mami

Account Executive

What does commission look like for Sales Engineers?

A friend of mine is transitioning into an SE role and he received an offer of 3% commission on closed won deals. He asked me if that's a competitive rate. I have no clue but figured the war room might know some things.

💰 Compensation

😀 Sales Engineer

22 comments

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CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

I didn't know SE's made commish? 👀🍿

butwhy

Politicker

Solutions Engineer

Like my ass would be in the field without it.

Stratifyz

Big Shot

Account Executive

A lot of AEs rely on SEs to actually close the deal 😂

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

no clue. i didnt know SE's got commission on closed deals but they should 100% get something!

i would ask what the average deal size is and how many deals were closed last quarter. that can be numbers that can be asked to other companies to know what the real opportunity is there.

mami

Tycoon

Account Executive

I agree, SEs making commission on deals makes sense if they're involved pre-sales. My team is transitioning to that model this quarter and I'm excited for the switch.

Great follow-up questions, thank you!

TennisandSales

Politicker

Head Of Sales

awesome! i know the best SE ive worked with was TOTALLY over worked so I hope she was making commission that would be a good way to keep the best SE's

butwhy

Politicker

Solutions Engineer

SE here! It depends, is the real answer.

I only once had an AE model where I got a percentage of everything I sold, about 8%. That was awesome, I miss that.

Most SEs will be 60/40 or 70/30 base to commish, and the commission will be a combination of primary (your direct accounts assigned to) and secondary (your team number). This is because of the bullshit stereotype that SEs aren't in it for the money and therefore must spend more time supporting their team in the field. I disagree, but whatever, it's the standard.

Happy to answer any specific questions! I am an open book, as others here can attest. But like a book with pictures in it.

Edit: no, 3% is not competitive. 6-8% is more real life after all the excel numbers run.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

That aligns with what I've heard from my SEs. Great explanation.

mami

Tycoon

Account Executive

Amazing insights and exactly what I needed, thank you!

Gasty

Notable Contributor

War Room Community Manager

3% to 5% generally

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

Sales Rep

My old company was base with quarterly bonus.No commission

ADudeBeingAGuy

Politicker

Account Executive

SE's at my company are on a 70/30 OTE split.
Depending on segment they are on a "global" number where their 30% of comp is determined based on the team's performance (ew) or they are straight up compensated on the deals they close for this 30%.

Again this is segment specific.

Worth mentioning that the product I sell is highly technical and literally 99% of deals require a SE's involvement.

OTE is typically 10-15% (ish) higher than the AE's OTE from what I can tell.

Not sure if this is helpful.

mami

Tycoon

Account Executive

It is helpful, ty!
I've actually not heard of SEs having a higher OTE, typically a higher base but not the OTE. I'm also in a highly technical field.

ADudeBeingAGuy

Politicker

Account Executive

Interesting!
Makes sense.

I think it makes sense in my company's case... unfortunately depending on the AE the SE strangely ends up doing a lot of the heavy lifting. Definitely a company specific area of opportunity - but in the meantime they're getting pa pa paaaaaaid

butwhy

Politicker

Solutions Engineer

Unfortunately - it depends on the place. AE salaries have caught up, and most times I am making the same base or even less as some real bonkers dudes. It causes some...friction between AEs and SEs in the strategic space, honestly. Especially now that SEs are owning more and more and more of not just the deal cycle but also enablement, marketing, product, etc etc etc.

butwhy

Politicker

Solutions Engineer

Yeah, that's incredibly common in the startup space. It's such bullshit and I have had AEs refuse to work with me because I force them to do their jobs. I have also refused to work with AEs who think they can do mine and hush me in meetings while proceeding to say the wrong answer to the customer.

The whole buyer cycle is evolving honestly, so it's just a bit of a jumble.

ADudeBeingAGuy

Politicker

Account Executive

Honestly, my SE is one of my best buds now... he and I work all of my deals together.

Perhaps this is uncommon but having a dedicated parter in crime makes the job so much more fun.

Building a solid relationship with an SE is so valuable. Learning the other's cadences and style, etc makes for a great customer experience.

antiASKHOLE

Tycoon

Bravado's Resident Asshole

ha no clue on how that works as I never want to go down that road.

Justatitle

Big Shot

Account Executive

I’ve seen multiple structures for this. From commission based on team attainment, to commission for opps assigned too. If you can get commish as an SE and it’s 3% that’s pretty solid

Pachacuti

Politicker

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

That’s 3% more than most SEs.

DevSomeBiz

Valued Contributor

Senior B2B Sales Guy.

When I was an SE, the commission was paid as a quarterly bonus, and it was basically like getting another two-week paycheck. It was cool to get, but it wasn't a real motivator.

Jigawatt

Opinionated

Sales Engineer

Usually 70/30, though I've seen 80/20 and a fairly rare 60/40, but that just be my industry and/or personal experience.

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mami

What does commission look like for Sales Engineers?

22 comments

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