SALES DEVELOPMENT

MODELS, METRICS, AND

COMPENSATION RESEARCH

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 Introduction Hello! And welcome to our eighth round of research
focused on Sales Development.

Since 2007, we’ve been tracking the SDR role (ADRs,

BDRs, MDRs, etc.) with a focus on how metrics and
compensation change over time. For this round, 406
B2B companies participated. We’ve organized the
report into six sections:

1. Organizational Structure
2. Ramp & Retention
3. Metrics & Quota
4. Compensation & Tech
5. Leadership
6. Notes on COVID-19

We hope this report will provide guidance as you build

out your strategy and/or think about changes to possibly
bring you closer to alignment with industry standards.

If you have any questions, please reach out to us

directly. We want to hear from you. You can email us at:
[email protected].

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 The Bridge Group is an SDR, AE & AM consulting
firm dedicated to understanding the models, metrics,
and motions that deliver scalable growth.

bridgegroupinc.com

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 COMPANIES THAT
PARTICIPATED

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 Participants
• 406 executives from a broad diversity of B2B companies
• 91% with headquarters in North America
• $35M median revenues
• $55K median average selling price (ASP)

Respondents by revenues Respondents by ASP

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 New This Year
Each time we’ve published this research, readers have asked how metrics, comp, quota, tech
stack, and so on differ between the fastest growing companies and the rest.

But what exactly makes a company “high-growth”? If Company A grew from $2M to $6M, that
additional $4M represents 200% growth. Compare that to Company B who went from $200M to
$290M, that’s “only” 45% growth—but an additional $90M in revenue.

Clearly, raw growth rates don’t tell the whole story. We chose to factor in both revenues and
growth rate. We marked the top quintile (highest 20%) per revenue band as High-Growth and
the bottom quintile (lowest 20%) per revenue band as Laggard.

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 Growth rates by revenue band
75th percentile- - -

Median- - -

25th percentile- - -

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 PART 1

ORGANIZATIONAL
STRUCTURE

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 Sales development
Motion
We asked respondents, “which of the following
best describes your Sales Development
organization?”

• Hybrid groups—those combining inbound

qualification and outbound prospecting—are
most common (especially at higher ASPs)

• Specialized teams (i.e., separate, dedicated

inbound and outbound groups) follow

• Inbound only groups are most common at

the lowest ASP (<$50K)

• As revenues rise, hybrid or specialized

groups become more common ($20M+)

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 Headcount mix of
inbound & outbound
For those respondents with specialized
groups, we asked how headcount is
allocated.

The vast majority over-weight the

outbound side of the ledger.

The median mix is 2.3 oSDRs

for every 1 iSDR.

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 Where SDR Groups
Report
Since 2012, we’ve found the vast
majority of SDR teams reporting to
Sales. This year the trend continues
with 68% of groups sitting within the
Sales organization.

It’s worth mentioning that roughly half of

all inbound teams report to Marketing.
This makes inbound groups 1.4 times
as likely to report to Marketing as
specialized, hybrid, or outbound groups.

68% of Sales Development

groups report to Sales.

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 SDR Territories
The majority of Sales Development groups align SDRs to AEs/AE territories. This is most
common in larger companies (81% at $20M+) and for blended and outbound-only groups (66%).

Routing leads to SDRs round-robin is found in roughly one-quarter of companies. This is most
common in smaller companies (64% at <$20M) and for inbound-only groups (49%).

ON AVERAGE 61% align SDRs to AE territories

INBOUND GROUPS 49% route leads round-robin
OUTBOUND GROUPS 66% align SDRs to AE territories

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 SDR Territories By
Company Revenue
Controlling for motion, round-robin
usage falls and alignment to AEs Align to AE Territories
rises as revenues increase. Route Round-Robin

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 SDR-to-AE Ratios
The average ratio is 1 SDR to 2.6 Account Executives. This is consistent with 2018 findings.

Two things to note. One, smaller companies are much more likely to deploy 1 or more SDRs per
AE. And two, even controlling for revenues, High-Growth companies report lower SDR-to-AE
ratios than Laggards (1:2.0 and 1:2.8 respectively).

Distribution of SDR:AE ratios Average AEs supported by 1 SDR by revenues

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 Centralized, distributed & remote
In 2018, 48% of companies reported reps in the same role working in different locations. Due to
COVID/remote/WFH, that number increased to 64%. Note that 23% of companies report plans
for “fully remote” SDR groups for the foreseeable future. That was nearly unthinkable just a few
years ago.

Distribution of responses Percentage of distributed + remote teams by revenues over time

2018
2020

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 nd
Where companies build 2 offices

Secondary Location
AZ CA CO FL GA MA NC NY ON PA TX WA

Primary California 8% 15% 10% 12% 31% 16% 8%

location Colorado 25% 25% 15% 20% 15%
Georgia 33% 33% 33%
Massachusetts 17% 33% 17% 33%
New York 33% 33% 33%
Texas 34% 33% 33%
Other 38% 25% 13% 13% 13%

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 PART 2

RAMP & RETENTION

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 Experience required at hire
Since 2010, we’ve seen a halving in required experience when hiring. This year, average required
experience fell to 1.2 years.

Considering widespread 2020 layoffs (across both SDRs and AEs), we wondered if hiring managers
might move upstream in required experience for their SDR profile. These findings suggest this
wasn’t the case.

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 Experience required at hire
2010 vs. 2020

2020

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 Ramp time
Average ramp times sits at 3.1 months. This is in line with our 2018 findings. High-Growth
companies report modestly faster average ramp times than Laggards (2.7 versus 3.4 months
respectively).

If there’s a universal truth of Sales Development, it may very well be this: ramping new SDRs to
full productivity takes about 3 months.

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 Tenure
Breaking a multi-year trend, average tenure increased in 2020—now sitting at 1.8 years.

As described in this piece, SDR to AE promotions have slowed. On average, months as an SDR—
from hire to AE promotion—increased 28% for the class of 2019 compared to the class of 2018. We
expect this trend to continue for SDRs hired in 2020.

Distribution of average tenure Average tenure over time

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 Productivity =
Tenure - Ramp
We calculated months at productivity
by subtracting ramp time from tenure.
Doing so, we find a median 17 months
of full productivity.

Median time at full productivity

is 17 months.

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 Career path
The overwhelming majority (93%) of companies offer at least one form of SDR career path. More
than half (56%) offer two or more. The prevalence of SDR-to-AE promotion paths vary significantly
between low and high-ASP companies—ranging from 83% (below $25K) to 45% (above $200K).

% offering a given career path over time

SDR-TO-AE Into an AE role SDR-TO-AE

Associate, Senior, STEP-PROMOTION

STEP-PROMOTIONS Principal, etc.

Inbound, Outbound,
ACROSS TEAMS Enterprise, etc. ACROSS TEAMS

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 Minimum Time from
SDr to ae promotion
For those respondents with an SDR-to-AE
promotion path, reps spend a median 17.5
months in SDR role(s) prior to AE promotion.

This varies significantly by ASP—ranging

from 10 months (below $5K) to 25+ months
(above $100K).

Median time before an SDR is eligible

for AE promotion is 17.5 months.

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 Attrition
Note: we asked respondents to exclude
COVID-19 related RIFs (as well as routine 2018
promotions and internal transfers) from these
calculations. 2020

Total average attrition—voluntary plus

involuntary—fell sharply in 2020.

Nearly the entire difference occurred in

voluntary turnover (i.e., resignations) which fell
by more than half. This isn’t surprising given
2020’s labor market upheavals. As the job
market stabilizes and rebounds, we expect
this figure to return to trend.

Median annual turnover sits at 20%. The

25th and 75th percentiles are 15% and 33%.

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 PART 3

METRICS & QUOTA

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 Daily Activities
Distribution of average dials per day Median activities per day by type

TOTAL 104
PHONE 40
EMAIL 40
LINKEDIN 16
OTHER 8

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 QCS per day
Another useful metric is the number of Quality Conversations (QCs) per rep per day. We define a
QC as “a connect or response where at least one piece of qualifying or disqualifying information
is learned.”

We find an average of 4.4 QCs per rep per day. That’s a 45% fall since 2014—or nearly 10%
annual decline over that time.

8.0

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 Daily QCS BY Dominant Channel
We categorized groups as either Email-centric, Phone-centric, or Neutral based on their most
dominant outreach channel. Responses indicate a 39% / 28% / 33% divide (email, phone, neutral).

By definition, phone-centric groups average higher dials per day. Interestingly, they also report
2.1X as many average QCs per day.

Dials per day

QCs per day

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 # Attempts in Cadence
The average cadence/sequence has 10.6 attempts. This figure has been on the rise for a
decade—growing at roughly 8% annually.

Distribution of average attempts Average attempts over time

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 Sales development Model
Broadly, SDR groups fall into one of three
categories. They include: 2018
1. Introductory Meetings
2. Semi-Qualified Opptys
2020
3. Fully Qualified Opptys

In prior years, the distribution has roughly

been 1/3rd to each. Given 2020’s business
climate, we note a significant shift.

Companies shifted down the qualification

curve, refocusing model from fully-
qualified to semi and from semi to
introductory.

We observe this across revenues and

High-growth versus Laggard.
Unsurprisingly, as ASP rises, level of
qualification falls.

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 Qualification level by Model
Right Profile Pain/need is Person has Compelling Money (has it Timeframe is
(firmograhics, identified authority reason (to or can get it) defined
tech, etc.) (or access) buy/change)

65% 47% 32% 15% 5% 0%

Introductory
83% 76% 83% 50% 24% 28%
Semi-Qual
87% 98% 89% 68% 37% 56%
Fully Qual

• As ASP rises, “money” and “timeframe” are less frequently included.

• Outbound motions are more likely to include “right profile” and “authority.”
• Inbound motions are more likely to include “pain/need,” “money,” and “timeframe.”

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 Monthly quotas
Introductory meetings Semi-qualified opptys Fully-qualified opptys

Stage 0 Passed 19.0 Stage 0 Passed 12.5 Stage 0 Passed 10.5

Stage 1 Converted 8.8 Stage 1 Converted 7.5 Stage 1 Converted 7.0

Across the board, average quotas fell from 2018 to 2020—this is consistent across ASP, motion,
model, High-growth versus Laggard, and so on.

The global median of Stage 0 Passed is 15. It is higher in an inbound motion, at lower ASPs, and
for smaller companies. It is lower in an outbound motion, at higher ASPs, and for larger companies.

The global median of Stage 1 Converted is 7.5. It is higher in an Introductory Meeting model and
falls as qualification level rises.

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 Quota attainment
On average, 68% of reps in a given
group achieve quota. There has been
remarkable consistency around this
metric over the years. Two-thirds of reps
achieving quota seems to be the natural
equilibrium.

We note a 5% (percentage point)

improvement in quota attainment in
High-Growth companies versus
Laggards (71% versus 66%).

68% of SDRs achieve

quota in a given group.

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 Sourced pipeline per sdr
The median pipeline generated per SDR is
$3.0M. (Note this is raw pipeline, not
“forecast” nor “closed won.”)

There is wide variation across

companies—some generating less than
$750K in pipeline while others exceed
$10M per SDR annually.

Median pipeline is $3.0M. The 25th and 75th

percentiles are $1.8M and $4.7M respectively.

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 PART 4

COMPENSATION & TECH

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 compensation
ON-TARGET EARNINGS $76K
We find median on-target earnings of $76K and
a 65:35 (base:variable) split. BASE $50K
Continuing a decade long trend, median OTE VARIABLE $26K
remains flat. For comparison, median price of
existing single-family homes has increased 62%
and median household income has increased
38% over the same period.
OTE in $Ks

Median SDR on-target earnings have

remained flat for more than a decade.

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 ote as a factor of
experience at hire
High-growth companies offer marginally higher OTE, but there is compression at the lower range of
required experience.

High-Growth

Laggard

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 Acceleration
technologies
We found the median sales tech stack
consists of CRM plus 4.5 additional tools.

The number of tools in use increases as

ASP rises, but only marginally—from 4.3 at
<$25K to 5.8 at $250K+.

High-Growth companies report one

additional tool, on average, compared to
Laggards.

While median tools per group is 4.5

+ CRM, the average is 5.4.

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 Technology adoption lifecycle

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 Tech stack gap
Across ASP and company revenues, High-Growth companies deploy more technologies than
Laggards.

Laggard
High-Growth

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 Sales engagement platforms
You’ll note that Sales Engagement Platforms (SEP) span several tech categories. As such, we
chose to report their usage separately. 66% of companies above $5M in revenues report using
a SEP.

HIGH-GROWTH 76% have SEP

MID-RANGE 70%

LAGGARD 43%

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 PART 5

SALES LEADERSHIP

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 First-line leadership
Excluding companies with revenues below $5M, we find the vast majority of groups are led by
“Managers.”

Distribution of first-line leaders Leader profiles

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 Rep-to-Manager Ratio
The median number of SDRs reporting to a single first-line leader is 8. This is consistent with our
findings from 2016 and 2020. As revenues increase, front-line leaders support more SDRs.

Distribution of reps per front-line leader Average # of SDRs per front-line leader by revenue

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 Leadership compensation
Manager total compensation has declined in nominal terms since roughly 2016 (posting a
compound annual growth rate of -0.8%).

Compensation for Directors and Vice Presidents, however, has grown modestly (1.7% and 2.7%
CAGR respectively).

2016 2018 2020

MANAGER $129K $127K $128K

DIRECTOR $174K $172K $177K

VICE PRESIDENT $220K $215K $226K

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 Leadership compensation By ASP/ACV
Controlling for company revenues and other factors, front-line leaders’ on-target earnings
rise as ASP increases.

$5-25K $25-50K $50-100K $100-250K $250K+

MANAGER $123K $129K $124K $129K $151K

DIRECTOR $157K $155K $176K $180K $205K

1 1 1
VICE PRESIDENT $237K $260K
1 Too few rows to provide meaningful data

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 PART 6

NOTES ON COVID-19

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 observations
For obvious reasons, 2020 will be remembered for COVID-19. While some implications already
seem apparent (Zoom, remote work, inside selling), we’re sure many will take time to become
perceptible.

Before we began the number crunching for this report, we collected a list of hunches on what we’d
find. In the interest of transparency, we decided to share what we hypothesized and what we
found.

1. Labor market shocks will lead managers upstream for more senior candidates X (see pages 18-19)
2. Average tenure will rise as the quits and internal promotions slow ✔ (see pages 21 & 25)
3. Effort per QC / meeting / Oppty will rise as the economy contracts ✔ (see pages 28-30)
4. Qualification criteria will soften ✔ (see pages 31-32)
5. Despite softened qualification criteria, average attainment will fall X (see pages 33-34)
6. Companies will pare back their tech stack to save money & lower complexity X (see pages 40-42)
7. SDR groups will rebound quickly (if unevenly) from RIFs ✔ (see pages 51-52)

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 Headcount changes
st
Relative to march 1 2020
We’ve previously written about the impact of
COVID-19 on the B2B labor market in the
first half of 2020.

The majority of responses to this research

occurred in late Q3 and early Q4 2020. We
asked how SDR headcount had changed
relative to March 1st 2020.

A quarter of groups shrank over that period.

Another third grew headcount appreciably.
While the majority remained the same or
grew modestly.

The median SDR group had no change

in headcount from Q1 to Q4 2020.

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 Headcount changes
Not surprisingly, the highest growth companies grew headcount over this period.

HIGH-GROWTH +18%

MID-RANGE +2%

LAGGARD -3%

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SDR, AE & AM Consulting + Execution

SCALABLE GROWTH, DELIVERED.

For over two decades, we’ve been focused on “more” for our clients -
more conversations, more pipeline, more growth. Over 435+
companies have relied on our thinking to make their numbers.
Consulting

PRACTITIONERS FIRST, CONSULTANTS SECOND.

Behind our ideas are our people. Rooted in sales leadership, our Research Execution
team members have built groups, led teams, and carried quotas. We
don’t just research sales strategies, we live them.

HOLISTIC APPROACH, TARGETED SOLUTIONS.

No two companies are the same, especially when it comes to sales.
Our team identifies the key variables that will make your go-to-market
motion unique. We’re here to help take the guesswork out of growth.

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 THANK YOU!
Questions or comments? Hit us up at [email protected]

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