Dan BrockwellWhen you have three or fewer representatives, having an SDR manager might feel like a luxury - a good extra, but not totally necessary. You could have the SDRs report directly to Account Executives (AEs) to save money. This temporary setup can work until either one of the SDRs is ready to manage or until you find a suitable SDR manager.
However, when the SDR team grows beyond just a few members, having a dedicated manager becomes really important. Keeping SDRs happy and motivated is key to keeping them performing to a high standard and creating a positive team culture.
By establishing conducive learning environments, they encourage sharing best practices with the team, elevating the individual and collective performance of all.
Above all, working under an excellent manager can make the life of an SDR enjoyable and fulfilling in itself, rather than just a stepping stone to a future career in sales.
So, how do you know who to hire and how do you go about it?
Deciding Between a Player-Coach or Coach
Player-Coach (SDR Team Lead)
This role, also known as an SDR Team Lead, entails a hybrid approach where the individual balances sales responsibilities with managerial duties, juggling both achieving personal sales quotas and overseeing the team's performance.
This role often works well as a valuable interim solution for smaller teams where there isn’t enough managerial workload to warrant a full-time role. It can also be a great way to test the waters on promoting a sales rep to management, checking to see how they perform in the role without fully transitioning them.
Compounding that, in early-stage sales environments where process & product are changing very quickly, having a manager who is also selling creates a faster feedback loop on sales motion and builds a lot of trust with reps.
While this setup has its advantages, including firsthand knowledge of the sales process and the ability to lead by example, it also comes with challenges. Critics often highlight the difficulty of dividing time effectively between sales and management tasks, and you may run into situations where either not enough selling is being done, or managerial tasks are being dropped.
To combat this, typically, the player-coach will operate with a reduced sales quota to accommodate their management responsibilities. However, as your team expands beyond five representatives, the demands of management may outweigh the benefits of maintaining this dual role.
Coach (SDR Manager)
Alternatively, you may opt for a dedicated Sales Development Manager, whose sole focus is managing the SDR team. This role is particularly suitable for organisations with a growing investment and ramping up of the SDR function.
The coach still maintains a team quota but dedicates all their time and expertise to supporting and guiding the SDRs. By focusing solely on management, they can provide more comprehensive support, mentorship, and guidance to the team members.
Transitioning to a dedicated coach becomes increasingly beneficial as your team grows, ensuring that your SDRs receive the attention and support they need to thrive.
There is a risk of adding this role too soon when there’s not enough managerial workload in the team. Likewise, in early-stage environments, it can be harder to effectively manage without having direct involvement in the sales motion as teams are still finding what works & what doesn’t.
A note: over time, you may see SDR teams with both of these roles (SDR Team Lead, SDR Manager). This tends to occur when it’s an especially large team that the manager doesn’t have sufficient time to deeply support, and as such, selects a high-performing rep interested in the manager track to be an ‘understudy’ and take on some team/management rituals.
Role Scope Considerations
As a founder or commercial leader, there’s a material decision in what tasks you give to your SDR Manager / Team Lead vs. own yourself. Here are the key pieces you can consider bucketing into an SDR management role:
- People Management: Setting clear goals & expectations with reps, providing positive & constructive feedback, giving reps a clear progression & development ladder, and managing any broader concerns about their role.
- Performance Measurement: Monitoring the performance of individual SDRs and the team as a whole is crucial. This involves tracking key metrics such as lead conversion rates, pipeline generation, and outreach activity to ensure that targets are being met.
- Sales Process Improvement: Continuously refining and optimising the sales development process is essential for maximising efficiency and effectiveness. The SDR manager should identify areas for improvement and implement strategies to streamline workflows and increase productivity.
- Training and Development: Providing ongoing training and development opportunities to SDRs to enhance their sales skills, product knowledge, and understanding of the target market. This may involve conducting workshops, role-playing exercises, and one-on-one practical coaching sessions like call & email reviews.
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Working closely with other departments such as the Account Executive team, marketing, product & customer success to align efforts and ensure a seamless customer experience. This includes sharing insights from prospect interactions and collaborating on campaign strategies.
- Reporting and Analysis: Generating regular reports and conducting data analysis to track progress towards goals, identify trends, and uncover areas for improvement. This data-driven approach helps inform decision-making and optimise sales development strategies around what targets to set and what customers to focus on.
- Sales Tooling:Â Implementing, training and optimising sales technology and tools such as CRM systems, sales engagement platforms, and analytics software to streamline processes, track performance, and enhance productivity.
- Culture and Morale: Fostering a positive and high-performing team culture where SDRs feel motivated, supported, and valued. This involves recognising achievements, addressing concerns, and promoting a collaborative and results-driven environment.
Hiring
When it comes to filling the SDR management role, you have two main options: promoting an existing SDR from within your team or hiring externally.
Promotion Internally
Promoting from within is often the preferred route, as it demonstrates a commitment to nurturing talent and provides a clear progression pathway for your team members.
Internal promotions can be more cost-effective and streamline the onboarding process, as the promoted individual is already familiar with your company's culture and processes.
By offering advancement opportunities, you not only motivate existing SDRs but also foster a culture of growth and development within your organisation.
Noting that the most popular promotion pathways for SDRs tends to be towards account executives and staying as an individual contributor for the short-to-mid term. However, senior management is a desired pathway for many and being a team lead or SDR manager is often the first step there.
However, be warned! Just because someone is amazing at selling, doesn’t mean they’ll be amazing at managing. Look out for reps who alongside performing highly, are proactively helping other reps, take a leading role in team rituals, build playbooks and systems for how to sell, are comfortable with metrics, and have good stakeholder management skills.
External Recruitment
Alternatively, you may choose to hire a candidate from outside your organisation to fill the SDR management role. This approach can bring fresh perspectives, diverse skillsets, and new ideas to your team, particularly if they have served in a similar position before at another organisation.
However, it typically involves a longer recruitment process and may require more resources for training and integration into your company's culture.
A warning here: hiring someone from a different company size, customer size (SMB vs. enterprise) or vertical (e.g. food & beverage vs. cybersecurity) comes with added risk in that they may bring sales approaches from elsewhere that won’t necessarily work well in your environment. Where we see this most often crumble is big-tech sales managers shifting into early-stage startups which lack a lot of the documentation, process, and clarity on ICP + sales motion they may be used it.
