I have been an SDR for about 18 months. How do I actually make the jump to AE?

The longest-running benchmark on SDR quota, ramp, ratios, comp and time to promotion, drawn from hundreds of B2B companies. Treat the absolute numbers as US-weighted and the ratios as transferable when you plan an India-based team.

Sales Development (SDR) Metrics and Comp Report

From The Bridge Group Benchmark report

Evidence instead of folklore: 'did I catch you at a bad time' converts at 2.15% and leading with context converts at over 11%. If you are learning outbound, start with the numbers rather than a mentor's habits.

The best and worst cold call openers (backed by data from 300M calls)

From Gong Labs by Armand Farrokh ~8 min read

• Across 300M plus calls, the permission-based opener converted at 11.18 percent and a name-familiarity opener at 11.24 percent.
• "Did I catch you at a bad time?" was the worst tested opener at 2.15 percent, barely above baseline.
• "How's your day going?" landed in the middle at 7.6 percent.

The reference explanation of all eight letters from the people who own the methodology, free to read. Use it as a deal checklist: the letters you cannot fill in are exactly where your deal will die.

MEDDIC / MEDDPICC Sales Methodology and Process

From MEDDICC long read

• MEDDPICC is eight checks: Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Paper Process, Implicate the Pain, Champion, Competition.
• MEDDIC was created inside PTC in 1996 by Dick Dunkel, and the P and second C were added later.
• The problem it targets: 20 percent of reps produce 80 percent of results, and time to quota attainment can run past 12 months.
• A 2026 US federal court ruling confirmed MEDDPICC is generic, so no vendor owns the method.

This is where the SDR and AE split came from, and the summary gives you the whole model without the book. The rule that no AE prospects and no SDR closes explains why GTM org charts look the way they do.

15-Minute Summary of Predictable Revenue

From Predictable Revenue by Aaron Ross ~15 min read

• Split the role into three: SDRs on cold accounts, market response reps on inbound, AEs as the only quota carriers who close.
• Start SDRs at 50 to 100 prospecting emails a day, aiming for a 10 percent response rate.
• The core myth it attacks: selling more does not mean hiring more salespeople, it means building lead generation.
• Hire for talent and initiative over experience, since technique can be taught.

A first person account of the exact jump you are trying to make, including why hitting meeting targets alone does not get you promoted. Useful as a checklist of closing behaviour to start showing before you have the title.

How I Promoted from SDR to Enterprise AE (and Why Most Won't)

On Tech Sales With Higher Levels 16 min