The Fallacy of the “experienced SDR”
“Our biggest problem in the company is sales pipeline”
“We need an SDR. They need to develop golden opportunities for fun and build a pipeline worth millions. We don’t have time to onboard, coach or train them which is why we need an SDR with 3 years experience.
By the way we are paying £27k + £10k commission and only hiring one, so they’ll be completely on their own and when they don’t hit target they will be asked to leave the business”
I’m pretty bored of this conversation. I think I have had it 3 times a week since starting SaaSLeads. I get it, Tech startups are under a serious amount of pressure, they have tough targets from their new VCs and not to mention they’re still pretty bootstrapped.
On top of that the technical founders “can’t” sell, the Sales VPs are too “important” to cold call and the account executives are far too “busy” with their existing pipeline to be prospecting. So, the buck gets passed to the brand new role they’ve created – the SDR. It’s frighteningly normal in the SaaS economy today and, as you probably guessed, nobody wins.
Of course, I see this as an opportunity for SaaSLeads. By taking top graduate talent, educating and nurturing them in the SaaSLeads Academy and releasing them into SaaS companies as effective SDRs, we fix the above problems. Our Graduates have gone onto great things without the fallacy of “I need someone with 3 years experience” – no, you need someone who knows what they are doing!
But whilst this opportunity to create a profitable business is, understandably, important to me I founded SaaSLeads for another, equally important reason. Having spent 12 years working in sales I have seen many SDRs endlessly struggle to execute their role and, in nearly all instances, there was nothing they could have done to succeed. The playing field didn’t even have grass, let alone goal or out of bound lines. So for me, it’s not just about revenue and margins, it’s about getting young people prepared for a successful career and watching them flourish. That’s why I get out of bed in the morning and long may it continue.
Will Koning
He has worked in some of the UK’s most successful start-ups in the UK over the last 10 years.
He is passionate about Sales and disruptive Technology. In particular, elevating the Sales development industry in the UK to new levels.
Outside of work, Will spends his time split between London and Folkestone in Kent where you’re likely to find him sampling English beers and walking his dog by the sea,
Follow him on LinkedIn here
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