The basics
What is tech sales?
Plain English. No jargon. By the end of this page you’ll know what an SDR does day-to-day, what tech companies actually hire for, what you can earn in Australia, and how someone with no sales background gets in.
Written by Isobel Hardwick, a current top-performing SDR in APAC.
Short version
Tech sales is the job of helping companies discover and buy software that solves a real problem for them. The entry-level role is called a Sales Development Representative, or SDR. You research the right companies, reach out by phone, email and LinkedIn, and book qualified meetings for a senior salesperson on your team. You don’t need a degree, a tech background, or any sales experience. You need to be coachable, curious and willing to pick up the phone.
The day-to-day
What does an SDR actually do all day?
The job is repetitive in the best way. You do four things, on rotation, every working day. The skill is doing all four of them well, consistently, for 6 hours a day.
Research the right companies
You start the morning by working through a list of companies your software is a fit for. You're looking for the right person to talk to (usually a manager or director) and a real, current reason they might care.
Pick up the phone
Cold calling is alive and well in 2026. The best SDRs make 40 to 80 calls a day. Most calls go nowhere. The ones that do go somewhere are usually quick: a few minutes, a real conversation, and either a meeting booked or a polite no.
Send personalised outbound
A handful of well-written emails and LinkedIn messages a day, tailored to what's actually going on at the company. Not mass blasts. Volume helps, but quality is what gets replies in 2026.
Book and prep meetings
When someone agrees to a chat, you book a 30-minute meeting between them and your Account Executive (AE). You write up notes on what you've learned so the AE can walk in prepared. Each booked meeting is the unit of work that gets you paid.
For a deeper walk-through, see what an SDR does all day in Australia.
Hiring criteria
Who do tech companies actually hire?
Tech companies hire SDRs for coachability, curiosity and communication. Not sales experience. Not a degree. Not a perfect personality type. The best people I know in this industry came from hospitality, admin, retail, teaching, real estate and parenting.
What hiring managers are really screening for in an SDR interview is whether you can hold a clear, confident conversation, take feedback without defensiveness, and stay in the chair through hundreds of rejections a week without losing momentum. None of that requires a sales background.
If you’ve worked in a customer-facing role of any kind, you already have most of what they’re looking for. The piece that’s missing is knowing how to position yourself on paper and in interviews so they can see it.
See how to become an SDR without a degree in Australia for the full breakdown.
The money
How much does an SDR earn in Australia?
Tech sales is one of the only careers in Australia where someone with no degree and no relevant experience can be on six figures inside their first 12 months. The numbers below are conservative. Top performers earn more.
Year 1 base
A$60–90k
Salary you take home regardless of performance.
Year 1 OTE
A$110–130k
Base plus commission for hitting target.
Year 2 OTE (AE)
A$180k+
Most SDRs promote in 18 to 24 months.
For live data and a calculator that estimates what you’d earn in your first year, use the SDR salary calculator. For a deeper breakdown by city and stage, read how much SDRs earn in Australia in 2026.
Location freedom
Where can you do this from?
Most modern tech companies hire SDRs either fully remote or hybrid. The role is built around a laptop, a phone, and a CRM. None of those need to be in an office. My clients work from home in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth. Some work from regional towns. Some work from villas in Bali, like I do.
What matters to a tech sales hiring manager is whether you can book qualified meetings consistently. They will not care where you do that from, as long as your timezone overlaps with the customers you’re selling to.
This is one of the most location-flexible careers in the world. Few traditional jobs come close.
The long game
What's the career path beyond SDR?
The SDR role is the doorway, not the destination. Most SDRs promote within 18 to 24 months. Here’s the standard path in Australia and the income that comes with each step.
Year 1
SDR
You learn the fundamentals: prospecting, calling, writing outbound, qualifying meetings. You earn A$110–130k. You build the foundation everything else stands on.
Year 2–3
Account Executive (AE)
You own the full sales cycle: discovery, demos, negotiation, closing. On-target earnings jump to A$180k+. Top AEs earn well past A$250k.
Year 3–5
Senior AE / Enterprise
You sell to larger, more complex customers. Earnings climb to A$300k–500k+ at top performers. The income compounds the longer you stay.
Year 5+
Beyond
Sales leadership, partnerships, customer success leadership, founder. The skills you build as an SDR open every commercial door in tech.
For the full timeline and how to get there faster, read how long it takes to go from SDR to AE in Australia.
Common questions
Tech sales, answered.
What is tech sales in simple terms?
Tech sales is the job of helping companies discover and buy software that solves a real problem for them. You spend your day talking to people about their work, finding out what slows them down, and showing them whether your product can help. There is no shouting, no door knocking, no pressure tactics. The good ones do it by being curious and helpful.
What does an SDR do day-to-day?
An SDR (Sales Development Representative) researches companies that might benefit from the software they sell, reaches out to the right people by phone, email and LinkedIn, has a friendly conversation, and books a meeting between that person and a senior salesperson on the team. The goal is to fill the calendar of the senior salesperson with qualified meetings.
Do I need a degree to get into tech sales in Australia?
No. Most tech companies hire SDRs based on coachability, communication and grit, not on whether you have a university degree. Plenty of top-performing SDRs in Australia came from hospitality, retail, admin, real estate, teaching and parenting.
How much does an entry-level SDR earn in Australia?
Most first-year SDR roles in Australia pay a base salary of A$60k to A$90k plus commission, which typically lands you between A$110k and A$130k in your first year. Top performers earn more. After 18 to 24 months, most promote into Account Executive (AE) roles where on-target earnings climb to A$180k+.
Is tech sales remote-friendly?
Most modern tech companies hire fully remote or hybrid for SDR roles. You can do the job from home, a cafe, or a coworking space. Some companies even hire from anywhere in Australia or APAC, which is how I work full-time from Bali.
Do I have to be pushy to do well?
No. Modern tech sales is the opposite of the hard-sell stereotype. The SDRs who consistently hit target are the ones who ask good questions, listen well, and only book meetings where there is a real reason to talk. Pushy outbounders burn out fast and miss quota.
How long does it take to break into tech sales?
Most career changers I work with land their first SDR offer in around 6 to 12 weeks once they start applying with a properly positioned resume and a clear story. The timeline depends on the market, your starting point, and how much time you can put in each week.
What's the difference between SDR and BDR?
Mostly nothing. SDR (Sales Development Representative) and BDR (Business Development Representative) are two names for the same entry-level role at most companies. A few companies split the two so SDRs handle inbound leads and BDRs handle outbound, but the day-to-day is almost identical and they pay roughly the same.
Now you know what tech sales is. Want help getting in?
That’s what QuotaClub is for. Work 1:1 with me until you’ve signed an offer at a real tech company in Australia. Plus 30 days of on-the-job support so you actually keep the role.