SDR Manager

Overview

You lead a team of 6-10 SDRs who prospect into companies with significant cloud infrastructure spend. You're coaching reps on cold calling technique, refining outbound messaging, running pipeline reviews, and ensuring the team consistently delivers qualified meetings to the AE org. You split time between individual coaching, team performance management, and cross-functional collaboration with marketing and sales leadership.

Role Snapshot

Company Context

Stage: Growth stage (678 employees)

Size: 678 employees

Growth: Expanding SDR team - you'll likely be hiring and ramping new reps

Market Position: Established FinOps platform in competitive cloud optimization market

GTM Reality

Pipeline Sources:

• Your team primarily runs outbound prospecting (70%) with some inbound lead follow-up (30%)
• You're responsible for ensuring consistent pipeline flow to support AE quotas
• Team success depends on targeting the right accounts and breaking through to technical buyers

SDR/AE Structure: Each AE has dedicated SDR support - you're managing the SDR side of that partnership

SE Support: Not applicable

Competitive Landscape

Main Competitors: Your team competes for buyer attention against dozens of cloud/infrastructure vendors

How They Differentiate: You coach reps on DoiT's multi-cloud value prop and AI-driven optimization angle

Common Objections: You're training reps to handle "we use native tools," "not a priority," and technical brush-offs

Win Themes: Multi-cloud complexity, automated remediation, engineering time savings

What You'll Actually Do

Time Breakdown

Coaching/1-on-1s (35%) | Team Performance (25%) | Recruiting/Hiring (20%) | Cross-functional (20%)

Key Activities

• Daily pipeline reviews and call coaching: You listen to live calls, review recorded calls, and give real-time feedback on objection handling, qualification questions, and messaging. You're spotting patterns across the team - what's working, what's not - and adjusting approach.

• Weekly 1-on-1s with each rep: You review individual performance vs quota, coach through specific deals or prospects they're stuck on, and work on skill development (cold calling confidence, email personalization, LinkedIn strategies). Some reps need motivation, others need tactical help.

• Optimizing outbound sequences and messaging: You work with marketing on email templates, test new call scripts, analyze response rates by segment, and iterate on what messages resonate with VPs of Engineering vs FinOps Directors. Data shows small changes in subject lines or opening hooks can 2-3x response rates.

• Hiring and ramping new SDRs: You're interviewing candidates, building onboarding plans, and getting new reps productive within 60-90 days. Attrition is normal in SDR roles - you'll likely hire 2-4 people per year to maintain and grow your team.

The Honest Reality

What's Hard

• Managing through low conversion rates: SDRs face constant rejection. You're keeping morale up when reps make 300 dials a week to book 3-4 meetings. Some reps burn out after 6-12 months and you're constantly backfilling.

• Balancing individual development with team numbers: You have reps at different skill levels - some crushing quota, some struggling. You need everyone hitting their number while also investing time in coaching underperformers. The business doesn't care about excuses when pipeline dips.

• Navigating AE relationships and blame: When AEs miss quota, some blame SDR meeting quality. When SDRs can't book enough meetings, they blame targeting or messaging. You're mediating these tensions while keeping both sides accountable.

What Success Looks Like

• Team consistently delivers 120-180 qualified meetings per month (15-20 per rep)
• Meeting-to-opportunity conversion rate of 10-15% (AEs accept and work the meetings)
• Attrition under 30% annually (SDR average is 30-40%)
• Promoting 1-2 SDRs into closing roles annually (internal mobility signal)

Who You're Selling To

N/A - You're not selling directly. You're managing a team that prospects into:

• VPs/Directors of Engineering
• FinOps Directors/Managers
• IT Directors and CTOs at mid-market companies

Requirements

• 2-4 years as a top-performing SDR or BDR (preferably selling to technical buyers)
• 1-2 years managing an SDR team (or strong individual contributor ready to step into leadership)
• Experience with outbound prospecting motions (cold calling, email cadences, account-based plays)
• Data-driven approach to coaching - you use call recordings, activity metrics, and conversion rates to diagnose problems
• Comfort with tough conversations - both coaching underperformers and negotiating with AEs over lead quality
• Ability to hire, onboard, and ramp SDRs quickly in a scaling environment