Why do companies insist on hiring SDR's that fit an "ideal" profile?

As an SDR leader it frustrated me to only be able to hire SDR's from certain schools, that fit certain profiles (athletes, in a frat/sorority, or were in a club, 3.2+ GPA). What about people that were on the grind and paid they own way through school and didn't have time for clubs, or couldn't dedicate all of their time to school because of work so they didn't have a very high GPA. I worked at Oracle and that was a major frustration of mine there.


I work for a fast growing startup and they are taking on the same mindset. I'd love to hear some thoughts or opinions on this? I would much rather take someone who has had some adversity in their life over someone who's never experienced hard times and wouldn't know what to do. If it were up to me I wouldn't even require that an SDR have a college degree.

1
PHXtoATL
1
Sales Executive
I totally agree with your philosophy here. When I was hiring for SDRs I always looked for grit and grind which can come from all different places.  I can teach and coach to a lot of things but there is a certain amount of internal motivation that is inherent.  What if you frame it around the a diversity of thought initiative? Diverse experiences in a sales organization have been proven to be more lucrative. 
DwightsEgo
Politicker
1
BDR Manager
nailed it- cant coach effort. You can teach and coach a lot of things, but you can not coach effort.
CuriousFox
WR Officer
1
🦊
I believe @GeneralCorp has a few Oracle war stories 😆

Why not call a meeting with your boss or if you are part of the start up present your ideas in a factual, unemotional manner. Inclusivity matters.
zach
Member
1
VP Sales Enablement
The only 2 things that are non negotiables for me: Ambition and Coachability. Unfortunately, I don't share the same mindset as most other leaders or companies, but my way works. If you can't get the level of autonomy at your employer to hire the best people, regardless of their lack of a trust fund, quit that soul sucker.

I work for a growth equity firm and am currently VP of Enablement for the portfolio but also interim VP of Sales for 1 of our 10 companies. They are the youngest team of closers in both age and experience, and I think only 2/5 have college degrees, period. 

We're about to close Q1 with every single one of them over 100%, and a few over 150%. I am a firm believer that they have the mentality of a winner/chip on the shoulder/"eff you and your 20 years experience" attitude, and that is what makes them great. 

Find a place that holds the same values.
6

Whats that piece of tech that lets you see how SDR's are on average performing at a certain company?

Question
9
13

Rant: Very few SaaS companies actually know how to start an SDR team

Discussion
11