Bridge Group put out a great survey of 351 B2B companies on the state of their SDR teams. The median company in the survey has $47mm in revenue and a $50k median ACV. It is well worth the read and can be found at bridgegroupinc.com. Some key findings are below.
SDR teams report to sales most of the time. 60% of SDR groups sit within the sales organization and that figure has been consistent since 2012. The experience of leadership and the company trump all other factors in determining the reporting structure. Also 82% of SDR groups align to AE territories, a figure that has been increasing over time and persists across company size and ACV. Inbound-only teams are the exception, with only 40% aligning to AE territories.
The goal is to fill calendars. Some SDR teams focus on setting introductory meetings for AEs while others take it a step further and provide qualified opportunities. Bridge makes the point that the decision should be based on how full your sales reps’ calendars are. If they have full calendars, focus on qualified opportunities. If they’re empty, get sales reps both introductory meetings and qualified opportunities. Fill the calendars. Interestingly, the data shows companies are moving back down the qualification curve after a push toward more qualified models in 2022. We suspect that’s because covid was so good for software, SDR teams could get pickier about qualifying leads.
The phone still works for SDR teams. Phone-centric groups report 1.4x as many quality conversations per day as email-centric ones, which is worth keeping in mind as you set up your motion.
Separate inbound and outbound only if your flow is strong enough. Only separate the SDR team if you’re getting enough inbound deal flow to staff at least two SDRs on the task full time. Otherwise, the same SDR’s should handle both.
The average ratio is 1 SDR for 2.4 account executives. This number has been consistent since 2018. Smaller companies tend to deploy more SDRs relative to AEs. One new data point this year: AI SDRs are beginning to show up in the data for the first time, which is worth watching as a category.
The typical SDR has 1.2 years of experience. That figure has fallen 50% since 2010 when it was 2.5 years, though it rebounded slightly from the 2022 low of 1.0 years. The rebound reflects a more challenging employment market for SDR talent. Average ramp time sits at 3.0 months, which is actually the lowest reading since 2010, possibly reflecting AI-powered onboarding or tighter management expectations. Average tenure is 1.9 years, a rebound not seen since the early 2010s, driven by the layoffs of late 2022 and a more competitive AE job market.
After a 3.0 month ramp, you get roughly 20 months of full productivity. To improve these metrics, promote your SDRs frequently through junior, associate, and senior levels, and give them a clear path to become AEs. 97% of companies offer at least one SDR career path and 58% offer two or more. Median annual turnover is 40%, with the split being 13% involuntary, 11% voluntary, and 16% promotions. Notably promotions as a share of turnover have fallen sharply from 34% in 2020 to 16% today.
The base salary of an SDR is $55k and OTE is $80k. These figures remain unchanged since 2022, with a 68/32 base to variable split. SDR OTE has grown at only 0.56% annually over the past 14 years. US inflation has grown at 2.6% annually over the same period. In real terms, SDRs are earning meaningfully less than they were a decade ago, which has implications for hiring and retention that don’t show up in the nominal numbers.
On average, SDRs make 44 dials and 41 emails per day, with 4.1 quality conversations. Total daily activity across all channels is 112. This is the first rebound in daily quality conversations since Bridge Group began tracking the metric, which is encouraging. On average SDRs make roughly 10.6 attempts per prospect. According to Bridge, 9 to 12 attempts is the sweet spot.
Use dialing technology. The most widely adopted tools are LinkedIn Sales Navigator at 81–88% for outbound teams, sales engagement platforms at 77–84%, and contact data and intelligence tools at 74–82%. Dialers are at 41% adoption, lower than you might expect. Phone-centric groups report more dials and more quality conversations per day, and the data continues to support the case for investing in dialing tech for routing, cadence, analytics, and accountability.
Pipeline generated per SDR rose sharply to $3.78mm. This is raw pipeline, not forecast or closed won. 50% of respondents report between $1.9mm and $6.4mm generated per SDR annually. The increase from prior years is largely driven by ACV growth ($27k in 2022 to $44k in 2024) rather than more Stage 1 opportunities, which were roughly flat.
60% of SDRs achieve quota. This is the lowest reading Bridge Group has ever reported and trending down since 2018. Since 2018, Stage 0 and Stage 1 quotas have actually fallen 40% and 43% respectively, so this isn’t a story of quotas getting harder. It’s just flat out harder to reach prospects.
1 manager oversees 6.4 SDRs. This is down sharply from 8 SDRs per leader in 2021 through 2023. SDR leadership compensation has been relatively flat in real terms, with manager OTE at $146k, director at $189k, and VP at $240k. Director and VP OTE actually declined slightly year over year, the first time Bridge Group has noted negative OTE growth at those levels.
Overall this blog post doesn’t do the study justice. It’s well worth the read and can be downloaded at bridgegroupinc.com. Thanks to Bridge Group for putting this together.
Thank you for your readership. See more blogs and SaaS data at blossomstreetventures.com. Other resources we’ve built for founders include: SoftwareMultiples.com; softwareMRRcalculator.com; FounderInvited.com, and TwoFoundersTalk.com. Founders are always welcome to reach out to sammy@blossomstreetventures.com as well.