How long new AEs take to ramp.
A newly hired B2B account executive now takes a little over six months to reach full productivity, the longest The Bridge Group has recorded since its study began in 2006.
Last updated: September 2026
The average new account executive takes 6.2 months to reach full productivity, according to The Bridge Group’s 2026 survey of 158 B2B companies, the highest in the study’s history.1 Sales development reps ramp faster, averaging 3.0 months in The Bridge Group’s 2025 SDR research.2
AE ramp has lengthened in every edition since 2020, which The Bridge Group links to deal complexity and larger buying committees.
Ramp time at a glance.
Ramp time by role and year.
The Bridge Group has benchmarked the AE and SDR roles every two years for two decades. Its figures show AE ramp rising steadily while SDR ramp falls.
| Ramp time | Detail | Source | |
|---|---|---|---|
| AE, 2026 | 6.2 months | Average time to full productivity; highest in study history (158 companies) | The Bridge Group 20261 |
| AE, 2024 | 5.7 months | Average ramp, 2024 edition (172 B2B SaaS companies) | Summary of The Bridge Group 20243 |
| AE, 2022 | 5.3 months | Average ramp, 2022 edition | Summary of The Bridge Group 20243 |
| AE, 2020 | 4.3 months | Average ramp, 2020 edition | Summary of The Bridge Group 20243 |
| SDR, 2025 | 3.0 months | Average ramp; lowest since 2010 (351 companies) | The Bridge Group 20252 |
| SDR tenure | 1.9 years | Average SDR tenure; median annual attrition of 40% in 2024 | The Bridge Group 20252 |
All figures are company-reported survey data. The 2020–2024 AE figures are taken from a published summary of The Bridge Group’s 2024 report rather than the report itself.
What the numbers mean.
Ramp is expensive. At the 2026 median AE on-target earnings of $200K,1 six months of partial productivity is a large cost per hire before the rep carries a full number. Every month you remove from ramp goes straight to capacity.
Hiring more experienced AEs has not fixed it. Companies now ask for 3.7 years of experience at hire, up from 2.7 in 2022, yet ramp still rose.1 Experience from another company does not teach a rep your buyers, your deal stages, or your way of selling.
Training quality is one of the few levers with evidence behind it. RAIN Group and Allego found organizations with effective sales training are 4.9 times more likely to see faster time-to-productivity, but only 33% of companies say their training is effective.4 Onboarding that stops at product knowledge leaves the hardest part, selling in your market, to trial and error.
New hires taking two quarters to close a deal?
We build onboarding around your real deal stages, so new AEs practice the conversations they will have in their first month.
How to shorten AE ramp time.
Give new hires one way of selling
A shared framework for discovery, qualification, and closing lets new AEs borrow what already works instead of inventing their own approach.
Account executive training 02 · PracticePractice before live calls
Roleplay the first meeting, the discovery call, and the pricing conversation before a new AE meets a real buyer. Mistakes are cheaper in practice.
Discovery call training 03 · ManagerCoach every week in the first 90 days
New AEs ramp faster when a manager reviews live calls and deals with them weekly. First-time managers often need help building that habit.
First-time manager trainingClient-reported results.
These figures are reported by Accelerain Training clients after rollout. They are not industry benchmarks and are shown separately from the research above.
Ramp new AEs faster.
Book a strategy call. We’ll look at your onboarding, where new hires get stuck, and how to get them selling your way sooner.
- No commitment — we scope and price it with you
- Customized concepts, in-depth training, or training plus 1:1s
- 30-minute sprint, half-day, one-day, or two-day formats
Where these numbers come from.
- The Bridge Group — AE Models, Motions & Metrics: 2026 Research Report (10th ed.) (2026)
- The Bridge Group — SDR Models, Motions & Metrics: 2025 Research Report (2025)
- Charlie Cowan — 5 essential learnings from the 2024 SaaS AE Report (Bridge Group) (2024), secondary summary of The Bridge Group’s 2024 report
- Allego & RAIN Group — Allego and RAIN Group Unveil Groundbreaking Research on Continuous Learning and Sales Performance (2024)
Common questions about new AE ramp time.
01What is AE ramp time?
AE ramp time is how long a newly hired account executive takes to reach full productivity, usually meaning a full quota. Accelerain Training helps teams shorten it by teaching new hires one proven way of selling in their first weeks.
02How long does it take a new account executive to ramp?
About 6.2 months on average, according to The Bridge Group’s 2026 AE research across 158 B2B companies. That is the longest ramp time in the study’s history.
03How long does it take an SDR to ramp?
About 3.0 months on average, according to The Bridge Group’s 2025 SDR research across 351 B2B companies, the lowest since 2010. Average SDR tenure in the same study is 1.9 years.
04Is sales ramp time getting longer?
For AEs, yes. The Bridge Group’s average AE ramp has risen from 4.3 months in 2020 to 5.3 in 2022, 5.7 in 2024, and 6.2 in 2026, which it links to deal complexity and larger buying committees.
05Does hiring experienced reps shorten ramp time?
Not on its own. The Bridge Group reports companies now require 3.7 years of experience at AE hire, up from 2.7 in 2022, while average ramp still grew to 6.2 months.
06Does sales training reduce ramp time?
Research links it to faster ramp. RAIN Group and Allego found organizations with effective sales training are 4.9 times more likely to see faster time-to-productivity, though only 33% of companies rate their training as effective.
07How do you calculate the cost of AE ramp time?
Multiply the months of ramp by the gap between full and actual monthly productivity, then add salary and hiring costs. With The Bridge Group’s 6.2-month average, even small reductions in ramp free meaningful capacity.
Ready to build a team that sells with conviction?
Book a strategy call to see how we turn the framework into repeatable behavior for your reps.