How I Became an AE at a Top SaaS Company (Without Experience)

As an SDR, you likely dream of leaping up the career ladder.

But, if you’re anything like other entry-level sales reps, you might have found yourself stuck in the same role because of one glaring obstacle…

Experience.

I’m Sydney Senior and I recently made the switch from Senior BDR at one SaaS startup, to AE at another - without traditional AE experience - and it's now one of the most common questions I get on Linkedin.

“How did you do it?”

I wanted to break down my process here - how I did it, what set me apart, and how I made myself the clear choice despite not exactly fitting on paper.

There are a few key areas you can focus on when looking to land that AE promotion, internally or externally. Building champions, proving undeniable value, and creating opportunities to build up relevant skills — all of which I’ll dive into here today.

Excel today, while preparing for tomorrow

Setting yourself up as a top SDR is always going to be one of the most foundational pieces of a promotion. 

As an SDR, I focused on continuous learning,

There are many more qualified people than me to give you advice on getting to the top of your SDR game. Here are some of my favorites, covering outreach strategy, promotion and career advice, and mindset tips.

• Elric Legloire
• Julia Carter 
• Jen Allen-Knuth
• Tom Alaimo
• Zoë Hartsfield
• Jed Marhle
• Caroline Maloney 
• Brian LaManna

Find the people you resonate with most, learn from them, and put their ideas into practice.

Nailing the SDR role is a hugely important step - but it’s not a silver bullet. 

Everyone else going for that AE role will be a top-performing SDR, so you’ll need other ways to set yourself apart from the crowd.

Start learning AE skills now

Lesson #1: You don’t need anyone’s permission to start building up skills for the role that you want.

Start adding some AE skills into the mix now and get creative here. This is where you can show your initiative, as well as your aptitude for the role. 

Some core AE skills to hone in on:

• Running effective discovery calls
• Running effective demos
• Staying on top of your pipeline
• Building champions
• Progressing deal cycles
• Effective follow-up emails

There are a million different ways to approach each of these.

Here’s how I did it:

1. Started a podcast. Did I know anything about podcasting? Not a thing. But are my discovery and conversation skills better 35+ episodes later? Absolutely. If you aren’t getting a chance to practice these skills in your current job, create an environment where you can.

2. Said “yes” to opportunities that came my way. When asked to be a guest host on Sell Better’s Daily Shows, I said absolutely - a perfect chance to not only learn live from some of the best sellers in the space, but a great lesson on how to run effective, engaging, and educational calls.

3. Listened to Podcasts. 30 Minutes to President’s Club is a favorite of mine. A key point here is to not just actively listen - make sure you’re taking notes, reframing the ideas based on how they relate to you, and making them your own.

4. Independent learning. I took courses, read books, and joined training cohorts centered around core AE skills.  There’s a wealth of knowledge out there - and nothing is stopping you from diving into it, even before you land that title.

5. Got involved internally. Make friends with AEs. Listen to their calls (sit in on them if they’ll let you). Do mock demos with anyone who will listen. 

6. Follow people on LinkedIn. Find people who have made similar transitions and learn from their experiences (I'd recommend Brandon Baker and Melissa Gaglione).

7. Networking & Building Champions. This step is my favorite because it’s often a natural byproduct of the rest of the steps. As you put yourself out there, talk to people, and share your learnings, you’re inevitably going to form connections with other people in the space. Those connections can turn into friends, referrals, champions, and people helping you through the journey. I would argue that this is truly the secret sauce of being a competitive candidate.

Community building is everything

I’ll say it again: Talk to everyone you can!

Internally, make friends with your internal AEs. Focus on bringing them great opportunities, helping out where you can in their follow-ups, and asking for their advice.

But don’t just stop at sales.

Product marketers, CSMs, and AMs all have a valuable perspective on different parts of the sales cycle. You can learn messaging, positioning, excellent customer experience, and much more.

Focus on ways you can bring value to these conversations while learning as much as you can.

Externally, LinkedIn is an incredible place to find people who have gone before you and done what you’re trying to do. It’s always worth making new connections and asking for advice.

But, everyone is really, really busy. So if you reach out asking for someone’s time, be sure to give them a good reason to chat with you. 

For example:

“Hey, can we meet? I want to land an AE role like you did.”

Vs.

“Hey! I noticed you recently made the transition from Senior BDR to SMB AE at a different org. I am currently aiming for a similar transition and am struggling the most with preparing for the mock demo in my interview process. I saw that you posted about going through this yourself, are there any pointers you’d be able to share to improve my skills here?”

Why does this second option work? It’s specific, actionable, relevant, and makes the lift as light as possible for them.

Lesson #2: If you don’t ask, the answer will always be no and you never know what doors a yes will open.

If there’s one point I can’t emphasize enough, it’s that this is a small small world. Who you are and how you treat people is something that will inevitably get around — so here, as in all things, be sure to put your best foot forward.

Digitize your experience and reputation

Your personal brand is a digitization of your reputation. 

It’s also significantly more compelling than a resume.

Imagine you’re looking at two candidates for an SDR to AE promotion. They both have very similar backgrounds, results, stats, and positions on the leaderboard. However, one has a barebones LinkedIn page and the other has one full of sales-related content over the past 8 months, detailing her learnings, best practices, and connections she’s made in the quest to become a closer.

Sometimes the difference-maker can be something as simple as this.

A significant added benefit of this is that it often comes along with great networking opportunities (and other doors you never even imagined opening). 

The more you put yourself out there, share value, connect to people, and become part of a community, the more you have to show anyone making a hiring decision exactly who you are.

Final words

I've learned very few people are willing to do what’s required to stand out. If you’re up for the task, you automatically jump to another level and skyrocket your chances of landing the role. 

If you do everything I outlined (along with diligent company research, interview prep, and follow-up), when they ask “why should we hire you?”, you will have a very clear answer, backed up by experience, skills, and metrics. 

Go get it — I’m rooting for you.