SaaSGuy313

SDR

Drained

I feel like absolute shit, my month has been slow at best, and I'm stressed tf out about hitting monthly quota. this is my first true SDR role and I'm starting to question my abilities

For context, I have decent sales experience in field sales and telecom, and I absolutely LOVE the company I work for but I feel drained because of the role. i feel like I'm happier in a CSM or Ops role versus SDR but no idea what to do

any tips or reassurance would help

onward and upward Bravado peeps

🙏 Mental Wellness

👨‍🌾 SDR

💩 Shitpost

16 comments

Sort by:

funcoupons

WR Officer

👑

How long have you been an SDR for?

SaaSGuy313

Opinionated

SDR

SDR handful of months, came in from being an AM in Field Sales prior

funcoupons

WR Officer

👑

It's normal to feel drained/question your decision to move into sales earlier on in the process, after the magic of a new role has worn off. You're at the point where one of two things is going to happen:

1) You're going to work to get over this hurdle and come out way stronger on the other end with the newfound discovery that you want to stay in sales.

2) You're going to realize that sales is not for you.

It sounds like you're doing well enough on paper, your issue is coming from managing the pressure of a quota. Quotas are a fact of life in sales. If thinking about them is negatively impacting your mental health/ability to do your job, it could be that this isn't the right fit for you, especially if you're longing for your previous non quota roles as an AM.

Quotas are definitely a source of stress for anyone in sales. But those who want to be in sales are willing to take on that stress because the positives of working in sales are worth it to them. If you don't see enough positives in this career track to continue on, you know what you need to do.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Excellent advice.

mami

Tycoon

Account Executive

What about hitting your quota is stressing you out? Are you outbounding or handling inbound requests?

SaaSGuy313

Opinionated

SDR

Both. Mostly outbound, inbounds are on round robin for SDR team. Just hitting meeting quota when it seems a slow as shit is what’s bothering me, I’ve done well so far but i guess that fear of not hitting is what’s driving me crazy

mami

Tycoon

Account Executive

Is your number around meetings set?

Work backward from the number of meetings you need to set to get to the number of inputs you need. If you're just calling/emailing your conversion rate will be significantly lower, if you implement custom video prospecting you'll see an increase in your conversion rate. Ex: 10 meetings a month, 5% conversion on video outbound = 200 outbounds a month.

I would look at your current conversion rate as your baseline and experiment with methods to increase that so you can decrease your input numbers. If you have solid input numbers, reach out to your manager for feedback on your methods.

What are the successful SDRs doing? Can you look at their work in any way?

Also, don't put so much pressure on yourself to be perfect off the bat. Quotas can be really stressful if you make them that way. Every day is an opportunity to practice and hone your craft.

bendandsnack

Politicker

Account Exec

I ran into the same thing last January. Went from being on top and having huge goals for the new year, only to find out that no one's buying anything in January.

I'd recommend leaning into how slow it is and doing a lot of learning/etc to set you up for success during the rest of the year. If you push yourself too hard you'll waste your energy on a month that's slow regardless of how hard you work.

Or, if you must prospect, go on LinkedIn & add people from accounts you know you'll be targeting later in the year. Send them a simple "hey, thanks for adding me on linkedin, happy to network" video to make them like you. Follow up later with an article on trends for this year. Follow up later with your ask, after they've gotten their budgets for the year.

I treat my linkedin prospects like plants, periodically water them until they flower. Good time of the year for it.

SaaSMaster

Politicker

Strategic Partnerships Manager

I’ve definitely had similar feelings in the past where a certain role has you feeling super drained. Sometimes you just have to take a step back and evaluate if you think it’s just a temporary lull or if you want to move to a different role or company altogether

SaaSGuy313

Opinionated

SDR

Thank you for the insight, I think it’s just a personal thing with myself as well, where I set a very high bar on my personal performance and it adds onto the stress. Company definitely isn’t the issue, I love them, but the role seems to be a drainer on me

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

SDR roles are draining. It looks like this is a means to an end for you, however, if I'm reading the other comments correctly. Basically, you won't be doing this forever.

bluebirdsonly

Fire Starter

Enterprise Account Executive

When I first started out I had an incredible first year. P-Club, internal merit and it was epic. Second year, the first 7 months were awful. I couldn’t close a draw. I was questioning myself, ability and throwing blame where I could. <br>My manager said something that sticks with me to this day. Never be too high (when things go well) and never be too low (when things don’t) - you’ll learn more about yourself when you go through adversity and appreciate the better times. Do the right things little and often and in the end you’ll push through it. <br>Fall in love with sales again. It’s a science, an art and it’s brilliant! <br>Oh, and by luck and hard work I managed to smash my annual number in one quarter. Luck maybe - hard work more so! <br>Also - CS isn’t a walk in the park. You get paid much less to deal with shit people have sold and get clients busting you all day. Well, IMO.
Also - my last 5 cents - treat PG and your job as a process. Little and often. It’s not gonna happen overnight.

Woody

Politicker

Business Development Executive

You're entering into a new field of being that few professionals experience. You're responsible for specific results and objectives that require more than just showing up everyday. You'll get used to it or you'll find something else to do.

Justatitle

Big Shot

Account Executive

SDR is the toughest role, it's a thankless job and mind numbing, the success rate is under 10% and you need to have rhino skin. All that said there are peaks and valleys and the difference in achieving vs not can be as simple as mindset. If you don't believe in yourself, then who will?

Thesamiam13x

Celebrated Contributor

Sales

Im with you there, i feel drained at my job lol

DataSlangah

Politicker

SAE

Control what you can control - your activity. Set goals around activity, not quotas. It will change your perspective about being stressed and "drained." If you make your activity goals but not your quota, you are doing something wrong in your activity. Then you can also discuss with your manager, these are the activities I believe will get me to quota. If he is worth anything, he will be able to give you guidance on the right and wrong activities. Also, MORE is not helpful guidance. Quota is out of your control, activity is 100% within your control. Hitting your activity targets should help you feel energized.

Bravado is a community of trusted sales professionals endorsed by their customers.

Products

The War Room Jobs Salary Guide Tech Sales U

Company

About Us How It Works Blog Bug Bounty

Contact

Press Careers

If you are hired as a contract sales rep by a Bravado customer, we may ask you to prove access to the employee email account provided to you by that customer. This data will be shared with customers to track your sales productivity; customers can use this data to confirm you meet the minimum activity requirements to pay out your ramp stipend and commission.

SaaSGuy313

Drained

16 comments

Related posts

Feeling burnt out?

Those days when you're just not feeling it

The best morning routine: shower + bath = shath