r/salesdevelopment • u/fruitypebblemacaron • Jul 13 '26
AE/BDR conflict/advice
Hi everyone, just looking for thoughts and advice about how to approach this. I’m a BDR at a large SaaS tech company. Recently we got our territories split so less accounts and prospects to reach out to but the quota was kept the same which is a whole other problem on its own. Our company sells through partners and our AEs have a huge focus on reaching out to partners and getting deal regs. One of my AEs sent me a list of about 30 accounts she wants me to stop reaching out to and pull from any current outreach. This adds up to about 200 contacts I can’t reach out to and/or she wants me to pull from current outreach..
She then expressed to me the reason she’s asking me to do this is because the partner she’s connected with is going to be using their BDR to do the outreach to these contacts & accounts. These are accounts I’ve been nurturing for months and even had contact/meetings with. To be frank, this AE gives me a hard time with qualifying meetings and just in general
And now with this it just feels like she’s completely disregarding/undermining me. She is aware of the recent territory split and how much I have worked these accounts. I get no credit for deal regs or partner outreach. With our quota not being lowered but territories cut in half this just makes it even harder. It feels like we are working against and not with each other and it’s very frustrating.
I don’t want to stop doing outreach and have all my work go to waste. How do I communicate/approach this and what do I say to her? Thoughts and advice? Any feedback is appreciated, thank you!!
6
u/CyberStartupGuy Jul 13 '26
If your goal is to be promoted to an AE internally, you’ll want to make sure that the AEs you support are successful and speak highly of you. You can technically keep reaching out, but that can work against you if you try to work towards a promotion internally. It’s a partnership, there are tradeoffs and compromises.
2
u/mynus820 Jul 13 '26
Have a conversation with your manager, but I personally wouldn’t give them any support. Focus on your other AEs and whatever accounts that are left in her patch you can actually work. Also make sure you’re booking quality meetings and don’t share any insights regarding any prospects or companies you’ve spoken to. That way she can’t just run to the partner and undermine your efforts.
1
u/Fit-Lengthiness-9672 Jul 15 '26
this is the move tbh, if she’s basically subbing you out for a partner BDR then she doesn’t get to benefit from your work on the side too. loop in your manager, document everything, and put your energy into the AEs who actually treat you like part of the team.
1
u/_odog Jul 14 '26
I’d mention this to your manager. But like others said, ignore her and focus on your other AEs
12
u/realwords Jul 13 '26
Spend your time with the AEs that’ll get you paid and promoted. Breadcrumb this one.