TennisandSales

Head Of Sales

Going from an AE at a Massive company, to Director of Sales at a small company? Thoughts?

ok savages,

Your boy has been an enterprise AE for a while and I was approached last week about a director of sales role for a small but established tech company.

Would be overseeing 6 reps looking to grow it to 10 in the next year or so.

Has anyone done this with massive success???

Has anyone done this and wish they didn't?

What should I be worried about besides the obvious stuff

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15 comments

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CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Doooooooo iiiiiitttttttttt.

Also I'm drinking the brown tonight. Nothing to see here.

DungeonsNDemos

Big Shot

Rolling 20's all day

I thought it was eat brown and drink yellow? Charlie has it right

Flippinghubs

Opinionated

Account Executive

Onion soup bb!

MCP

Valued Contributor

Sales Director

This typically comes down to resources & politics. If you’re used to unlimited resources, it may be difficult to shift because at a small company, you have to be able to do things yourself vs rely on others and tools to do for you. Additionally, the sales motions may be very different. For example, what you did as enterprise AE may not translate to this sales team and politics can and will block changes. So, netting things out, this is a move to help others be successful, theirs will be yours. You have to be about people first as a leader and understand what got you here likely won’t make others successful, so you have to be able to pivot around that. At a small business you must be prepared to wear many hats and do it all.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

love this response. very well said. I have been aware of this in my mind but you did a great job of clearly explaining.

FamilyTruckster

Politicker

Exec Director, Major Accounts

If you like seeing people win more than yourself, then jump in.

hh456

Celebrated Contributor

sales

it's hard to get people to do a good job.

Susan will always be a better Susan than a good you. You're in a rythm, you're crushing it, but getting people to be replicants of you is not easy. Generally everything you do has the opposite effect and you'll not understand why.

i've had great success in leadership but boy oh boy do a lot of people hate me from previous roles bc i didnt know what i was doing and learning the ropes of leadership.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

great insight thanks!

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

☕️

Why do you want to be in leadership?

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

a few reasons.
1. the opportunity to have real impact on how the team is run, what the comp plan looks like, how we would operate as a team is exciting
2. helping ppl improve, make money and advance their careers is also motivating
3. being involved in decisions on strategy at a high-level and being able to make sure we dont make the same mistakes ive lived through in the past.

cw95

Politicker

Sales Development Lead

If you do...I hope you smash it. Embrace it and learn. Smash it.

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

thanks boss

dwightyouignorantsale

Politicker

Account Executive

I think it primarily comes down to if you want to manage other people or not. There are PLENTY of other factors you can consider (package, flexibility, quota, etc) but if you take this job just to try something new and for a better title, but don’t have the want to manage others, then don’t. If it’s something you want to get into and gain experience, then I think it’s worth the risk.

Diablo

Politicker

Sr. AE

As you mentioned, though it's a small but an established co, I think that's the answer 🙂.

All the best !

cw95

Politicker

Sales Development Lead

Sounds nioce worth a crack!

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TennisandSales

Going from an AE at a Massive company, to Director of Sales at a small company? Thoughts?

15 comments

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