SaaSam profile picture
SaaSam profile picture

SaaSam

Account Executive

Politicker
Executive
Acclaimed Answer
+9

Difference between "Sr. AE" and normal AE, really.

In any company I've been at there has not been a damn bit of difference. I've been a Sr. AE before and never had a different quota or responsibilities. The Sr. AE's at my current company don't seem to be any different than the rest of us AE's. Hell, a couple of them don't seem to know what the hell they are doing.


Can ya'll shed some light on this subject? All I can see is a slightly fancier title which means dick if you get paid the same.

🏙 Corporate Experiences
🏋️‍♀️ Leadership
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28 comments

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BmajoR
Arsonist
8
Account Executive
Senior AEs at my company have much higher quotas and their base is significantly higher. Plus they get the higher priority inbounds.
SaaSam
Politicker
0
Account Executive
Got it, so the few inbounds that have value to them go to the Sr. AEs. They get paid more?
BmajoR
Arsonist
1
Account Executive
Yes, I forgot to add they get a higher base. We actually get a significant amount of inbounds but yes the ones over a certain dollar amount go to the seniors 
rainmakerinthemaking
Politicker
0
Enterprise Sales executive
same here 
friendlyginge
Politicker
2
Account Executive
In my company a senior AE is trusted with inbounds 
SaaSam
Politicker
1
Account Executive
At least there's a difference. Granted, in a lot of organizations, inbounds are mostly garbage.
RedLightning
Politicker
2
Mid-Market AE
Every place I've ever worked at has it to retain top performers by giving them a title bump, higher base, but in exchange for higher quota
GDO
Politicker
0
BDM
exactly!
braintank
Politicker
1
Enterprise Account Executive
You nailed it. If there's no extra money it's just a way to appease people.
SaaSam
Politicker
0
Account Executive
Oddly enough some folks fall for it

braintank
Politicker
0
Enterprise Account Executive
There's a sucker born every minute. If only my prospects were so gullible...
Kinonez
Celebrated Contributor
1
War Room Enthusiast
In my company the Sr. AEs have a bigger territory that’s the AEs. I’m unsure if they get more money or not though… but they definitely have more deals going their way, usually the biggest ones as well. 
SaaSam
Politicker
1
Account Executive
I've only ever been confined to a territory in one company my whole career and we rotated every quarter or so. Maybe bigger territories are important to some folks. I personally haven't dealt with that struggle.
Kinonez
Celebrated Contributor
0
War Room Enthusiast
Depending on what you sell some territories are much more important than others. 
CuriousFox
WR Officer
1
🦊
SAE has higher quota and higher base salary. Plus we have Enterprise, and Contract/Commercial clients.
goose
Politicker
1
Sales Executive
More quota; more base salary.
poweredbycaffeine
WR Lieutenant
1
☕️
The difference is high ar quota, higher base (sometimes), and higher stress. You can climb to Sr, or even Principal, in SMB, and start all over again in MM and again in ENT and again in KEY, etc. 
detectivegibbles
Politicker
0
Sales Director
Company by company. As seen by the comments so far. 

Some people actually ask for the title upgrade too, which can maybe help with clout in who's on the other side of the table. 
TechSalesQueen
Executive
0
Sr. Enterprise Account Executive
Sr AE = Im ignoring 99.99% of LinkedIn email interview requests and I can name my price to hire me (within reason). I haven’t applied for a job in 6 years. I couldn’t even tell you the last time I updated my resume. Proven successful closes and quota attainment in the enterprise space gets you there!
FeedTheKids
Politicker
0
Solutions Consultant
In my experience - same shit. Just a title to give longer tenured reps a little ego boost. 
alecabral
Arsonist
0
Director - Digital Sales Transformation
In my experience Sr. Whatevers get more quota and a bigger paycheck….most of the times. When I was promoted to Sr. I got liek a 2% bump in my base salary and 50% more quota. Not a great deal.
SaaSKicker1000
Politicker
0
AE II
Depends on the company but like other people said, typically they have a higher salary / OTE, as well as comp plan. Commission structures could also possibly be different, depending on the company of course. 
rainmakerinthemaking
Politicker
0
Enterprise Sales executive
It's just a title, who cares 
FlintIronstag
Notorious Answer
0
Chief Marketing Officer
There should be a noticeable change. If they offer you to be SRAE and there’s no bump in commish or base, then turn it down. Never do more work for free. You get paid for your time.
datnillawafer
Big Shot
0
Account Executive
This was the case in one of my previous companies. Sr. AE just meant high performing AE. However in my current company Sr. AE’s handle significantly larger accounts and have a higher quota/OTE than regular AE’s.
UrAssIsSaaS
Arsonist
0
SaaS Eater
Mileage will vary from one company to the next but at ours, Senior AE (and then Strategic AE to a higher extent) comes with higher base salary but higher quota and tenure. 
Upper_Class_SaaS
Politicker
0
Account Executive
Higher quota, Higher OTE
Beans
Big Shot
0
Enterprise Account Executive
Higher revenue band for account, higher quotas, better BDR pairings, and of course experience & tenure for ours.

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