I think Tito’s intuition is spot on, but I wondered how much and where the slow down is occurring. So, I ran some numbers.
I started by identifying 14 SaaS companies who:
- Have 150+ total employees
- Have SDRs (or ADRs, BDRs, etc.)
- Promote SDR into AE roles
I ended up with a list of 200 US-based reps who started as SDRs in 2017, 2018, or 2019. 2020 hires won’t yet have the tenure to be captured, so I excluded them from the data. Here’s what I found.
On average, months as an SDR--from hire to AE promotion--increased 28% for the class of 2019 compared to the class of 2018.
I found increases across 13 of the 14 companies I sampled.
The median increase is roughly 3-4 months. Considering just how much disruption 2020 has involved, this doesn't feel too out of proportion.
Those companies that, prior to Covid-19, promoted at the most rapid clip saw the biggest slowdown.
I grouped companies into three buckets based on their pre-Covid average tenure before promotion to AE.
- Small- 12 or fewer months from SDR to AE
- Medium- 12-16 months
- Large- 17+ months average tenure before promotion
Average tenure increased the least in the Large companies (+10%) versus increasing the most in the Small companies (+64%)
There was some interesting back and forth on Tito’s post and I recommend you check it out. (Side note: why does LinkedIn hate chronological sort so much?!) This comment from Q4’s Manager of Global Business Development, Andrew Hastings, stuck out to me:
Morning role-plays, tools like SalesLoft or Gong, and on-going Sandler training allow us to create the sales equivalents of "running a pre-game warm-up," or "reviewing the game film," to build these muscles and perfect our craft the same way that athletes do.
It appears we have take a step back from the 2014-2019 model of rapid SDR to AE promotion. What’s left is building a role/path/reality that keeps reps engaged, motivated, and rewarded.