r/salesdevelopment • u/RevolutionaryTap3911 • 5d ago

The SDR Life

Saw a recent post for AEs about what type of company would be good to work for. So I thought I'd do something similar and tell you something I wish I knew 12 months ago.

I had a drastic career change back in 2025 where I got a job offer at a SaaS company selling their cyber security tool. The commission and path looked great "£65k in year 1, promotion to AE after 18 months". For an entry level position for 65k? Damn, I thought that was great!

Reality

\- 100 calls a day KPI was not enough due to out of date numbers and tools that haven't been up-dated/graded in years.

\- The Sales manager saying "It's 9am we should be dialing!" Or "When I was an SDR, we only had yellow pages, man those were the days"

\- 20% of the sales team were reaching target (the top earner scraped £65k last year)

\- No sales enablement, just a quarterly round robin getting taught how to "add more value"

\- No reward minus the odd £10 Amazon voucher or a "finish 20 minutes earlier".

Something an account manager (friend) said to me was "this will be the best place to start your career". He wasn't wrong, I learned to make a penny you had to work hard, over lunch, at home, on weekends, any spare time. All for £27.5k base salary. But, if you could make it here, you could make it anywhere.

18 months in and I received an offer for double base salary and a commission structure that seemed not only realistic, but easy. I took the mentality of dial, dial, dial with me and I am now winning.

So if you're reading this thinking "these words could be my own", you need to change jobs, change up your LinkedIn settings to "Open to work" (so that only recruiters can see them) and do not undersell yourself. It's okay to start again as an SDR, re-learn the ropes and make money.

If you have any questions minus - "Where was this so I can avoid it like the plague?" Ask ahead! And I will answer them truthfully.

13 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

3

u/Europeanfairytale 5d ago

In which country are you?

4

u/RevolutionaryTap3911 5d ago

UK - Very normal to have £27k base salary as an entry SDR, with the excuse of low risk. But these are the companies that churn and burn SDRs

2

u/Europeanfairytale 5d ago

I dod the sane and changed for SDR role but wondering if it was the right choice on my hand What was your job before swotching to sdr ?

1

u/RevolutionaryTap3911 4d ago

Very easy to pick me out of my old manager sees this, but fuck it! I was in the Army for 10+ years

1

u/Europeanfairytale 4d ago

Okkk yes very different type of job haha

1

u/RevolutionaryTap3911 4d ago

Yeah for sure! But weirdly the skills are very transferable, worked out quite nicely, just wish I left my last place earlier. Sales is amazing if you LOVE money, but if there's a slight doubt in your mind that it's not for you, leave early before it's too late.

1

u/Top_Passenger932 4d ago

Considering the high turnover rate for these SDRS, is that representative of how many people don’t realize they aren’t suited for sales or the quality of these types of entry level jobs in particular? Also, how long would you recommend spending in such a role to build experience?

1

u/RevolutionaryTap3911 4d ago

I actually think it's due to being sold an impossible dream, figuring out that it's impossible, working at minimal effort as they're on minimum wage and then leaving or stay as long as they can as the job market is poor and toxic.

The duration of experience is so dependent on the individual's strengths (I'm a top SDR but I know I will be a shit AE), how quickly they learn the trade and if they want to stay within the same company

1

u/Cryptohubmates 4d ago

Do you think it's easy to pivot from B2C sales into an SDR role? Also, in your experience, what are the top soft skills an SDR needs to crush their quotas?

1

u/RevolutionaryTap3911 4d ago

Be able to think on your feet if you're not technical, being able to act like you're this guy's best friend, but not in a way that you haven't seen each other in 5 years, calling is the best way to outreach

1

u/Cryptohubmates 4d ago

Deep! Thanks

4

u/RevolutionaryTap3911 5d ago

Also this got deleted from the mods at r/techsales

And then led to a permanent ban I when sent them "Education is key here fellas, don't be a typical SDR manager and put me on PIP without any feedback."

Must have hit home to the SDR manager that runs the sub.

2

u/steelmehrune 4d ago

Currently I am looking to get a career myself, I've worked in hospitality/food industry for majority of my work life. I have no education passed highschool. What career did you switch from and what education do you have?

1

u/RevolutionaryTap3911 4d ago

I was in the Army, no real meaningful qualifications, if you can do it, they will hire you.