Gol Allen

Founding Account Executive

How soon can I go from SDR to an AE?

Savages,

This is my situation.

I have done sales for 4+ years, mainly for my own small online businesses in the agency and course space, and I worked at 2 small start-ups in sales and growth. I never had a quota, and the deal sizes were always less than 10k, and the sales cycle was max 2-8 weeks.

I have been applying to loads of AE roles - instant rejection from all of them so far.

I applied to some SDR roles, and I am getting a few interviews.

My question

Based on this information, how realistic is it that I can get to AE in a year?

🚀 Career Goals

🎯 Career Development

16 comments

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braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

Depends on company and your performance

GlenRoss

Politicker

Account Executive

I would work other angles like your network. If you’ve closed deals before an SMB AE team might give you a shot but I would target smaller deal sizes or PLG that’s likely a good transition. Anything with a considered purchase and deal sizes $20k and higher probably won’t take the risk. For your actual question though you can do it in a year but it has to be the right setup or you can get trapped behind a line of more tenured bdrs

Founding Account Executive

Great advise thank you!

DataCorrupter

Politicker

Account Executive

I got from BDR to AE in 2 years, but a lot of things worked in my favor: First, I was overachieving on quota and getting capped out as a result; second, the company had a bunch of “Rolodex reps” (hope you know what I mean here), and that wasn’t working very well, so they needed a different AE profile and I happened to be younger and doing well (see point one); third, there was a new VP/CRO who liked me and was willing to take a chance on me; fourth, there was no role between BDR and field AE (never had to be Sr. BDR, commercial AE, etc.).

I worked at a larger, public tech company after that. They had BDR, Sr. BDR (inbound), SDR, Sr. SDR (outbound), Commercial AE, New Enterprise AE (hunters) and Strategic Enterprise AE (farmers). Each role would take you a year or so to progress into, but as you went up, the number of roles would be fewer and promotions would be much slower, so reps would get stuck in commercial and never get to Enterprise.

All this to say, if you’re at the right company (early, mid-stage, pre-ipo) with the right circumstances, you can do it quickly, but not likely within a year. If you’re at a larger company, much longer.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

What does your resume look like? Sounds like you may not be conveying your experience clearly.

Founding Account Executive

Its pretty decent like i said been selling for a few years 3-5 but not in quota carrying jobs or big tech, mainly for own my online products and services and tiny start ups.

Diablo

Politicker

Sr. AE

It really depends tbh. 1 year could be challenging within the same company.

Founding Account Executive

Yeah, most of their current AEs were in tech sales for 1-2 years before they got into this company as an AE

HappyGilmore

Politicker

Account Executive

Depends on the company and performance. From what I've seen and heard, anywhere between 1-2 years in the SDR role before promotion, but can vary.

Founding Account Executive

Got it thanks

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

Sales Rep

Seen people do it in 6 months, but that is rare tbh

Revenue_Rambo

Politicker

Director, Revenue Enablement

Timing will depend entirely on the company you join up with. My advice, take it or leave it… if you go the SDR route let them know you have a goal of becoming an AE when you start, but then don’t bring it up again until you’ve hit or exceeded your number 6 months in a row.

They are hiring you to be an SDR. Focus on being the best damn SDR they’ve ever seen. Let your performance speak for you.

Founding Account Executive

Great advice thanks

LambyCorn

Arsonist

A mfkn E

around 2 years, is the average - kill it and you can do it in 1 year

Justatitle

Big Shot

Account Executive

To answer the question that is posed in the title. Tomorrow if you have the right blackmail.

Juancallclose

Catalyst

Director

Too soon. Master one area before moving onto the next

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Gol Allen

How soon can I go from SDR to an AE?

16 comments

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