prospectingguy

SDR

Need advice!

I have been in tech sales for a year now. I have been with my last SaaS company for 7 months but due to lack of guidance and coaching, I looked for another opportunity.

I joined my current organization 3 months back with the promise to get support, guidance and coaching as an SDR but I am disappointed again with the current situation here and now I fear that after probation I won't be able to hit my quota

I know that frequent jumps do not look good on my resume but I do feel there is a cultural misfit for me and don't know what to do

Any advice on this? Should I look for another opportunity?

🎈 Mentorship

👥 Hiring

16 comments

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braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

What types of companies are these (e.g. series A or establish public companies)?

What kind of guidance and support are you looking for?

How does your management react when you ask for help?

prospectingguy

Fire Starter

SDR

These are series A, series B startups

When I talk about guidance I mean a better onboarding process which makes me confident regarding Product, ICP etc

Not getting their attention.

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

That's an unfortunate feature of early stage companies, and why I generally dissuade "new" salespeople from working at them.

They're not giving you that becuase they probably don't know it themselves.

So you either go in and figure it out (which can suck) or go to a more established company that has this stuff figured out (my preference).

LordOfWar

Tycoon

Blow it up

I'm afraid you are looking for a golden goose here, a magical org that will take people off the street and put them through sales boot camp to turn them into epic closers, special forces of sales...but it doesn't exist.

Step 1 is to help yourself - read sales books, attend free webinars, follow thought leaders, shadow big closers, etc. You need to get some wins to even stay employed, so start finding out how to get some early success.

Step 2 is to find good content and approach management with funding it. Maybe they just don't have anyone who can teach, or have not had the time to look into any worthwhile methods. Maybe they thought they could just hire sales unicorns and replace them as needed, a very costly and short-sighted solution.

Check out sales methods by Sandler, MEDDIC, Challenger, Spin Selling, and SNAP Selling to name a few.

Check out books like Never Split the Difference, New Sales Simplified, Challenger Sale and Challenger Customer.

There are tons of threads about good methods and books, so start there. I use audiobooks on my drive to and from the office and go through about 1 book every week if not more. Check out Libby by Overdrive for free books and audiobooks via your local library.

Don't just pick one method and run with it, study a few and take away what you need for each situation. They all are grounded in the same idea of identifying needs/pain points and providing solutions vs. pushing products so if anything they will serve well in reinforcing this type of sales which I think should be THE only method of sales.

Taking the lead on your own professional development not only helps you grow but also shows management you have thought about your future at the company. This should get them thinking about planning growth and advancement. Unfortunately, some just don't care about advancement and just hire for a position, but you will learn that when you approach them with your request to support professional development.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

I would come to the realization that you may never get the level of support that you need.

do you best to follow what the most successful people at your company are doing and take it upon your self to develop skills needed to win.

E_Money

Big Shot

💰

Stick this one out for at least a year. 7 months and then 3 on a resume don't look great tbh and you will only land shittier and shittier jobs. Job bouncing culture is definitely cool now a days, but that would be pushing it.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

I'd stick it out a little longer. There isn't a such thing as a perfect company.

SaaSguy

Tycoon

Account Executive

Join more established companies where there is proof they have these foundational training programs built out. Early stage start ups are hit or miss.

Pachacuti

Politicker

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

So you quit cause no one was there to
Hold your hand and you are still looking for someone to tell you exactly what to do and how to do it at your new company?

That’s not how it works. Smiling and dialing is not rocket science. It’s kinda easy actually. Lots of resources and guides out there. Make it happen. Invest in yourself.

But maybe you’re better off in Marketing.

justadude

Fire Starter

The only sales guy

Early stage is big risk big reward territory. If you want the big rewards you have to be more self reliant. Take product people out to lunch, read the trades, figure it out. If you can’t stomach that, find a post IPO company to sell for. You’ll probably make more cash, but the equity payout won’t be as lucrative.

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

True to an extent. It's very rare to meet SDRs who made life changing money via IPOs. They're not afforded enough equity to put up with the risk.

Best bet is to learn the ropes at an established firm.

DungeonsNDemos

Big Shot

Rolling 20's all day

Are you an SDR for a third time? Part of the jump to AE is showing persistence and willingness to stay the course. Unfortunately it's not the easiest, but can be worth it down the road.

Justatitle

Big Shot

Account Executive

If you are considering a change please consider companies that have series B or later funding and explain to them as you interview that series A never has their house in order and it’s really hard to achieve goals without structure. There’s a million companies looking for solid SDRs right now.

CRAG112

Valued Contributor

Account Executive

Welcome to sales. Where you will not get real support or help. The question is, what are you planning to do about it?

New job is just as likely to be the same.
Current job at least helps you understand the game and how to get better.

You have to be proactive about learning what you don't know.

Stardust

WR Officer

-1

President

Not getting it from the company - go hire a coach that can help you build the skills and success. Yeah, it'll cost but how badly do you want to achieve your goals?

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

Don't do this. Any company worth it's salt will either train you themselves or pay for training. Never pay for your own sales training.

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