[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":104},["ShallowReactive",2],{"lesson-/academy/sdr/what-is-tech-sales":3},{"path":4,"data":5,"html":32,"toc":33,"prev":49,"next":56,"track":62},"/academy/sdr/what-is-tech-sales",{"title":6,"description":7,"primaryQuery":8,"secondaryQueries":9,"module":13,"order":14,"tier":15,"intent":16,"asset":17,"publishedAt":20,"author":21,"reviewedAt":22,"relatedTool":23,"challenge":24,"exercise":29},"What Is Tech Sales? The SaaS SDR Career, Explained","Tech sales is selling software (SaaS) to businesses — software as a service, billed monthly or yearly instead of bought once. It is the biggest single market for SDR and BDR roles because B2B software needs constant pipeline. A tech-sales SDR books demos and qualified meetings for account executives; the pay is a real OTE with uncapped commission, and the career path leads to enterprise AE and beyond.","what is tech sales",[10,11,12],"is tech sales a good career","tech sales sdr job explained","saas sales career",1,7,"A","informational",{"type":18,"title":19},"template","The tech-sales cold email template (rewrite the weak version, keep the good one)","2026-09-10","closers","2026-09-24",null,{"type":25,"id":26,"brief":27,"artifact":28},"rewrite","m1-l8-cold-email-rewrite","A rep sent this cold email into a tech-sales list. Rewrite it so it's specific, short, and ends in one clean ask — the kind an SDR at a software company would actually send.","Hi [Name],\n\nI'm reaching out because we're the leading provider of SaaS solutions for businesses like yours. We help companies grow and scale their operations. I wanted to see if you'd be open to a quick call to discuss how we can add value to your organization.\n\nLet me know if you're interested.\n\nBest,\nAlex\n",{"prompt":30,"successCriteria":31},"Rewrite the weak cold email above so it is specific, short, and ends in a single clear ask, then explain in one sentence what you changed and why.","Your rewrite names one concrete trigger or problem, is under ~100 words, and makes exactly one ask — a demo or 15-minute call — instead of a vague 'see if you'd be open to talking.'","\u003Cp>Tech sales is selling software to businesses — most of it as \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/saas/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SaaS\u003C/a>, software as a service you pay for monthly or yearly instead of buying once. It is the biggest single market for \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/sdr/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">SDR\u003C/a> and \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/bdr/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BDR\u003C/a> roles, because B2B software never stops needing \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/pipeline/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pipeline\u003C/a>: new accounts, new \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/lead/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">leads\u003C/a>, new \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/demo/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">demos\u003C/a>. A tech-sales SDR books \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/qualified-meeting/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">qualified meetings\u003C/a> and demos for \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/account-executive/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">account executives\u003C/a> — that's it, that's the job — and the pay is a real \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/ote/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">OTE\u003C/a> with uncapped \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/commission/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">commission\u003C/a> on top. For most people, "tech sales" and "SDR job" are almost the same sentence.\u003C/p>\n\u003Ch2 id=\"what-tech-sales-actually-is\">What tech sales actually is\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>Tech sales means selling software, and in practice that means three things that make it different from selling widgets:\u003C/p>\n\u003Cul>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>It's recurring, not one-time.\u003C/strong> SaaS \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/mrr/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">recurring revenue\u003C/a> renews every month or year, so a customer is worth many times more over time than one purchase. That's why companies can pay \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/commission/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">commission\u003C/a> aggressively.\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>It's a \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/funnel/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">funnel\u003C/a>, not a pitch.\u003C/strong> The job is moving a \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/lead/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">lead\u003C/a> through stages — outreach, \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/discovery-call/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">discovery\u003C/a>, \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/demo/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">demo\u003C/a>, trial, close. The SDR owns the top of that \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/funnel/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">funnel\u003C/a>.\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>It's inside sales.\u003C/strong> Almost all tech sales is \u003Ca href=\"/academy/sdr/inside-vs-outside-sales/\">inside sales\u003C/a> — remote, phone, video, email — exactly the SDR/BDR model.\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\u003Ch2 id=\"the-tech-sales-sdr-day\">The tech-sales SDR day\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>A tech-sales SDR sits inside a \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/crm/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CRM\u003C/a>, works a \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/prospecting/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">prospecting\u003C/a> list, and runs \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/sequence/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sequences\u003C/a>: emails and calls that end in one ask — a demo or a 15-minute call. When someone bites, the SDR qualifies them and hands them to an AE. The whole craft is making that single ask specific and clean enough that a busy buyer says yes. That is what the rewrite challenge below trains.\u003C/p>\n\u003Ch2 id=\"the-cold-email-template\">The cold email template\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>Here's the asset — the version worth keeping, plus the weak one the challenge asks you to fix.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Subject:\u003C/strong> [One concrete thing — a trigger, stat, or recent change]\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>Hi [First name],\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>[Line 1: reference something real — their site, a hiring burst, a public problem, or a common trigger in their industry]\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>[Line 2: one sentence connecting that to what your product does — no feature dump, just the outcome]\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>[Line 3: the single ask — "open to a 15-min demo this week?"]\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>Best,\n[Your name]\u003C/p>\n\u003C/blockquote>\n\u003Cp>The weak version the challenge gives you does the opposite: no trigger, no specificity, a vague ask ("see if you'd be open to talking"). Fixing it is the difference between an SDR who books \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/demo/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">demos\u003C/a> and one who gets ignored.\u003C/p>\n\u003Ch2 id=\"is-tech-sales-a-good-career\">Is tech sales a good career?\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>For most people, yes — it's the highest-paying, fastest-promoting corner of the entry-level sales market. The \u003Ca href=\"/academy/sdr/sales-career-path/\">career path\u003C/a> runs SDR → AE → enterprise AE → sales leadership, and tech comp scales with it. It is not easy and it is not guaranteed — your first-year comp is \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/ote/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">OTE\u003C/a> built on hitting \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/quota/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">quota\u003C/a> — but the ceiling and the demand are real.\u003C/p>\n\u003Ch2 id=\"start-here\">Start here\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>You know what tech sales is and how to run a cold email at its core. The next lesson clears up the one confusion that trips people up in this exact world — the difference between a \u003Ca href=\"/academy/sdr/setter-vs-closer/\">setter and a closer\u003C/a> in high-ticket and tech sales, and which one the SDR actually is.\u003C/p>\n",[34,37,40,43,46],{"id":35,"text":36},"what-tech-sales-actually-is","What tech sales actually is",{"id":38,"text":39},"the-tech-sales-sdr-day","The tech-sales SDR day",{"id":41,"text":42},"the-cold-email-template","The cold email template",{"id":44,"text":45},"is-tech-sales-a-good-career","Is tech sales a good career?",{"id":47,"text":48},"start-here","Start here",{"path":50,"title":51,"description":52,"module":13,"order":53,"kind":54,"practiceCall":23,"core":55},"/academy/sdr/inside-vs-outside-sales","Inside vs Outside Sales: What's the Real Difference","Inside sales is selling remotely — phone, video, and email from an office or home. Outside sales is selling in the field, meeting buyers face to face and traveling a territory. The goal is the same (revenue), but where the selling happens changes your day, your travel, and the relationship style. SDR and BDR work is typically inside sales.",6,"order",false,{"path":57,"title":58,"description":59,"module":13,"order":60,"kind":61,"practiceCall":23,"core":55},"/academy/sdr/setter-vs-closer","Setter vs Closer: Two Roles, One Call, Explained","A setter (appointment setter) books the qualified call; a closer runs that call and closes the deal. It is the high-ticket and some tech-sales version of the SDR/AE split — the setter's job ends at the booked call, the closer's begins there. Most entry-level sales roles are setter-side: you book, you do not close. Knowing which seat a job is tells you your day, your comp, and what the interview should ask.",8,"write",{"slug":63,"title":64,"shortTitle":65,"crumb":66,"path":67,"positioning":68,"totalLessons":69,"modules":70},"sdr","Certified Sales Development Representative (CSDR)","SDR/BDR Certification","SDR Certification","/academy/sdr","The free certification for getting your first sales job — no degree, no experience, no upsell.",58,[71,74,79,82,87,91,94,97,100],{"id":13,"name":72,"lessonCount":53,"description":73},"The Role","What an SDR actually does, whether it’s for you, and the sales career path it opens — 6 core lessons.",{"id":75,"name":76,"lessonCount":77,"description":78},2,"Getting In With No Experience",3,"Land your first sales job with no experience or degree — a 30-day plan — 3 core lessons.",{"id":77,"name":80,"lessonCount":60,"description":81},"Prospecting and Research","Find the right accounts and contacts to reach — 8 lessons.",{"id":83,"name":84,"lessonCount":85,"description":86},4,"Cold Calling",11,"Make cold calls without freezing up — 11 core lessons.",{"id":88,"name":89,"lessonCount":60,"description":90},5,"Cold Email and LinkedIn","Write cold emails and LinkedIn messages that get replies — 8 core lessons.",{"id":53,"name":92,"lessonCount":88,"description":93},"Conversations: Discovery and Qualification","Run discovery calls and qualify real buyers — 5 core lessons.",{"id":14,"name":95,"lessonCount":77,"description":96},"The Tool Stack","The tools that run an SDR’s daily workflow — 3 core lessons.",{"id":60,"name":98,"lessonCount":53,"description":99},"Money: Comp, Commission and Quota","SDR salary, OTE, commission and quotas — 6 lessons.",{"id":101,"name":102,"lessonCount":60,"description":103},9,"Getting Hired","Resume, interview answers, offer negotiation, and the certification assessment — 8 lessons.",1792888520790]