Sales Development Representatives: Temp Labor or Farm Team?

The meteoric rise in the prevalence of the Sales Development Representative (SDR), also commonly known as a Business Development Representative (BDR), has been perhaps the biggest human capital development in B2B revenue organizations over the past five to ten years. The debate over whether it will meet an equally fast demise at the hands of Artificial Intelligence is one for another day. Those organizations that currently use the SDR function, or are considering adopting or expanding it, need to be honest with themselves and their SDRs (current or about to be hired) about not only their functional purpose in the organization, but also the associated career path (or lack thereof).

While young millennial and Generation Z talent has been much-maligned (fairly or unfairly) over their perceived desire to be promoted more quickly than generations past, early-career salespeople in these roles deserve to understand what they’re getting into and what their career development options are-whether that involves a direct path to a full-cycle Account Executive (AE) role or other roles, such as Account Management, Customer Success, or even Marketing-or if they should view their role as essentially a high-paid internship that will help them find a more senior role elsewhere. While many SDRs will leave the organization on their own volition either way, having a clear understanding of what they’re working towards will not only improve their motivation in what is a challenging role, it will also make them more likely to care about the performance of the extended team, as opposed to merely striving to meet personal activity or compensation-driven metrics.

Models to Consider

As someone whose work involves developing and coaching sales representatives and leaders across a range of roles, I am aware of the substantial investment companies make in recruiting, onboarding, and training SDRs, an investment level that is compounded by the high rates of attrition for the role. I am also naturally of the belief that while improving one’s sales skills is a career-long endeavor, young sales talent with the proper attitude and skillset can make a significant impact on an organization. My personal leaning is thus that sales organizations should view SDRs as prospects in their farm system, akin to a professional baseball organization-many of them will never make the major leagues, and fewer will become All-Stars, but most have the potential to earn the opportunity to take on more responsibility-not only through training and coaching, but by having the “Big League dream” in their sights as motivation.

For some organizations, a hybrid model whereby some AEs are sourced by poaching talent with full-cycle experience from other companies, and others are promoted from the ranks of its SDR team, may prove to be the “best of both worlds”. For other organizations, solely or primarily sourcing talent for junior full-cycle sales roles from outside the organization may be the best route. However, if this is your preference as a sales leader, do the SDR (and your company) a favor by being upfront about not only what the SDR role involves, but where it can lead.

The Pros and Cons of Promoting SDRs to AEs

Regardless of which model your organization opts for, sales and human resources leaders should consider the following when considering promoting SDRs to AE roles:

Pros:

• Seasoned SDRs have product, industry, and customer knowledge that will take outside hires significant time to acquire
• They understand internal revenue operations systems and processes
• They don’t typically command the same level of compensation as do experienced AEs coming to your organization from the outside
• With a clear path to promotion, your organization can attract better SDR talent than those who don’t offer one, or are vague about it

Cons:

• They require additional investment in training and coaching to develop the skills to conduct deeper discovery, build value, understand the dynamics of the buying process, and close sales
• Prospective customers may resent being relegated to working with they may perceive to be an inexperienced representative
• Some newly-minted AEs promoted from your SDR ranks may use the role as a “check the box” exercise so that they can tell their next prospective employer that they have full-cycle sales experience, and not stay in the AE role for very long