Dear SaaStr: Should you pay a SDR for an unqualified meeting they set for an AE that ends up making it far in the sales process but doesn’t close because of price?
Yes — in my opinion. At least it should be the default choice.
There are variants of SDR comp, and in some organizations, the SDR is only comp’d when the deal she sets up / screens / calendars / whatever actually closes.
That’s OK, not the end of the world, and it may feel more organic to you. As a CEO in an early stage start-up, it may feel less stressful to only comp the SDR on closed deals. If so, do it at first.
But I think we’ve all learned the last few years that in sales, the more specialization, the better. No more AEs that do it all, from outbound to inbound to CS to screening. It’s just so much more efficient, and higher ROI, to focus sales professionals on what they do best.
As part of that, the most efficient sales teams tend to comp SDRs on Accepted Meetings, one way or another. Or Opportunities Created, which is easier, and one step further down the funnel.
Much further down the funnel than that, though, and the SDR is spending mental energy, and worrying, about the wrong things. She’s be spending her day managing her “deals” well past the appointment phase, hoping they close. That’s not what you want.
You want her to go right back to setting up that next appointment.
So pay her to do that.
