Thesamiam13x

Sales

Celebrated Contributor

Arsonist

Catalyst

ISR (Inside Sales Rep) VS AE (Account Executive)

AE seems to be the better title but in some sales org, an ISR is the same thing.

Pretty much managing territories and existing customer, as well as hunting for new ones as well.

Or do you all view ISR differently?

🏢 Org Chart

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poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

☕️

ISR could be a hunter/farmer hybrid role in some orgs, and in others, it's an AE who has no S/BDR support/inbound flow and must generate all of their own business. OR, more simply put an AE who does all of their selling via phone/virtual and never goes on-site.

Every org is different, and it's usually tied to a career ladder.

Thesamiam13x

Celebrated Contributor

Sales

Unfortunately in my org, the ISR and BDR are on the same level.

Senior SDR

I had a company mention this role to me (their attempt at a bait and switch when we first met about an AE closing role). That senior director said it is a closing role and it just seems fishy because he wants me to train two retired sales folks who are struggling as SDRs. I made it clear it has to be an AE role or I am not making the jump.

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

☕️

Wow, found a two year old thread! The search bar must be working.

Senior SDR

Yes

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

I spent some time as an ISR after being in the field as a territory AE with another company, because it suited my lifestyle better at the time. I was a new parent. Once the kids got older, I transitioned back to AE/Field Sales. I was lucky in that the ISR job at the time was with a smaller company, so I wasn't handcuffed to the office and could travel when it made sense, because we were nimble like that and my manager was extremely accommodating. We also had a BDR team, so I didn't have to meet a call volume number; I had to meet quota. That said, there were field reps who looked down on the ISR role, but screw them and their opinion. It was a good role for me at the time and really honed my online presentation skills....which came in extremely handy recently. While the role will differ from company to company, it's whatever makes sense to you and your career path as well as what makes sense to your personal life situation. Hope that helps.

Thesamiam13x

Celebrated Contributor

Sales

Did you not have territories when you were an ISR?

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

I did.

Thesamiam13x

Celebrated Contributor

Sales

Got it, so only difference was the travel, I assume its a promotion with a pay bump?

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Right, so what happened was I went to work as an ISR, with a set territory, after having been a field sales AE with a previous company. In the ISR position, I had a territory, and worked in a team with a field rep. Because my territory was large but local, I could (and did) travel when it made sense to do so. When our company was acquired, I stayed as an ISR overlay and had multiple field AEs with whom I worked. Again, I could travel when it made sense to do so. Ultimately, the company restructured and I moved into a field AE position myself. The timing was right for me personally, and it was a good fit at the time. Here's the thing about internal moves: I did get a nominal pay bump, but it was nowhere near what I would have received had I moved to another company. However, I loved what I did, what I sold, and the company I worked for, so at the time, it balanced out. When I was an ISR, I was fortunate in that the company for which I worked still had a nimble start-up method of working, so wearing many hats and being flexible enabled me to satisfy my love of travel and meeting F2F, so I could be an ISR and not a road warrior, and still be successful. After our acquisition by a much larger company that has since grown to be much larger still, a lot of the autonomy was gone, but the flip side was more opportunity through a broader range of roles and solutions. Moving to a field position at that time made sense and has given me the ability to leverage that into a more significant role elsewhere, as holding a field position with the larger company carries weight.

I hope this helps!

Thesamiam13x

Celebrated Contributor

Sales

It does, made me realize that im only an ISR and not an AE lol. But that's alright I will get there eventually. Thank you for your story!

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

I have enjoyed both roles. I do enjoy the autonomy, and even the pressure, of being an AE. It's my business to win...and it gives me enormous satisfaction when I do! Good luck to you, I'm sure the right AE role will come along. You'll be ready.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Titles are different at every company. You have to go by the description.

CRAG112

Valued Contributor

Account Executive

Inside Sales roles tend to be associated with low value. If the company was to say, mention an Inside Sales Account Executive role, I will bet money you are a basic number there.

Inside sales specific roles/titles also tend to be large volume KPI based roles. Did you enjoy making 30 - 60 calls and creating your game plan? How about no plan except calling every account and 500 numbers daily?

I would just stay away from anything that has Inside Sales attached to it. Next they will be asking if you are ok with working hybrid or coming in for a meeting.

Thesamiam13x

Celebrated Contributor

Sales

Hmm that does make sense, thanks for the feedback!!

pretengineer

Politicker

Head of the crumpets

Yeah it doesn’t look as ‘nice’. My admittedly ignorant first impression was an ISR = BDR = SDR. Current view: ISR = volume game, commercial sales

SaaSam

Politicker

Account Executive

Same here. I've seen ISR/BDR/SDR used pretty much interchangeably throughout my career.

Thesamiam13x

Celebrated Contributor

Sales

So AE would be different than your current view of ISR?

pretengineer

Politicker

Head of the crumpets

Yep. AEs = can be Ent, MM, SMB. ISR = SMB, transactional *** this is my perception. I’m sure we would find an Enty ISR if we looked.

FlintIronstag

Notorious Answer

Chief Marketing Officer

our JISR (junior) are called AE's. we made the shift a couple months ago. It helped their response rates. nobody wants to talk to a sales person but they'll talk to an AE for some reason.

Thesamiam13x

Celebrated Contributor

Sales

Ha yea i had a similar experience when I was a BDR, someone said "I'm not talking to no BDR" lol

Upper_Class_SaaS

Politicker

Account Executive

It's a per organization basis from what I understand. Just depends on what the company says the ISRs do

Thesamiam13x

Celebrated Contributor

Sales

True, I still think AE has a better rep than ISR lol.

alecabral

Arsonist

Director - Digital Sales Transformation

When I was an ISR, I would never leave the office. Back then the career path was BDR, Sr. BDR, ISR, Sr. ISR --> AE. I that and honestly, my paycheck didn't get that much fatter when I moved to AE but I was moved to the field which meant I didn't have to stay at the office and just hit call numbers. I could actually go out and meet customers.

Thesamiam13x

Celebrated Contributor

Sales

I suppose I do have a next level up in my company which does more of the traveling, so maybe that is more AE level and the ISR role that I am in now. I also started out as a BDR before going into the ISR.

alecabral

Arsonist

Director - Digital Sales Transformation

That can be it. You also right when saying every company is different but overall I'd say AE gets some field action. Are you doing any travelling as ISR yet?

Thesamiam13x

Celebrated Contributor

Sales

Not as much, a few times a year. Also once the account I manage get larger in terms of revenue, I would pass that account on to my "AE", which sucks.

alecabral

Arsonist

Director - Digital Sales Transformation

yeah, I was ok with that at the beginning as I didn't have the experience but later on as I got some, I would ask to keep them and my manager would say no. That sucked. You'll get there though, seems you're ready!

Thesamiam13x

Celebrated Contributor

Sales

Thanks man!

FromaBlankPerspective

Politicker

District Manager

The perception in my org is definitely that they’re the same as BDRs and that AE is a higher level. That changed a little when we were all forced inside with COVID, but that’s overall still the vibe.

Thesamiam13x

Celebrated Contributor

Sales

So you had both a BDR team and an ISR?

FromaBlankPerspective

Politicker

District Manager

I personally do not, but I work for a large organization that has BDRs, ISRs, AEs, etc

Blackwargreymon

Politicker

MDR

ISR could be a hunter/farmer hybrid role in some orgs, and in others, it's an AE who has no S/BDR support/inbound flow and must generate all of their own business.

freerick

Good Citizen

SDR

In my experience, it is a catch-all role for a rep who plays the SDR role (prospecting into named account on behalf of their tagged AE) + AE role for closing smaller deals that fall below a certain watermark.

It's not the best role to be in, the rep tends to be stretched thin.

Thesamiam13x

Celebrated Contributor

Sales

Yea you are right about that, I prospect and only manage smaller accounts, although I have my own territories.

Error32

Politicker

ISR

Try searching with LinkedIn sales navigator if you have it. Built with is good or wappalyzer too.

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Thesamiam13x

ISR (Inside Sales Rep) VS AE (Account Executive)

36 comments

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