Im more leaning on the AE side but doesnt some AE also do AM work?
I feel like i would go to either one depending on who offered first.
What are the pros and cons of both?
Thesamiam13x
AM or AE?
20
Do you want to be unhappy and paid well or unhappy and paid okโฆ
hahah
AE is sales. AM is not. You're in a sales focused community. Guess what most people are going to pick?
Doesnt an AM do upsells and cross sells?
In some orgs, yes. But sales is usually a small part of their responsibilities, they mainly function as admin/customer service.
In a non-tech business, maybe, you are correct.ย In the tech world, most AM's have just as big of quotas as the AE's.ย For instance, the AMs in several companies I have worked for in the software space were responsible for a 30 - 50% increase on top of their book.ย The difference is that AEs are responsible for new logos, AMs are responsible for expansion of the business.ย AE typically hand off the business to an AM once the initial sale is closed.ย ย
Weird, I know plenty of people in tech and the AMs either have no sales responsibilities at all or they're very minimal. Guess it depends on the org.
Typically that is a CSM - Customer Success Manager role.ย But I guess each org is probably unique.
AE if you are a closer.
If you want to make money take the AE role, if you want to get overworked and be underappreciated and underpaid then take the AM role. Unfortunately in most companies AM's don't get the respect they deserve. Rev generator gets the cash.ย
For large companies managing enterprise accounts this is not really the case. For enterprise account managers, often their sole responsibility is selling huge up and cross sells while other teams specifically handle customer success, tech support, etc. Enterprise AMs at my company are making boatloads for this.
As an AE who is responsible for 0 renewal/expansion business, AMs get shit on way too much here.
I was an AM who then went into a Hybrid AE/AM position where I was responsible for everything in the territory, and I made VERY good money in those roles. It just depends on the company you work for and what responsibilities that job title handles.
I will say that AE is generally more difficult, since you are working with prospects who almost certainly aren't familiar with your company/product, but that's on a sale to sale basis.
As an AM you are expected to close a higher raw number of deals, oftentimes have a larger quota, and there is a definite difficulty level to expansion quota because some clients just straight up have hit the ceiling and cannot be grown any more (though your manager will argue this). Existing clients also generally just expect that renewals cost X amount and budget accordingly, so if you don't get ahead of that budgeting convo you can hit a wall.
I was an AM who then went into a Hybrid AE/AM position where I was responsible for everything in the territory, and I made VERY good money in those roles. It just depends on the company you work for and what responsibilities that job title handles.
I will say that AE is generally more difficult, since you are working with prospects who almost certainly aren't familiar with your company/product, but that's on a sale to sale basis.
As an AM you are expected to close a higher raw number of deals, oftentimes have a larger quota, and there is a definite difficulty level to expansion quota because some clients just straight up have hit the ceiling and cannot be grown any more (though your manager will argue this). Existing clients also generally just expect that renewals cost X amount and budget accordingly, so if you don't get ahead of that budgeting convo you can hit a wall.
Lot of threads, search it. One of them is hereย https://bravado.co/war-room/posts/ae-vs-am
IC forever.
AM isnt IC?
In my experience they inherit named accounts closed from AE's for long term maintenance.
Yes they can occasionally own uplifts and expansions - but the comp plans are just not built the same.ย
Yes they can occasionally own uplifts and expansions - but the comp plans are just not built the same.ย
AE that also gets an install patch to sell to. Best of both worlds.
AE - New business and closer
AM - Renewals, jerk off current customers, maybe some expansion
I'm an AE and our roles are structured to lead all NEW ARR. So, new logos and new ARR for current clients. We work closely with the CSMs so when a client has an expansion opp.ย
The roles do differ depending on company / sales department structure. So, look into the responsibilities of each role. IMO...closing experience over everything.
AM - Renewals, jerk off current customers, maybe some expansion
I'm an AE and our roles are structured to lead all NEW ARR. So, new logos and new ARR for current clients. We work closely with the CSMs so when a client has an expansion opp.ย
The roles do differ depending on company / sales department structure. So, look into the responsibilities of each role. IMO...closing experience over everything.
I think it depends on the internal definition of this role at your company.
My title is technically Enterprise Account MANAGER... but I spend ~80% of my time on prospecting and net-new sales. I have a quota for net-new sales annually and have a 50/50 OTE.
So if I were to describe my role, I'd say I'm more of an AE than an AM.
I have a team of people that handle renewals for support or subscriptions.ย
I am also responsible for coordinating cricital customer care, when it spans multiple organizations within my company (i.e. product, PS, engineering, SaaS COE, Customer Success).
So, I think beyond the specific words, you need to look at what the distribution of time spent on specific tasks looks like and make your call based on that.
You can spin title any way you want in future uses of your resume. Responsibilities and Accolades are what really count.
My title is technically Enterprise Account MANAGER... but I spend ~80% of my time on prospecting and net-new sales. I have a quota for net-new sales annually and have a 50/50 OTE.
So if I were to describe my role, I'd say I'm more of an AE than an AM.
I have a team of people that handle renewals for support or subscriptions.ย
I am also responsible for coordinating cricital customer care, when it spans multiple organizations within my company (i.e. product, PS, engineering, SaaS COE, Customer Success).
So, I think beyond the specific words, you need to look at what the distribution of time spent on specific tasks looks like and make your call based on that.
You can spin title any way you want in future uses of your resume. Responsibilities and Accolades are what really count.
Got it, always appreciate your comment!
AM is basically customer success and will pigeonhole you into those types of roles moving forward. AE is where the money, career growth and long term success will be
AE = New Business, AM = expansion business.ย Typically both have similar quotas in my experience.ย AEs are better hunters because they are constantly looking for new business, AMs are better farmers and are good relationship builders.ย AEs get to work on new stuff all the time, AMs get to know their customer's business and build on the initial sale.ย
I was an AM at Gartner and although I made great money I hated the limited ability to prospect. I had 5-7 accounts and I could ONLY grow within those accounts. Guess how many times I grew a small rent-a-fence company with only 5 people in IT? Zero. After having the accounts for close to two years, its very possible to just straight up run out of opportunities. In addition to that, if a client cancels, the AM is then responsible to make up the deficit with upselling. Which again, if you take a 200k cancel, RIP getting out of the whole and back into making commission again. I've switched to pure hunter, and it is much easier for me. The stress of a cancel, not having more opps than what you are given, and hating services clients burned me out.
Only 5-7? Doesnt sound much at all. That sucks.ย
When you were an AM, was the total value of your book of business around $1,400,000 if the average contract for renewals was $200k?
What was theaverage contract value for upsells?
What % of your accounts renewed each year?
Curious because I am interviewing with Gartner for an AE position but it sounds like an AM role to be honest. I've only had 1 interview so far and the recruiter said 80% of quota is tied to retention + 20% is net new logos. Definitely sounds like a farming role even though it's titled AE.
She also said thatthe average deal is around $1 million from yearly subscriptions and I'd be managing 10-15 accounts at most.
Was this your role? AE or AM? Also please please let me know any other important/honest factors regarding this role/your experience at Garner. Would be forever grateful.
What was theaverage contract value for upsells?
What % of your accounts renewed each year?
Curious because I am interviewing with Gartner for an AE position but it sounds like an AM role to be honest. I've only had 1 interview so far and the recruiter said 80% of quota is tied to retention + 20% is net new logos. Definitely sounds like a farming role even though it's titled AE.
She also said thatthe average deal is around $1 million from yearly subscriptions and I'd be managing 10-15 accounts at most.
Was this your role? AE or AM? Also please please let me know any other important/honest factors regarding this role/your experience at Garner. Would be forever grateful.
they are just titles which are meaningless and vary from company to company.ย In some companies AE and AM are the same and in others they are very different.ย And in some, a Director of Sales is the same as a AE/AM.ย ย
Wow really director of sales is the same as AE/AM?
AE is sales. AM is not. You're in a sales focused community.ย
Appreciate all the comments! Definitely will continue on the AE route.
How's the search going?
AM here, contemplating the move to AE. Curious to hear an update on the search.
AM here, contemplating the move to AE. Curious to hear an update on the search.
I have not searched hard enough yet honestly lol
Every company using different titles, depends if you want to stop prospecting
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