing. In other words, get on his/her radar and start building a relationship now, so that when a position opens up you are a shoe-in.
Talk to other AEs ahead of time too. Canโt wait until the position opens up to start networking.
i think if you want to be an AE, you should do everything you can to become an AE. if you can get promoted at your company that is the most ideal route.
if you have to leave the company to be an AE somewhere else, then do it!
There have been lots of layoffs, but that still does not make becoming an AE a risky move. still plenty of opportunity out there.
if you have to leave the company to be an AE somewhere else, then do it!
There have been lots of layoffs, but that still does not make becoming an AE a risky move. still plenty of opportunity out there.
Talk to your leadership and let them know you intention and find a timeline. Learn what you need to do to get promoted.
@Kosta_Konfuciuswhat if they are not agreeing on a timeline give the reason for the volatile conditions today and ask me to wait for 6 months more?
Now, nothing wrong with waiting for 6 months but
what if I am asked to wait for 3 more months after those 6 months?
any thoughts there?
Now, nothing wrong with waiting for 6 months but
what if I am asked to wait for 3 more months after those 6 months?
any thoughts there?
Talk to your manager and talk to AEs at your company. Find out if you can shadow some AEs to learn about their role and how they manage a sales cycle - which should also benefit you in your current role (learning more about the value prop and objection handling). CuriousFox posted a good link as well.
Make sure you're on the sales managers radar. I have my BDRs set time with them monthly, even for just 15 min. It's good that they know you so when something opens up they think of you. Make sure your manager knows your career aspirations. Career progression should be in your managers top 3 priorities for the team.
I think you are in a solid place after hitting quota for 9 months to have that discussion with your manager. Maybe reach out to other managers, AE managers too?
It's a tougher environment right now but companies want to reward high achievers. Up or down economy, top performers will always be needed. Understand your worth and stick to facts when/if you have a conversation with your current manager. Also, keep an eye out for opps outside of your current org.
Why do you want to be an AE? Itโs literally the same job with 5x the brah, brah bullshit.
You have many paths open if you want them.
You have many paths open if you want them.
Thanks for the comment. Also, many paths open like?
You could look in to the different pre-sales and post-sales jobs, such as pre-sales, CSM, implementation, or something else?
If you like any of those roles, see who does them currently in your company and in other companies, reach out and ask for meetings to learn more.
Facts. You don't have to stay in sales. But companies are unlikely to give you that impression.
If you like any of those roles, see who does them currently in your company and in other companies, reach out and ask for meetings to learn more.
Facts. You don't have to stay in sales. But companies are unlikely to give you that impression.
Reach out to the AE managers in your company and ask them what you need to do to get the gig. Be straightforward. Also, ask them if you can run mock demos and go over discovery and closing calls together to learn from them. They love that shit and itโll get you ahead of the curve in learning the role. Iโve seen some fellow BDRs not do that and struggle when they got promoted, working lots of overtime to ramp up. The ones that did do that had a much easier transition and werenโt so burnt out.
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