An SDR books a meeting and counts it as a win. The account executive turns up, decides it was a poor use of an hour, and counts it as a loss. Both are right, by their own definition. The trouble is that nobody wrote one down.
Why this causes so much friction
- SDRs are measured on meetings, so quantity wins when quality is not defined.
- AEs are measured on revenue, so a poor meeting is a direct cost.
- Each side concludes the other is not doing their job.
Agree the definition together
Get both managers in a room. Write down what has to be true before a meeting counts. A good starting list:
- The company matches the written ICP.
- The contact's role and influence are confirmed.
- The buyer has described a problem in their own words.
- The buyer has agreed the purpose of the meeting.
- A time and attendees are confirmed, and notes are in the CRM.
Mark which are must-haves and which are nice-to-haves. Then put it where people work, not in a document nobody opens.
Add a service level
An agreement needs a clock. How quickly does the AE accept or reject a booked meeting? What does a rejection need to include? Who owns a no-show? Write it down, and review it monthly.
Use rejection reasons as data
Every rejected meeting should carry a reason from a short, defined list. If "not ICP" dominates, look at targeting. If "no problem stated" dominates, look at the SDR conversation. The pattern tells you where to act.
Quality argues with volume forever, until someone writes down what quality means.
The SDR-to-AE Handoff and SLA Pack below includes a definition builder, SLA terms, a rejection log and a monthly scorecard.