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I don't know if it's the norm. But I wouldn't be surprised if more organizations began doing things like that. Everybody seems to be obsessed with cutting costs, and adding extra duties to someone's job is one way of doing that.
Yup, moved into a role this year where lead gen is expected. All of my previous roles were closing positions with BDR’s and inside sales support. It’s difficult and there’s certainly a ramp up period when learning how to do it effectively, but I’m happy I have these skills in my toolset. I also like the control of the sales cycle from the very beginning.
Yep I have noticed this here recently and it makes it really hard for anyone who is in sales when they are used to having leads given to them and then suddenly you have to generate them on their own.
My guess is the BDR role is dissolving and will be replaced with bots. I’d imagine companies will be doing this more and more and then integrating with an outreach bot tool if they need more leads
Been in sales for nearly 25 years, and this has been the norm for me for the majority of that time. (I'm a hunter and I enjoy it)
This is what I’m seeing as well. I’m in the same boat as you.
Most of my experience is between cold or lukewarm prospecting at best. Rarely was it somebody jumping in at the end and only there. Sure it depends on the company, seems like every place is run differently, would also say depends on the brand, some are more or less complex.
It depends on the product/industry and the commission structure of the role, but SDR’s in a lot of companies can make very good money without actually setting Reps/AEs up with opportunities that have a high propensity of closing. If an SDR is paid on qualified opportunities as opposed to a revenue target of some sort, chances are a lot of people will find a way to exploit that by setting up meetings that fit the qualification criteria and get their commission, without that turning into actual revenue for the business. I think a lot of companies could look back at some of their SDR’s pay in 2024 vs revenue generated from meetings they booked and see a loss. AI/bots are nowhere near sophisticated enough to replace human SDR’s right now, but it’s not surprising that companies are making a shift towards downsizing their SDR count and shifting prospecting responsibility to their closers. On the flip side it’s not really fair to base the majority of an SDR’s commission on revenue because they have little to no power in the deal once it gets passed the first couple of calls.
But then what is the Marketing team doing?
My last three startups sounded like the same book: interview > everyone is excited > marketing has leads that can’t be closed because nobody is in the seat > offer accepted > marketing lead quits within 6-months > leads aren’t what they claimed > hunt for new marketing lead > sales expected to begin out bounding to make up the difference > new marketing lead hired > 3 months to evaluate marketing landscape > website redesign > GoogleAd work > make everyone have a uniform signature on their email > write a few blogs > 1yr into new marketing lead — that person resigns and LinkedIn shows performance gains in leads and website traffic….blah blah > sales is now scrutinized for lack of lead generation.
Anyone else read this book?
The new norm.