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TechItEasy

Account Executive

Contributor
Good Citizen
Fire Starter

AE vs full cycle comp plans

Fam,

Currently working an as AE in the SAAS space, comp plan is fairly standard (I think) @ ~10% of revenue.

Theres some chatter internally about moving to full-cycle sales but I have never worked in a company that does this. 

Obviously if I'm running full cycle, it's unlikely that I could hit the same quota so my earnings would decrease if comp plan remains the same.

Does anyone have any experience with full cycle comp plans/what I should ask for or expect?


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braintank
Politicker
1
Enterprise Account Executive
Can you explain what you mean by "full cycle"?
TechItEasy
Contributor
0
Account Executive
Yeah of course, so rather than having an SDR/BDR prospecting and booking meetings and then an AE taking deals from meeting -> close. A full cycle sales person does it all themselves.
braintank
Politicker
0
Enterprise Account Executive
Ok. Curious what they're doing with your BDRs? 
looper1010
Celebrated Contributor
0
Solutions Specialist
Exactly, then what would be the point of BDRs starting the process? 
TechItEasy
Contributor
0
Account Executive
Your guess is as good as mine. We're a fairly small team (company is young) so I imagine the leadership team don't see letting the BDRs go as much of a roadblock...
looper1010
Celebrated Contributor
0
Solutions Specialist
Yikes, that sounds like a red flag.  Are finances and revenue ok at the company?  Are any key people leaving? :/
TechItEasy
Contributor
0
Account Executive
I don't see it as a red flag (yet). The business is fine, just a few ongoing. discussions internally. A couple of the leadership team are arguing a better client experience comes with full cycle - I think Scott Leese has written some posts on LinkedIn with a similar view.
I mostly just want to be prepared should they decide to change the structure
TheBloodyNine
Politicker
0
Account Executive
I´ve been working as a full cycle sales person for 3 years in my current company. I quite like the job, you dont depend on anyone. You get the leads, you work the deal, you close the deal, you manage the client on the onboarding process and during the professional relationship.

This helps a lot to build customer loyalty, and gives you confidence as you are able to do EVERYTHING without any help.


Feds_Watchin
Politicker
2
AE
I echo this. Our BDRs support on average 6-8 AEs. I expect nothing out of mine. Pick up the damn phone. If you want something done right, you usually have to do it yourself.
SlinginSoftware
Politicker
1
Account Executive
Do you have a fair amount of inbound leads? If you have a lot of top funnel leads that are being brought in by marketing efforts, it may just add a step or two to your sales process (outreach and then initial qualification).
TechItEasy
Contributor
0
Account Executive
Not a lot of inbound leads, been getting a little better recently but I would still need to dedicate a fair amount of time to prospecting.
Broncosfan
Politicker
1
Account Manager
Are you booking meetings at all now?
TechItEasy
Contributor
0
Account Executive
Somewhat, I was taught to never rely solely on an SDR for my pipeline so have never given up prospecting as an AE.
Naturally if I was going full-cycle the amount of prospecting would need to increase (and hence less time for other activities I guess)
Broncosfan
Politicker
1
Account Manager
Do you have to currently manage the sdr at all? When I had one, I often spent more time helping them than I ever got out of it.
TechItEasy
Contributor
0
Account Executive
Thankfully not, spend a little bit of time each week "mentoring" the SDR but I don't have responsibility for managing them.
DungeonsNDemos
Big Shot
1
Rolling 20's all day
I guess the question is: should your comp % change because you’re doing less closing/more prospecting right? It’s not a straightforward change but obviously it will affect your sales in one way or another depending on how your prospecting quality and outreach goes
TechItEasy
Contributor
0
Account Executive
Yeah, that's exactly it. I've only ever worked at companies that have BDR/AE split teams.
So if my company does move to full-cycle, I have no idea what to expect from both quota changes and compensation plans...
Lambda
Tycoon
1
Sales Consultant
full cycle = more money!!!!
TechItEasy
Contributor
0
Account Executive
Now you're speaking my language.

Any idea what that might look like in practice?
Kinonez
Celebrated Contributor
0
War Room Enthusiast
I would love to work at a full cycle comp plan! 
msp_sales
Opinionated
0
Full Cycle Sales
I am in the outsourced IT support industry, so it’s more of a service than a product, but I am a full cycle sales and I absolutely love it. It allows me to have complete control of the process, with no finger-pointing if it goes south.
justatopproducer
Politicker
0
VP OF SALES -US
Sure do - Typically my experience is similar. Obviously more work, and more of hunting net new business rather than cross/up selling clients. 

Also, in my current role when some additional services are added there are bonus %'s over 10%. Or, with other companies I have seen depending on the size of the deal, they have higher %'s than the norm of 10%. 

Your sales quota is lower on a full sales cycle though. More than likely you still have sdr's for incoming business that gathers little info and sets up a call/meeting for the AE or full cycle sales consultant. 

This is my experience so far, hope it helps!
CaneWolf
Politicker
0
Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract
You can just as easily hit your number doing your own prospecting. But I'd be worried about them seemingly have decided to either let the BDRs go or not replace them as they get promoted/leave.
TheTOShow
Good Citizen
0
Account Executive
Most orgs have it set up so the AE should be running both (their own prospecting plus inbound leads. Nowhere I have been Oracle included could a rep hit presidents club solely on their ADR or Inbound performance. 

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