The decision to hire Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) and Account Executives (AEs) as separate roles typically depends on your SaaS company’s growth stage, market complexity, and sales cycle length. For most growing SaaS companies, separating these functions creates greater efficiency and productivity—SDRs can focus exclusively on prospecting and qualifying leads, while AEs can concentrate on relationship building and closing deals. However, early-stage startups or companies with simple sales processes might benefit from combined roles until they reach a scale that justifies specialization.
Understanding SDR and AE roles in the SaaS sales ecosystem
In the typical SaaS sales structure, SDRs and AEs serve distinct but complementary functions within the revenue generation process. SDRs operate at the top of the funnel, focusing on outbound prospecting, initial contact, qualifying leads, and scheduling meetings. They’re essentially the first human touchpoint in the sales journey. AEs, on the other hand, take qualified opportunities forward, conducting demos, managing the sales process, negotiating terms, and ultimately closing deals.
This division creates a specialised workflow where each role can develop deep expertise in their particular area. The SDR-to-AE handoff has become standard practice in SaaS sales recruitment because it allows for efficiency and scalability as companies grow.
Many SaaS companies are questioning this traditional separation, particularly when building teams from scratch or entering new markets. The core question becomes: does separating these functions actually drive better results for your specific business model and stage of growth?
What are the benefits of separating SDR and AE roles in SaaS companies?
Separating SDR and AE functions offers several significant advantages for SaaS companies looking to build efficient sales operations. This specialisation allows each role to focus on what they do best, creating a more effective sales pipeline.
The focused expertise that comes from role separation means SDRs can become masters at prospect research, initial outreach, and qualification techniques. Meanwhile, AEs can dedicate their time exclusively to relationship-building, solution selling, and negotiation skills. This specialisation typically results in higher conversion rates at each stage of the funnel.
Performance tracking also becomes clearer with separated roles. You can measure SDRs on metrics like number of contacts made, meetings booked, and qualified opportunities created. AEs can be evaluated on conversion rates, deal size, sales cycle length, and revenue generated. This clarity makes coaching more targeted and effective.
Additionally, this structure creates a natural career progression path within your organisation. Top-performing SDRs can move into AE positions, bringing with them valuable experience and knowledge of your prospects’ common objections and challenges. This progression opportunity is particularly valuable for attracting ambitious talent through specialised SaaS sales recruitment agencies.
When does it make sense to combine SDR and AE responsibilities?
There are specific circumstances where combining SDR and AE roles into a single position can be more practical and effective for SaaS companies. Understanding these scenarios helps you make informed decisions about your sales team structure.
For early-stage startups with limited resources, having sales generalists who handle the entire process from prospecting to closing allows you to cover more ground with fewer people. This approach can be more cost-effective until you reach a volume of leads that justifies specialisation.
Companies with straightforward products and shorter sales cycles may not need the complexity of separated roles. If your sales process typically concludes within 1-2 conversations and doesn’t require extensive discovery or multiple stakeholder involvement, a single salesperson can efficiently manage the entire process.
Market constraints can also influence this decision. If you’re selling into highly specialised industries with a limited number of potential clients, your sales team might better serve the company by handling accounts from initial contact through to close, building deeper relationships throughout the process.
Finally, some industries or regions have cultural expectations around relationship continuity. In markets where buyers expect to work with the same person throughout their purchasing journey, breaking that experience across multiple roles might create unnecessary friction.
How does company size and growth stage affect SDR and AE hiring decisions?
Your company’s development stage significantly influences the optimal structure for your sales organisation. The right approach evolves as your business grows and faces different challenges.
At the startup phase (pre-Series A or under 10 employees), founders or a small sales team often handle the entire sales process. With limited resources and a focus on product-market fit, specialisation may be premature. Here, versatile salespeople who can prospect, present, and close allow you to learn and iterate quickly.
As you enter the growth phase (Series A/B with 10-50 employees), separation of roles typically becomes beneficial. The increasing volume of prospects requires more systematic approaches, and specialisation can drive efficiency. This is often when companies begin working with SaaS sales recruitment partners to help build out specialised teams.
For scale-up and enterprise SaaS companies (Series C+ or 50+ employees), fully separated functions with clear specialisation become essential. At this stage, you might develop further specialisation, such as separating inbound and outbound SDRs or creating AE tiers based on deal size or market segment.
The transition between these stages should be guided by data rather than assumptions. Track metrics like lead volume, conversion rates, and sales cycle length to determine when role separation would improve overall performance.
What skills should you prioritize when hiring dedicated SDRs versus AEs?
When separating SDR and AE roles, identifying and recruiting for the distinct skill sets needed in each position becomes crucial for building an effective sales team.
For SDR candidates, prioritise resilience and persistence. The role involves handling frequent rejection while maintaining enthusiasm. Look for excellent research abilities to identify promising prospects and strong written communication skills for crafting compelling outreach messages. SDRs also need curiosity to ask insightful qualification questions and active listening skills to identify genuine opportunities.
When hiring AEs, focus on relationship-building capabilities and consultative selling approaches. Strong negotiation skills and business acumen are essential for navigating complex deals. AEs should demonstrate excellent presentation abilities, both in person and virtually. They need to be strategic thinkers who can map out the buyer’s journey and navigate multiple stakeholders.
Both roles benefit from product knowledge and industry understanding, but AEs typically need deeper expertise to handle technical questions and relate product capabilities to specific business outcomes. SDRs need broader knowledge to identify qualification criteria and have meaningful initial conversations.
The best AE candidates often have progressed from SDR roles, bringing valuable frontline experience with customer objections and qualification criteria. This progression path can be highlighted when partnering with a recruitment agency that specialises in SaaS sales talent.
Key takeaways: Building the right SaaS sales team structure for your business
When deciding whether to separate or combine SDR and AE roles, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer for SaaS companies. Your optimal sales structure should align with your specific business reality.
Consider your company’s growth stage as a primary factor—early startups often benefit from combined roles, while growing companies see advantages in specialisation. Evaluate your product complexity and sales cycle length, as more complex solutions with longer cycles typically benefit more from role separation.
Your target market characteristics matter too. Enterprise sales with multiple decision-makers usually require specialised roles, while SMB-focused sales might work effectively with combined functions.
Budget constraints need honest assessment. While separated roles may be ideal, you might need to implement a phased approach as resources allow. Consider starting with a hybrid model where some specialisation exists but flexibility remains.
Lastly, think about long-term talent development goals. Separated roles create clear career progression paths that can help with both recruitment and retention. Whichever approach you choose, regularly review performance data to determine if your structure continues to serve your business goals as you scale.
The right sales team structure ultimately depends on finding the balance between efficiency, effectiveness, and resource optimisation that works for your unique SaaS business model. Working with recruitment specialists who understand the nuances of SaaS sales roles can help you build the team structure that will drive your growth.
