How to Make the Jump from SDR to AE

Becoming an account executive is often the next career move for SDRs and BDRs. It’s a role that promises less tedious prospecting, more relationship-building, and bigger paychecks.

But this isn’t a promotion that’s guaranteed; it’s one that’s earned.

The SDRs who advance to AEs are hungry and driven. They are committed to managing their pipeline, exceeding their targets, and learning and developing new skills.

With insights from Kyle Coleman, once AE and now SVP of Marketing at Clari, this blog will teach aspiring SDRs the must-have skills of an AE and provide best practices for making the big career jump.

Understanding the SDR to AE career path

Let’s get one thing straight: SDRs and AEs live in different worlds. SDRs are the expert prospectors, the masters of the top-of-funnel. You find the opportunities. AEs, on the other hand, are the closers. They take the qualified leads you generate and guide them through the decision-making process to a signed deal.

Making the jump means shifting your focus from ‘who’ to ‘how’ — from identifying potential customers to showing them how your solution solves their biggest problems. It’s a natural next step, but it requires a totally different set of skills and a new mindset.

What makes a successful account executive

SDRs spend most of their time working the top of the funnel, while AEs typically engage with active, qualified prospects on the verge of making a purchasing decision.

Here are some essential skills an AE needs to convert buyer-ready leads into paying customers.

Lead nurturing

On-the-fence leads don’t wake up one morning and randomly decide to purchase. They need to be nurtured with relevant information, value-based content, delightful interactions, and lots of support.

To close deals with valuable, but indecisive leads, AEs need to use lead nurturing strategies like:

• Scoring and segmenting leads
• Creating relevant and engaging content
• Building personalized email campaigns
• Leveraging multi-channel outreach methods

Negotiating

At the bottom of the funnel, many buyers will bring up their purchasing concerns. Account executives need excellent negotiation skills to address these concerns and re-establish their product’s value without losing sale.

Good negotiators actively listen. They create value while maintaining control of the sales conversation and they use data and social proof to eliminate their lead’s concerns.

SDRs—Get a better idea of how to properly prepare for a negotiation and where to better your skills with this free downloadable checklist.

Closing

Closing sales is both an art and a science.

As an AE, you’ll need to know how to create a sense of urgency, overcome sales objections, and create a clear and easy path to purchase to successfully close out the sales cycle (and earn your commission checks!).

Check out this blog for tried and true techniques for closing sales deals.

How to earn your promotion from SDR to AE

Kyle Coleman, SVP of Marketing at Clari and LinkedIn thought leader, has helped 50+ people make the jump from SDR to AE and we want to share his top tips with you.

#1: Be a top-performing SDR

Before you even consider stepping into the AE role, you need to have your SDR game on lock.

The sales development reps that stand out and rise in the ranks work smarter, not necessarily harder. They hone in on a few key skills and choose the right sales tools to simplify their work and help them reach out to qualified candidates at speed and scale.

To make sure your SDR tasks don’t slip consider:

• Organizing a to-do list for daily outreach
• Testing your email subject lines
• Using sales intelligence tools for detailed prospect insights

#2: Become revenue-critical

To rise in the ranks, you also need to be focused on your team and your business’s bottom line.

“Understand your impact on driving revenue, track your stats, and study top performers,” suggests Kyle.

An expansive analytics tool can make all the difference in becoming more revenue-driven and performance-focused. SDRs can use these tools to instantly see key metrics like:

• Call and email efficiency
• Conversion rates
• Sequence/subject line/messaging performance
• Team performance
• Open and interested rates
• And (thanks to infinite report customizations) so much more

#3: Explore various growth paths in your career

Kyle's next piece of advice is to take the chance to explore other career paths. Find opportunities to learn the ins and outs of your business within customer enablement, account management, product education, sales, etc., and make sure that the jump to AE is what you really want.

#4: Build a crew of advocates

Every interaction with a team member, manager, client, or boss will leave them with an impression of you.

Make each one count.

With the right mindset and a quality work ethic, you will quickly build a community of advocates who will vouch for you in opportunities for career growth. "From individual AEs and front-line managers to your sales leaders; everyone will be in your corner because they know you always approach your work the right way," Kyle says.

In an SDR role, you can apply brute force and see results. Send more emails, dial more calls, make more connections, and see your numbers go up. Meanwhile, an AE's job often requires more intentional interaction and finely-tuned bottom-of-the-funnel selling skills.

SDRs aiming for a promotion should find every opportunity to foster these skills and stay committed to crushing their numbers, tracking their performance, and building meaningful relationships.

Your 90-day transition preparation plan

A promotion doesn’t just happen. You have to plan for it. Here’s a simple framework to get you ready for the AE role in the next quarter.

90 days out: Start learning

This is your observation phase. Shadow AEs on their discovery and demo calls. Listen to call recordings. Learn the product inside and out, not just what it does, but what problems it solves for customers. Start thinking like an AE by asking ‘why’ behind every customer interaction.

60 days out: Start doing

Ask for more responsibility. See if you can help an AE with account mapping or pre-call research. Offer to run a small part of an internal call. This shows initiative and gives you hands-on experience without the pressure of a live deal. It’s about proving you can handle more.

30 days out: Start talking

Schedule a meeting with your manager to discuss your career goals. Come prepared with data on your performance as an SDR and a clear plan for how you’ll transition. Show them you’ve been preparing for this. This isn’t asking for a promotion on the spot; it’s making your ambitions known and asking for their guidance on the final steps.

Preparing for AE interviews and the transition

When the time comes for the formal interview, you need to be ready to prove you’re not just a great SDR, but a future top-performing AE. Be prepared to answer questions about your process for managing a deal from discovery to close. Role-play a discovery call or a demo. Most importantly, connect your past SDR success to future AE potential. Explain how your prospecting skills will help you build your own pipeline and how your understanding of customer pain points will help you close bigger deals, faster.

Making the leap: what to expect in your first 90 days as an AE

Making the jump from SDR to AE is a huge accomplishment, but the work is just beginning. Your first 90 days will be a firehose of information. You’ll be learning new processes, managing complex deal cycles, and carrying the weight of a quota. Embrace the learning curve, lean on your team for support, and don’t be afraid to ask questions. The skills and habits you’ve built to get here are your foundation. Now it’s time to build on them. If you’re ready to equip yourself with the tools that top AEs use to manage their pipeline and close deals, it might be time to get started with Apollo.

Frequently asked questions about transitioning from SDR to AE

Can you really become an AE from an SDR role?

Absolutely. It’s one of the most common and logical career paths in sales. Excelling as an SDR proves you have the grit, work ethic, and foundational understanding of the sales process needed to succeed as an AE.

How long does it typically take to go from SDR to AE?

There’s no magic number, but most high-performing SDRs can make the transition in 12 to 18 months. It depends on your performance, the company’s growth, and how proactively you prepare for the role.

Is being an SDR really the hardest sales job?

It’s definitely one of the toughest. SDRs face constant rejection and are responsible for creating opportunities from scratch. This resilience is what makes former SDRs such strong AEs—they’ve already mastered the most challenging part of the sales cycle.

What’s the biggest mistake SDRs make when trying to become AEs?

Thinking that hitting their number is enough. While performance is critical, you also need to be a student of the AE role. SDRs who fail to learn the skills, build relationships with AEs, and proactively communicate their ambitions to their manager often get overlooked.