SaaSam

Account Executive

Acclaimed Answer

Is this LinkedIn title change something to get hung up on or should I just brush it off?

My CEO recently asked us to change our titles on LinkedIn from Account Executive to Business Development Executive.

No role changes at all. Just the LinkedIn title. His thinking is that everyone else in our space uses that title so we should too. Personally I think it's better to not look like everyone else but that's not the point of my post.

I just hold my title of AE in high regard. Went through hell at a shit company to get it and, frankly, "Business Development Executive" just throws our SDR/BDR vibes which I'm not.

Am I getting too hung up on this or is this something ya'll would have a problem with as well?

LI title change from Account Executive to Business Development Executive

Attached poll

No big deal, LI title doesn't mean shit if responsibilities are the same I wouldn't be cool with it, I love "AE" Might be a problem on future resume

*Voting in this poll no longer yields commission.

🤷‍♂ Poll

13

25 comments

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braintank

Politicker

24

Enterprise Account Executive

I'd be more concerned that my CEO gives a shit about LinkedIn titles...

SaaSam

Politicker

2

Account Executive

Part of our prospecting strategy has a lot of LI exposure so I get why it's something he is concerned about but, I'm of the school of thought that not looking like the other guys is a good thing.

braintank

Politicker

4

Enterprise Account Executive

Yeah -- i think obfuscating titles is odd. You're there to sell them something, everyone knows it. Sprinkling "biz dev" over it doesn't change that.

Upper_Class_SaaS

Politicker

-1

Account Executive

Same lol

funcoupons

WR Officer

14

👑

In my industry the term "Business Development" almost always refers to the most entry level/junior role you can have, so no I wouldn't want to change my title to that. I mostly use LI for my own networking/job search purposes, not interacting with prospects tho.

SaaSam

Politicker

1

Account Executive

I rarely, if ever, interact with them on LI but do visit their profiles a lot so they do see my name come up in their notifications.

funcoupons

WR Officer

4

👑

Honestly I don't think it's going to make much of a difference...we're in sales, no matter what pretty makeup we try to cover it up with - make no mistake: we ARE here to sell u something. Prospects aren't dumb.

Frankly, my LI is my own property and I don't think it's an employer's place to be telling me what to post on there other than making sure I'm not defaming the company by posting inappropriate or untrue shit.

SaaSam

Politicker

1

Account Executive

Agreed, if I didn't have so much respect for the guy I would just change my title to "sales guy". He's a cool guy though and extremely successful so I like to give him the benefit of the doubt.

LordOfWar

Tycoon

2

Blow it up

I agree on it being private property.

Our CEO wanted us to revamp everyone's LI profiles to match our new branding, I heavily cautioned him since each LI profile is owned by the person and not the company. I also thought it was a little too koolaid drinking for my liking.

LI won't even stop people from claiming to work for your company in their bio. They just suggest that we ask the person to remove it.

paddy

WR Officer

4

Director of Business Development

I really don't think it makes any difference but I have noticed a higher response rate after I changed my title from AE to Biz Dev Director. There's something more inviting about business development than AE. Again, doesn't really matter a lot but definitely not a stupid idea from your CEO.

youngsmoky

Celebrated Contributor

2

Senior Account Executive

Yeah I've heard the same thing. From a point of pride, I want to be an AE. For LinkedIn outreach, BD is more accessible.

ExtremeVibeChecker44

Arsonist

1

Inside Sales

My job title is "Inside Sales" but on Day 1 of my job I slapped up "Account Executive" on LinkedIn. Recruiters came out in force.

SaaSam

Politicker

0

Account Executive

I think that's part of his thought process as well. We were at a dinner recently with a pretty big potential client and whenever he referenced our department he never said sales, always Biz Dev

Sunbunny31

Politicker

3

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

At the end of the day, it's just a title. I don't love it, but maybe that's my knee-jerk reaction to anything with the "business development" moniker attached.

SaaSam

Politicker

0

Account Executive

Exactly my thoughts. Initially, I recoiled as I don't take to the biz dev moniker. Had to ask myself if I was just being ridiculous

CuriousFox

WR Officer

2

🦊

He doesn't own your personal LinkedIn page.

Rallier

Politicker

2

SDR Manager and Consultant

I wouldn't want to change that. Business Development Executive sounds more like a BDR. I'm always keeping my options open so I'd like to make sure I've always got those recruiter messages coming in (whether I actually respond to those is a different story)

Diablo

Politicker

0

Sr. AE

I love AE, BDE might look more like a BDR

NoSuperhero

Politicker

0

BDR LEAD

I was recently asked to switch from Business Development Representative to Lead Generation Specialist, role is still the same though ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Beans

Big Shot

0

Enterprise Account Executive

Yea that's odd - was any reasoning given?

DungeonsNDemos

Big Shot

0

Rolling 20's all day

So did you end up changing it? I feel like it’s all a wash at the end of the day

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