SaaSam

Account Executive

Should companies even be offering less than 60k for AE positions that aren't entry level?

Personally I think 50 to 60k is entry level AE pay. Companies offering that shouldn't expect more than entry level skill from applicants. Or am I totally off base here?

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CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

What they "should" do and what they "actually" do are two different stories. 🤷‍♀️

SaaSam

Politicker

Account Executive

Hence why there are 700k job openings in sales I suppose. Only those that act logically are going to attract the talent they need.

UrAssIsSaaS

Arsonist

SaaS Eater

I think this is really location and industry dependent. In SF for SaaS sales you are correct. Thats entry level. However in non tech arenas in different parts of the country that may not be the case.

FlintIronstag

Notorious Answer

Chief Marketing Officer

I'm so accustomed to pay scales I read this as BDR pay. Yeah, that's low for AE. Should be like 75k base at minimum for an AE.

CaneWolf

Politicker

Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract

It took me multiple years as an AE to get that high.

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Definitely need to have experience to see more money.

SoCalSales

Fire Starter

Regional Territory Manager

Or crush it in your role and know your value to the company and use it to negotiate! I've been able to get to 100/100 base/commission in just 4 years through negotiations. Only moved companies once too.

CaneWolf

Politicker

Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract

I did the same in about five years.

SADNES5

Politicker

down voters are marketing spies

To answer your question, if it's entry level. That's pretty okay, assuming commissions.

Anecdote:

First AE role of mine was... $31k USD annual with no cap on commission. Selling finance stuff. Early 2000s... so 20 years ago.... 57% rate of inflation... puts my $31k at $48.9K... pretty bang on for entry level AE. https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

It was classed as entry level but I had consumer facing sales experience, so it wasn't a first job kind of thing.

Cleared $88k USD (~$139 in 2021 money) in year one with commission.

50-60k is reasonable assuming there is commision attached, AE was one of the worst jobs in my long list of sales roles - dials and smiles.

I don't keep pace with that a living wage is anymore though, like if you're in SF LA NY you can't live off that.

goose

Politicker

Sales Executive

Base salary is a direct reflection of the expectation they have that you will be successful. A salary less than 100k most likely means they expect you to be expendable and likely not a long term fit for the company. They probably hire more than one and expect the majority of new hires to bomb out without a huge upfront investment.

SaaSam

Politicker

Account Executive

I never really looked at it that way but now that you say it that makes so much sense.

BmajoR

Arsonist

Account Executive

What is this based off of? That is super low for any AE position.

SaaSam

Politicker

Account Executive

I've seen quite a few lately. Most recently was Gusto. Granted with Gusto I'm going based off of glassdoor but with several others I've seen confirmation either via interview or the job posting itself.

CaneWolf

Politicker

Call me what you want, just sign the damn contract

Sure, depends on what you're selling. If you're selling knives door to door, $55k would be incredible.

SaaSam

Politicker

Account Executive

Good point, I'm speaking specifically B2B SaaS

LordBusiness

Politicker

Chief Revenue Officer

This post makes me laugh a bit. My pay for AE coming out of college was $27,500. (And I’m not that Old( So I’m curious if you have no experience, what’s the $60k for?

TheSolicitorGeneral

Politicker

Small Market AE

Is this OTE or base?

SaaSam

Politicker

Account Executive

Base

TheSolicitorGeneral

Politicker

Small Market AE

That's not awful. Especially if the OTE is pretty good. I've seen some pure commission roles that the OTE is like 400K+

alecabral

Arsonist

Director - Digital Sales Transformation

Well, companies can dream too!

wahmsales

WR Officer

SDR

What if it's selling into SMB? My AEs probably get a base somewhere around $50-55k but their deals are like $5k ARR.

YoursTruly

Politicker

Account Executive (SaaS)

50 to 60k for entry level AE? Gtfo. Why would an AE take a lesser py than SDR’s at any respectable SaaS co?

SaaSam

Politicker

Account Executive

I'm talking for above entry level which is more laughable

Justatitle

Big Shot

Account Executive

Entirely depends on the product and compensation structure. If reps are averaging over 100% and the commission is bringing you to above 150k then the base is irrelevant IMO.

looper1010

Celebrated Contributor

Solutions Specialist

That sounds more like SDR pay in the HCOL areas...before OTE.

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SaaSam

Should companies even be offering less than 60k for AE positions that aren't entry level?

25 comments

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