Salesisfun

AE

SDR w/no clear path to AE, time to jump ship?

Hey all, appreciate any insight I can get from those more tenured. Also a preliminary apology for the long winded text.

Context here is I've been a top preforming SDR for 16 mo at a Series C SaaS company. Hit my quota every month expect for two in an org where a large majority of SDRs do not hit quota. I've socialized to my manager & our VP of Inside Sales that I want to be promoted and have buy in from both parties. The AEs I support also have watched my calls on Gong and say that I should be an AE.

The problem is headcount, or lack thereof. The commercial AE role at this org has apparently been over hired for and there is no timeline around when additional headcount may open up. I really enjoy this company, the culture, so on and so forth, but without a clear path to promotion I'm asking myself if I really want to stay around and wait.

So I ask all of you: In an environment where you're a top performer with no clear timeline to promotion, do I stay or do I go?

Appreciate any & all help everyone can provide.

💯 Promotions

13

18 comments

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Diablo

Politicker

5

Sr. AE

Sorry to hear about that. Couple of things I can think of are:-

- What is the definition of over hired in your org?

- How are the other AEs performing?

- Is your company scaling? If yes, they would definitely need more headcount (unless other AEs are either not meeting their target or don't have much in the pipeline)

InQ5WeTrust

Arsonist

6

No marketing, mayo isn't an MQL

Scaling question is key - your leadership should be able to tell you what the projected size of the sales team is if they hit targets.

Then you can soft check this against how the AE"s are performing.

Doesn't prove anything concretely, but a quick smell test.

Salesisfun

Opinionated

0

AE

Appreciate that.

From my conversation with my manager, it's a matter of aligning marketing volume with # of AEs. In the commercial segment, they are primarily inbound although I know some AEs are needing to supplement with outbound work due to minimal marketing volume + SDR leads.

InQ5WeTrust

Arsonist

3

No marketing, mayo isn't an MQL

Sounds like its worth putting some feelers out and exploring your options. Nothing wrong with understanding your worth on the market.

it's a question for yourself on whether you still feel that you're developing in your role, or the lack of a promotion is a now a blocker on your personal development.

Salesisfun

Opinionated

1

AE

I'm of the train of thought that you can always be learning, but simultaneously I do feel myself close to stagnation.

I'll put out some feelers definetly. Looks like those InMail recruiters will be getting a positive response!

InQ5WeTrust

Arsonist

3

No marketing, mayo isn't an MQL

Definitely good to do some prep interviews for when a juicy role comes across your lap.

InQ5WeTrust

Arsonist

2

No marketing, mayo isn't an MQL

Concur you can always be learning, but that drive can become reduced when you're no longer feeling challenged in your role.

On that though, may be worth raising with leadership if you do decide to stay. May be other things you can do to widen remit.

Rallier

Politicker

3

SDR Manager and Consultant

If I were you I'd start applying to AE roles at other companies. Try to avoid going the SDR route again, unless they plan to pay you a ton. It might be a bit harder, but it will be well worth it

CuriousFox

WR Officer

4

🦊

I agree with this. Look to other AE roles. Don't apply to remain a SDR.

Salesboi

Valued Contributor

1

Director of Sales

Just circling back on this. Really want to align on this KPI of getting an AE role. Better synergy.

Best,
{{sender first name}}

Jk, but for real, get an ae role. you'd be surprised by how fast it moves when you start applying. Takes about 1-2 months IMO

fidelcashflow

Catalyst

2

Account Executive

Ultimately, you always want to work for a company that is scaling. You are at the sweet spot. You either should have gotten promoted a few months ago or you should basically be getting promoted in a few months. Given your context, you should be next up. It is weird that they don't have any timeline though. If they don't open headcount in 2 months, that's not exactly a good sign. Our sales org is scaling pretty nicely, not insane, but nicely and we have been averaging about 1 new comm AE each month over the last 6 months. And, we have already seen the schedule of headcount for the rest of the year.

Give it a couple months, not exactly for the headcount to open but for an answer. If you don't get an answer on timeline by then, start applying. You can land a comm AE spot no problem.

DrunkenArt

Politicker

2

Sales Representative

Just did this myself about a month ago. Job market is great, doesn't hurt to at least check what's out there.

CaneWolf

Politicker

2

Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract

I think the smart play here is to a) push harder at your current employer and b) look for some low ACV, fast-converting software company to get the experience as an AE. Later, you'll be able to flip back to more complex tech given your SDR experience.

LordBusiness

Politicker

0

Chief Revenue Officer

The AE team has zero attrition at your company, they will never have a need to backfill? The only thing you can really do here (given you want to stay) is have a clear(er) expectation setting meeting with your leadership, where you highlight that 1) 16 months is past the expectations for growth into an AE role you had coming into the job 2) A clear timeline for an opportunity to move into the new role. TBH, what's likely happening is that you are an asset to the company as a skilled/consistent/successful SDR in a pool of ones that sound like miss the mark. They are afraid moving you up into a new role will leave a hole in their SDR production and are covering it will bullshit excuses like "over hired headcount". If they don't make any moves in a positive direction for you after your "clear expectations" conversation, you may have to start looking for a new gig.

UrAssIsSaaS

Arsonist

2

SaaS Eater

Nailed it. When you were hired was the timeline to AE quicker than 16 months? If so do everything LordBusiness outlines.

If you can show how you will be more valuable to the company in an AE role than as an SDR it will further bolster your case.

FormerStartupJobHopper

Tycoon

0

AE

Tough spot, been there. I'd take calls from recruiters for AE roles and put some feelers out there, but I'd only leave a solid situation for a slam dunk.

Someone else said it, the key question is are the AEs hitting target? If no, you may not wanna be an AE there anyway. If they are, it may be worth some patience. You don't want to get in the habit of starting all over again as an SDR, even though it's very tempting when something goes wrong and you snag another 5k in base elsewhere.

I finally broke through for good this year and have had some success. So now even if something goes sideways, whether it's my fault or not, I'm an AE for good now with no need to go backwards. Not only bc I have closing experience, but I can point to the fact that I got promoted and stuck around the same place a while (meaning I didn't suck and blow)

jwils

Politicker

0

Sales Manager

Hm. This sounds to me like the company Lever.

I would approach this a few ways: did they over hire for the role from external candidates? If that's the case, it may be that the next time there's headcount, they once again hire external candidates.

The AE market is hot right now, there's a good chance that you could get an SB role with another company if you have good recommendations and a good track record of hitting your goals.

16 months is a very long time at a Series C company to have been a BDR the entire time: I would say 1 year is long for a company at that stage [shoot for 8-9 months, at Enterprise orgs you could be a BDR even longer].

goose

Politicker

0

Sales Executive

If you can clearly show your results at your organization you should have no problem finding opportunities where ever you want. Especially in today's climate.

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