Looking for pros and cons of remaining an AE or gunning for a Sales Leader position.
I’ve been weighing the options for a while now, and if I’m being honest, I think I could picture myself leading a team. But I have come accustomed to the AE grind and how I’m really just driving one quota. Not sure if I want additional pressure.
Anyone Sales Leaders or AEs have a strong opinion either way? Anyone made the leap and liked it? Anyone become a Leader and then gone back?
I made the decision 3 years ago to move back to an AE role and have to tell you…I have not been happier.
Two big question for you is,
(1) Why do you want to be a sales leader?
(2) Are you a LEADER?
I have been a sales LEADER for most of my career and really enjoyed it. It is a hard gig and not everyone is cut out to be a LEADER.
Knowing what I know now, would I have changed my decision to move into Sales LEADERSHIP??? NO! I feel I made a significant impact to many sales professionals and that is one of the bigger rewards as a sales LEADER.
Do I miss being a Sales LEADER?? Some days, but then I realized that I can be a LEADER and not have the title (or the HR headache).
You can’t make the wrong decision Rupert. If you get into LEADERSHIP and realize it is not for you…move back to an IC role. Heck I did it and even though it has been a million years since I was in an IC role, I feel like being a Sales LEADER made me a much stronger AE.
Great question, Rupert. I LOVE being in Sales, mainly because of all the relationships I’ve built and it’s such a rewarding career.
I was one of those guys who made the leap from AE to Management, mainly because my Leadership wanted me to replicate what I was doing and teach other reps how to be successful. I did that for six years and then received an offer from Oracle to sell their first generation Cloud. I had to take it and glad that I did.
Today, I still love being an individual contributor but I have a passion about the next generation of sales people and coaching and mentoring them into highly successful business professionals.
I would welcome the opportunity to enter back into management at some point but right now, I’m still having too much fun being an individual contributor. So I guess it all boils down to: “To each their own!”
Good question Rupert - took this to a VP of Sales in my network to get the perspective of someone who made the shift to leadership and stuck with it. Here’s what they said:
“There’s pluses and minuses to both positions and it’s really based on personal preferences. From the leadership side of things, the benefits are compensation has a higher floor but also has a lower ceiling. Typically sales leaders are allotted more equity then ICs. If you value the coaching aspect it’s a very rewarding role. The grind of prospecting isn’t the same as ICs. Other considerations, your variable comp isn’t solely in your hands anymore. You spend more time on internal administrative items.”
Great question ! Discussed with a few of my colleagues on this and here’s the summary -
Management role comes with a lot of unproductive overheads
Compensation is a plus but at times the lack of independence and the thrill of catching fish is hard to replicate … that said you can be very hands on manager and actually have your own list of big fish which you devote 40% time to close
Some folks enjoy the whole “review” game but many don’t … if you are however the coaching and mentor types then it makes a lot of Sense and purpose to creating new leaders
That was a super helpful blurb, @leigh.kellner. Especially interesting about the administration side. Certainly the range of those responsibilities will vary from company to company, so good to know to consider how much of a percent that would be vs. mentorship/coaching/training of a team.
Appreciate the bits on compensation, too. Good to know, good to know.
@Matt.Conley based on my experience they are the stress levels are about the same. Headaches are a bit different.
Being a frontline leader is a grind and tough because you have to manage up and down AND you also get an earful from both.
I have learned if you try to make everyone happy…you ultimately make nobody happy.
The mentality of a Sales Leader is to build the best team and get them to perform at their best. It’s not about running deals, etc. Master this, then the stress level is super low. If you haven’t…stress is super high.
Similarly for an AE, build pipe and close business…Master this, low stress…otherwise super high stress.
I have managed large teams of 80 AEs and been an individual contributor. Every seller should spend some time as a leader, but given the choice, I would prefer being a seller. I’ll usually make more money with less headaches. Managing a team is like being a Dad to a dozen children. It’s exhausting and frustrating. I make more money as a seller at Microsoft then I ever did as a leader.
@steven.schneiderman One aspect of Sales Leader vs. AE I think would be interesting to the group is around handling turnover and how much involvement there is in the hiring process.
Wondering more specifically what the percentages might be related to the grind of building, coaching/accelerating, and then sometimes re-building the team after periods of churn?
Any insights to that side of the admin role I think would be valuable to hear more about for anyone considering a transition.