I’m sure they’re myopically thinking that full cycle AEs can do it. And that because of automation, it’s something a rep can do in addition to building the pipelines and managing the close. Which could be true in some cases. But account mapping, making sure the ICPs are entered and sequenced and personalizing the outreach - takes a lot of time. If you added that to my workload, it would break me. You want your comparatively expensive AEs closing those contracts, and your comparatively less expensive SDR team building out those accounts and doing that valuable outreach. It’s also how SDRs should be gaining equally valuable training so they develop into a foundationally solid AE.

SDRs should not be going anywhere. It’s shortsighted to have most AEs take it on.

SaaSyBee

Politicker

Founder

We got rid of our SDRs and now AEs have to do it. It's awful. Thankfully, we have a strong inbound flow, but holy crap we cannot figure out outbounding.

grae

Valued Contributor

Agency Owner

I have heard this happening a lot. Outbound results not worth the investment in SDRs. So they get worse result by making everyone full cycle 😬

Gyro25

Notorious Answer

Account Executive

BDR turned AE, this is the truth..

sign_here_pls

Fire Starter

Account Executive

Seeing the same exact thing where I’m at

Beans

Big Shot

Enterprise Account Executive

Cold calling is dead is a mantra laid out by lazy reps and tech products whose platform is email automation.

It is still the best tool to reach, pitch, and learn from prospects.

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

Sales Rep

Think of SDRs also as an internship for AE roles. I think that’s the real value of having SDRs, getting qualified AEs who know their product and customers

oldcloser

Arsonist

💀

Because you're going to prospect?

grae

Valued Contributor

Agency Owner

I am an SDR. But I have seen prominent CEOs and thought leaders openly discuss a future that does not include SDR.

I am asking to improve my business and become indispensable by understanding the problems people are experiencing.

Coming from the copier biz, I am trained as a full-cycle AE. SDRs were a luxury.

oldcloser

Arsonist

💀

SDR’s add immense value. They find opportunities, as you well know. Everyone’s toying with their own versions of cutting the plant lady’s salary.

HVACexpert

Politicker

sales engineer

I guess who does all the outbound work then? Sure full cycle AEs could do it, but real expectation need to be set then regarding growth/traction/sales.

grae

Valued Contributor

Agency Owner

It seems like many founders are coping with the lack of product-market fit in the post- c0vid era. VC Money is drying up.

Diablo

Politicker

Sr. AE

Depends. If it’s a high velocity product, low value, with lots of inbound then yes.

Pachacuti

Politicker

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

Cold calling is not dead.

The SDR role is evolving.

Maximas

Tycoon

Senior Sales Executive

No way, you tell us what would it be replaced with!

grae

Valued Contributor

Agency Owner

CEO of Pavillion is thinking of new growth strategies. He didn't specifically mention cutting SDRs but one can read between the lines.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/samfjacobs_over-the-past-4-weeks-ive-traveled-over-activity-7076189311431274496-scno?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios

Justatitle

Big Shot

Account Executive

Imagine how much time would be wasted in disqualifying time wasters, honestly it's worth it for that fact alone.

LoneMaverick

Executive

Strategic Account Leader

The last two companies I was at the SDR org was awful. I never got outbound meetings from them. The last company I was with not a single meeting in 9 months with a dedicated SDR.

I would like to see the SDR role evolve into more junior rep/apprentice type of role.

Enterprise Account Executive

Three thoughts:

#1: SDR’s are too limited…. The culprit are leaders unwilling to incentivize. This might be inappropriate, but here is some advice from an old rep… Figure out how your SDR‘s are getting comped and work with them through that lens and you’ll immediately see more value.

#2: We should take a step further as sales people and press for our outbound partners to be better compensated. Frankly, the effort THEY put in is largely what justifies OUR high commissions.

#3: We AE’s should be MUCH more willing to do this type of work. Because THIS IS THE WORK. We are the face of the company. ESPECIALLY if you have a Solutions Engineer (B2B SaaS), what do you expect they are paying us for if we aren’t even demo’ing? They honestly do not even a little bit need us to build e-mail automations or schedule meetings. And ChatGPT….

I fear we have a generation of sales leaders who cut their teeth in the dawning hours of technology who now are unable to think broadly or strategically about selling without being flooded with inbound opportunity. The demise of the SDR and BDR function is such a brazen and obvious example to me; It deserves discussion.

saltysal

Executive

Account Executive

Getting rid of SDRs would be like getting rid of the infantrymen. Need a strong team to clear through the bullshit to find the solid opportunities.

SalesBeast

Politicker

Sales Leader

saltysal

Executive

Account Executive

If you DQ the meeting/lead because it's bs do they still get paid for that? At my last role where BDR's were feeding me leads I was able to reject a lot of the ones that were obvious bullshit by listening to the recorded call they had with the prospect. If I did that or immediately discovered at the beginning of the call it was simply a terrible fit or shit lead, just dq that bad boy and the BDR would be deducted that SQL and I don't have to worry about destroying my conversion rate

hustlemonkey

Personal Narrative

Account Executive

Basic economics of Specialization. The SDRs will be more productive in both outbound and inbound to qualify deals. AE’s can work more optimally to Disco and navigate to close. Currently working as an AE doing both roles. It’s a hassle. Not enough time in the week to optimally grow the pipe and work 100+ opps… if I had an SDR focused on specific campaigns, we’d kill it together.

Regional Director Mississippi East - Enterprise Strategic Team

SDR's can be a great training ground for future sales reps, but I can't tell you how many times I've heard, "the SDR's are not getting me any meetings", "the meetings they set up are bad", "they are just getting credit for the meetings I've already set". This can be a toxic mentality. I do believe many of the best SDR's grow from strong AE / SDR mentor type relationships. If you manage a sales team, include them in team meetings, let them know what information your AE's need to close a deal and have them be a part of that process. Then Hire them as Sales Reps (because ideally you just spent 1-2 years training them). If you are not willing to hire your SDR's into sales rep positions... you probably need to revamp your SDR program.

KwotaKrusher

Valued Contributor

Sales Executive

I just got laid off from a job where we had SDRs and full cycle AEs for deals ($30k ACV (3-6 mo sales cycle) - AEs were required to generate a minimum of two outbound deals a week while managing deals. Our weekly leaderboard was not about gow much revenue was close, but who was in the lead for generating outbound opps. Many reps were simply faking opportunities. People who were trailing behind were fired. AEs were miserable and burnt out beyond belief due to pressure. Zero inbound leads as well.

StringerBell

Politicker

Account Executive

This is my nightmare..

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

I don't really have inbound or SDRs now so 🤷‍♀️

fuzzy

Notable Contributor

CMO (Chief Meme Officer)

The idea of killing the SDR role is asinine for any SMB and up. Even 1 SDR will produce way more pipeline than just an AE or two doing everything.

HighStandardXL

Account Executive

We need to see SDR as a top sport job. I’ve worked with a few very good SDRs and I validate them enormous. However a lot of companies don’t value them in the right way.

I’m used to do a full cycle, by creating a digital brand where I can get out leads if I want to do some prospecting. But there are a lot of lazy AEs who stopped prospecting.

Aurelius

Member

SDR

eliminate inbound SDRs, keep an outbound hunting team.

cashingchecks

Personal Narrative

VP of Sales

no but the teams should be smaller and more focused on opportunity generation vs meetings

Modro

Valued Contributor

Senior Account Executive

I think the SDR Job is been mainly given to amateurs or new graduates. Some experienced AE could do with being SDRs with a higher pay

raidernation39

Catalyst

Account Executive

Try not having them at all and no marketing.. you’ll change your opinion

pirate

Big Shot

🦜☠️ Account Executive

I think really, you need much more or equal amount of SDRs to AEs

thebritaliansalesguy

Contributor

account executive

Honestly, we do all our lead gen, prospecting, mapping, selling pipeline management - honestly is awful. You end up decreasing quality in selling and sporadic outbound activity honestly. With that keep lead gen for fresh and more relevant account? It’s honestly getting a bit too much

Btw, cold calling ain’t dead, it’s just more difficult as we all know

mikecamby

Valued Contributor

Strategic Enterprise Account Executive

To have long term success in most Enterprises it’s a requirement. Unless you’re selling into a blue ocean, there’s too many decision makers to trust all your AEs to keep all them warm. The problem isn’t the SDRs but that their roles haven’t evolved

lajefa

Good Citizen

Enterprise Account Executive

The only ones asking this question are delusional founders and fake 'leaders'...

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.

grae

Should the SDR be eliminated?

Eliminate SDRs?

36 comments

Related posts

SDR BPOs?

What is an SDR?