
How to Go From SDR to Account Executive (40+ Years of Advice)
Send us Fan Mail How do you get promoted from SDR to Account Executive? Earl Medar has forty years in software and telecoms sales, thirty of them at Colt Technology Services, and he is a mentor and coach at Entr Tech. This is part two, and it is aimed squarely at people already working in tech sales who want the closing role. What separates the SDRs who make the jump from the ones who stay appointment makers, and why the difference is whether you are looking beyond the meeting you just booked. How to actually tell your manager you want to be promoted, because managers are not mind readers and keeping quiet is why it does not happen. Plus the paper trail to keep, and exactly what to write when you have been promised a promotion that has not materialised. The difference between an Account Executive and an Account Manager, hunting versus farming, and what upselling and cross selling look like in practice. Earl also walks through a real enterprise deal: fourteen months to signature, nineteen months to go live, and a line of business now worth twelve million euros a year. Including how he got in, which was asking his own CEO for an introduction after two failed attempts. Also covered: the ratios you should be working backwards from, why a strong SDR does not automatically make a strong AE, how to handle a prospect asking for a price reduction, the give and get rule in negotiation, what commercial awareness actually means, how to re engage a prospect who is ghosting you, and the thirty, sixty and ninety day plan for getting yourself ready. And the story of the year he needed a hundred and twenty percent of target to win the trip, hit a hundred and fifteen, and watched the coach leave without him. If you are an SDR or BDR with your eye on a closing role, this is four decades of it in one conversation. 📩 Connect with Earl Medar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/earl-medar-a108494 ▶️ WATCH PART ONE: 40 Years in Tech Sales: https://youtu.be/O_9GjorQsE4 👉 Ready to break into tech sales? Entr-tech.co TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Introduction 02:58 Telling your manager you want the promotion 05:35 Account Executive versus Account Manager 07:35 What managers look for before they promote you 10:44 Enterprise deal cycles and how a big deal actually runs 15:55 Building relationships and running discovery 22:14 Handling competition and commercial awareness 26:37 Negotiation and the give and get rule 29:16 Building your development plan 30:07 Keeping a paper trail with your manager 32:45 Re-engaging a prospect who is ghosting you 34:14 Managing multiple stakeholders 35:03 SDR base versus AE on target earnings 36:32 What holds people back, and the 30, 60, 90 plan ABOUT ENTR TECH Entr Tech helps career changers break into UK and European tech sales through one to one mentoring, CV and outreach support, interview preparation and practice interviews. Our students come from care work, hospitality, retail, construction, teaching, the police and the fire service. New video every week. #TechSales #SDR #AccountExecutive ____________________ 🚀 START YOUR TECH SALES JOURNEY Entr Tech helps career switchers develop the practical skills and interview confidence needed to pursue entry-level roles in tech sales. 🔥 6-WEEK LIVE BOOTCAMP Get structured training, coaching and interview preparation with support throughout the programme. Apply now: https://entr-tech.co 💻 SELF-PACED COURSE — £199.99 Learn the foundations of tech sales on your own schedule with our CPD-approved on-demand course. Ideal for self-starters preparing for SDR and BDR opportunities. Start learning: https://collective.entr-tech.com/Break_into_tech_sales_accelerator Learn more: https://entr-tech.com/ Contact: https://entr-tech.com/contact/





