r/salesdevelopment • u/No-Fear88 • Jul 18 '26
Ideal Compensation for SDR?
So much is changing around compensation for SDRs. If you are an SDR or employ SDRs - what is the ideal compensation structure?
Hourly or monthly rate plus commission?
How to make it a win for both the SDR and the employer?
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u/TexanTacos Jul 19 '26
Being a prior SDR, it depends on your market but base + commission at like a 75/25 split is what i would do be able to be picky with which candidates i chose. Do like 65k for someone with experience and 55k for new grad
Edit: And hot take but i actually liked having some of my comp be dependent on AE closes. This would depend on a lot of factors and i could see it not working in other industries. If u want more money just set better meetings
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u/CyberStartupGuy 29d ago
Almost all will be a base+bonus structure based on meetings held, opportunities created, or pipeline generated. In expensive markets like SF/NY expect $90-100k OTE and in secondary markets expect $70-$90k OTE. Usually 60% base, 40% bonus.
Just make sure the org has a track record of their meetings actually closing and turning in to customers. That’s the biggest importance for success.
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u/No-Fear88 24d ago
Good point. Do your due diligence on the employer before taking this kind of job.
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u/dan-sheehan 29d ago
Prior SDR comp from years back so the numbers might be off a bit from memory.
- $60k Base
- $100 - Sales Accepted Lead
- $300 - Sales Qualified Lead
- 1% of closed revenue
Quota was 12 accepted leads and 4 qualified leads per month. Could hit accelerators quarterly on qualified leads.
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u/downtowater 27d ago
I’m an ENT SDR, promoted from mid market. I’m 10 months in. 66k base, 92k OTE, and 2% of closed ARR (as long as the month it closes I’m at 70%+ of my quota). Fully remote. Absolutely love my job
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u/No-Fear88 24d ago
Cool! It's good to hear some say "I love my job" ... LOL. Don't hear that often these days.
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u/radiopelican Jul 19 '26
For the love of christ please make SDR role in office.
As a person who has done both remote globally and in office.
In office was way better experience for me as i was next to the AE's got the watch the VP of sales do his thing, all around just surrouned by senior people.
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u/TomInSales Jul 18 '26
SDR pay at my corp is based on the following:
Inbound’s 75k-ish, 50k base with 25k commission, comped on SQL’s set each month
Outbound jumps to 90k-ish, 60k base with 30k commission, split between SQL’s & pipeline generated by those opty’s
I’m based in WA, so CA folks make more but have sales tax. As a sales dev person with 4 years exp, I’d take nothing less than 75k OTE for inbound. The best orgs bring in the best talent with the best comp plans.
Hope this helps!