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Account Executive

Valued Contributor
Opinionated
Contributor
+2

Moving into Management advice

Hey all,


I've joined a startup with just a few AEs and a bunch of SDRs. The sales team started growing few months ago - before that, there was only one SDR and one VP of Sales.


Now, as we're growing, we got an externally hired manager for SDRs.


For AEs, we're still reporting directly to the VP of Sales.


I'm asking for advice from the managers here what to do to move up to the AE manager role (or whatever it's called), as it's inevitable that there will be one, soon - we're getting some new AEs in January.


What do you suggest to do in order to portray myself as the first in line to get that AE manager post?

🧢 Sales Management
🚀 Career Goals
🧠 Advice
9

16 comments

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1nbatopshotfan
Politicker
5
Sales
There’s been a few threads like this lately, I’d hit the search bar. Tons of good ideas have been shared. 
CuriousFox
WR Officer
4
🦊
Schedule a one on one meeting with the VP and tell him why you want the job. Bring data. 
White
Valued Contributor
0
Account Executive
Bring data. Nice. I'll prepare that. 
braintank
Politicker
3
Enterprise Account Executive
Step 1: talk to your VP
White
Valued Contributor
1
Account Executive
How to initiate such talk? How would you do it? 
Sunbunny31
Politicker
2
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
If you're interested in the position, you should absolutely ask for a 1:1, and let the VP know you're interested in the role.  Be prepared to explain why you are a good candidate.
braintank
Politicker
0
Enterprise Account Executive
email, phone, slack, sign language...
Rallier
Politicker
1
SDR Manager and Consultant
I would talk to your VP. Just ask what they're thinking about doing when that time comes and then make sure they know  you're interested
Diablo
Politicker
1
Sr. AE
We have a sales manager but if you're confident they want to bring a new AE manager, I would definitely talk to my VP, show my interest and justify why am I good fit and what value I'm going to add once I grab this offer. All the best !
bitchbetterhavemymoney
Opinionated
1
Director of Channel Sales
In a growing company, the best way to move up is to find inefficiencies and create better processes to fix them. Management is all about optimization, and if they see you already do that, it'll put you in a good position to succeed!
White
Valued Contributor
0
Account Executive
That's what I've been doing so far. That's one of the reasons I think I'd be a good manager. Thanks for the input! 
goose
Politicker
1
Sales Executive
Hit quota... consistently.  Do what you say you will do.  Follow the process (not your process).  Become a leader before you become a manager.
White
Valued Contributor
0
Account Executive
That's the thing where I might lack proof, as we're pretty young team that's growing quickly, and we don't have that many deals behind us. 
goose
Politicker
1
Sales Executive
If you are looking to jump into management immediately (without a track record of results) then you'd better have a good story to tell.  I wasn't aware they were looking to hire a manager immediately.
thundernlightnin
Valued Contributor
1
BDR
Ask other AEs for feedback if you can. Think about if you owned the entire AE function and you had unlimited resources: What would you do?
White
Valued Contributor
0
Account Executive
Interesting approach. I'll think about that! Thanks! 

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