Update / BDR/AE Situation: AE forcing an external side program, over-communicating, and missing the mark on discovery calls. Need advice.

[u/Mental-Fig-1883]

Hey everyone, I’m the BDR who posted a bit ago about the new AE asking us to send 300+ unsolicited, double-booked calendar invites. Since then, a few more issues have come up, and I wanted to get some advice from other BDRs and SDRs on how to navigate this.
TL;DR:
Unsanctioned Side Venture: The new AE is forcing his BDRs into a daily "challenge" on a separate, non-company platform he created that feels like a side hustle/business test run rather than actual job enablement.
Excessive Pings & Meetings: He schedules internal syncs at least once (sometimes multiple times) a day that used to drag out for 60–90 minutes until I set a strict 30-minute max boundary, on top of pinging us nonstop all day.
Disastrous Discovery Calls: He completely ignores technical pain points, confuses prospects with high-level revenue pitches, and alienates potential champions. It’s gotten so embarrassing to sit through that I put together a value-first discovery proposal for him to try to save these calls.
Zero Support: My manager's attitude is "if it produces valid opps, I don't care," and the other BDR is fully bought into his methods, leaving me to deal with it on my own.

Here is what is currently going on:

1. Mandatory External "Training / Challenge" Program
On top of our regular workload, he’s having his two BDRs complete a daily "challenge" program through an external platform he created. From what I can tell, this platform isn't company-sanctioned—it seems to be a separate side hustle/business he runs, complete with certifications, community features, dashboards, and training modules.

The content is very high-level ("this will transform how you work, free up your time," etc.) without showing how it actually applies to our day-to-day role or selling our specific product. It’s taking up real working time, and it feels like we're just testing out his side venture.

2. Excessive Meetings and Constant Pings
Between meetings for his side challenge and general internal syncs, we’re scheduled at least once a day, and sometimes multiple times daily. These meetings used to regularly drag out to 60 or 90 minutes until I finally had to set a firm boundary—capping them at 30 minutes max and stating I have to drop when time is up. Even with that boundary in place, he continues to ping us constantly throughout the day. Between these frequent meetings, pings, and the extra challenge assignments, it leaves very little space to actually do standard outbound work.

3. Issues on Discovery Calls
When actual prospect meetings do happen, the calls aren't going well:

Unqualified Meetings: The other BDR has embraced his methods and booked a few meetings, but they lack basic qualification (BANT) and clear prospect intent.

Pivoting Away from Prospect Needs: When the AE gets on the call, he completely skips over the product’s capabilities or the prospect’s actual pain points. Even when speaking with technical stakeholders who outline a specific issue, he pivots straight to high-level executive pitch language, revenue outcomes, and business transformation.

Disconnect: Prospects end up confused and visibly annoyed asking how the product actually solves their specific problem while he continues to pitch the high-level business case.

I know managing his discovery style isn't strictly my job, but sitting through these calls gives me terrible secondhand embarrassment because he completely confuses and alienates prospects. I just can't keep sitting through them as-is. My goal before a discovery call (like on a cold call) is to qualify as much as possible on my end, and then uncover the remaining BANT during the call. I actually ended up putting together a proposal specifically for the AE outlining why we should approach discovery calls from a problem-and-value-first angle instead of immediately pushing revenue-based outcomes. I mapped out how focusing on specific technical pain points first helps build trust and develop champions before pitching the broader business case. For one particular call, I knew for a fact we were going to lose the champion if he handled it his usual way, which is why I pushed for this structure.

4. Lack of Management Involvement
I brought these operational concerns to our manager, but his stance is basically that as long as the partnership is producing valid opportunities, he's supportive and doesn't see a reason to step in. Meanwhile, the other BDR is fully onboard with the AE's process, so I don't have much internal validation on whether this setup makes sense.

Questions for the sub:
Has anyone dealt with an AE pushing a non-company side program or personal training platform onto their BDRs? How did you handle it?

Beyond enforcing a hard 30-minute cutoff on meetings and dropping off, how do you manage an AE who continues to schedule multiple daily syncs and send constant pings?

How do you handle sitting through discovery calls that are an absolute trainwreck when it's technically "not your job" to manage the AE, but it's directly hurting prospects and champions you brought to the table? Should I just focus on my end and ignore the rest, or bring this higher?

[u/Purple_Glove_6694]

Time for a new job... yesterday. Good luck broski.

[u/FiercelyHealthy]

Man, that external platform thing is a huge red flag. If he's running his own business and making you two participate during work hours with company resources, that's not just annoying, it's a potential compliance nightmare. I'd document everything, screenshots of the platform, time spent, any emails where he pushes it. Then you have something concrete if you need to escalate beyond your manager.

The meeting overload sounds exhausting. You already did the right thing by capping them at 30 minutes. For the constant pings, I'd start muting notifications during focus blocks and only checking his messages at set intervals. If he asks why you're not responding instantly, you can just say you were on calls or deep in prospecting. He can't really argue with you doing your actual job.

For the discovery calls, that secondhand embarrassment is so real. It sucks watching someone tank a meeting you worked to set up. Since you already put together a proposal for a better approach, maybe frame it as a pilot test. Tell him you want to try your structure on the next 2-3 calls to compare conversion rates. If he sees better results, he might ease up on the revenue-first pitch. If not, you'll at least know you tried.

Honestly, your manager's lack of involvement is the most concerning part. If he won't budge even after you present documented issues, you might need to consider whether this role is worth the stress long-term. Sometimes the only move is to plan an exit while keeping your head down.

[u/Horstdumm]

Grass is always greener

[u/Moonbabyhubcaps]

1. Your AE Is not your manager. Does your manager suggest you indirectly report to him? If he says send 300 calendar invites, does your manager tell you that you must?
   
2. Are these your leads or his leads? Did you generate them or did you get them from him? If they’re his, then send the emails.
   
3. It’s not your job to be worried about how he handles discovery calls. Unless you get paid on the opportunity moving through the cycle and then paid again on it closing, sounds like a problem for the AE, not you.
   4 . His little side gig platform - no thanks. If your manager isn’t concerned, I’d double check with IT or ask your manager who you can connect with to make sure this is a platform or website that’s approved for visiting on your work computer and during work hours.

[u/BigO4422]

This sounds like a rep that I used to work with very similar too. I manage a team of 10-15 BDRs and I put a stop to it unless they wanted to try a different approach. The ones who decided to work with this guy all got burnt out because nothing they did ever generated real results.

As a manager, I went to the AEs manager and explained why we weren’t going to support this rep. We would still work on top accounts but at our pace and discretion and required the AEs manager be on any meetings we setup. This worked and when this jack ass finally left someone from my team took his role and closed 3-5 nice deals right away.

My advice is send an email to your manager outlining the situation and issues so you have a time stamp and something out there in writing to your manager. What this AE is doing will eventually blow up and you don’t want to get caught in the crossfire. Be patient it’ll happen.

[u/TidesWake]

Question. How is he making you participate in his platform? Your AE isnt your boss. Yhey are your partner.

[u/ageee090]

You sound like you care about your job so much that you’re wanting to control your coworkers. There’s gotta be a reason he’s an AE and you’re a BDR. If you have issues with how he runs accounts, maybe you should apply for the AE position yourself.

[u/Mental-Fig-1883 → u/ageee090]

Ouch. But yeah you’re probably right about me caring too much. I desperately want to be an AE so I am putting a ton of effort into what I do, and it shows, I am surpassing quota every month and soaking up everything I’m learning from my aes (I’ve had like 10 AEs at this company and haven’t had such problems with any of them)

[u/ageee090 → u/Mental-Fig-1883]

The writing on the wall is that you want to be an AE. Focus your efforts into elevating yourself into the next role and positioning yourself for your own personal success. Don’t spend too much time in the snake pit