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smilendial

Sr. Account Executive

Contributor
Good Citizen

Sales professional development plan

Ok so i've been a sr. AE at the same company for nearly 6 years, in order to make the $$ that other companies typically pay AE's i have to submit a development plan to my boss/HR in order to get to a strategic account director. Outside hires are coming in at this level and frankly it's kind of bullshit I have to do this song and dance -- literally nothing about the job changes for me, not my accounts or territory or quota, just a large bump in pay. These development plans are more of a checkbox for sales but I don't want to half ass it either.


In these plans there are short & medium term goals that i'm supposed to set for myself so the question is - what do you feel are important skills/knowledge for a seasoned sales professional to develop and why?

🎈 Mentorship
💡 Education/Resources
🎯 Career Development
5

6 comments

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BmajoR
Arsonist
3
Account Executive
Wait so you're saying outside hires are coming in at a higher level but you've been there for 6 years and have to defend yourself for why you deserve to be paid more? Did I get that right?
smilendial
Contributor
1
Sr. Account Executive
Unfortunately yes, that's accurate. Not to mention I've been a consistent top performer with the largest quota every year. 
BmajoR
Arsonist
2
Account Executive
time to make like titties and bounce
CuriousFox
WR Officer
3
🦊
Time to go.
FlintIronstag
Notorious Answer
1
Chief Marketing Officer
Man I’d find a new job. Your boss is being a douche bag.
alecabral
Arsonist
1
Director - Digital Sales Transformation
You shouldn't need to do a business case to get fair payment for the work you're doing, especially not if newer reps (regardless of their experience) get that money just for joining the Company. Of course, they are calling it a "development plan", but it really sounds like they are just trying to buy time and maybe tire you out, though this is pure speculation on my part.

I don't think what is being asked of you is fair really, so I agree with what most people say so far here, maybe find a new opportunity somewhere else?

Now, I'll assume you still want to go after that development plan, so if that's the case, here's my recommendation:

1. Performance. You didn't mention that, so I don't know if you're doing great or not. I'd still put it up there as something "I'm always working on to bring more revenue to the company".

2. Communication skills. HR is a big sucker for stuff like that, and you can reference that regardless of you getting great feedback from your customers, you think you can bring more value to the team if you explore new ways of communicating with them.

3. Leadership skills. Your boss would probably like this one: as the one (or one of the) most tenured reps in the role, you surely have something to give back to the team, and you'll do.

For the record...I still think it's BS they're making you do this, but if you want to play the game, I'd go all in.

Good luck!

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