The quota-carrying sales rep responsible for closing new business.
Also known as:
account executive, closing rep
An Account Executive (AE) is the quota-carrying salesperson responsible for closing new business. The AE owns opportunities from qualification through to close, running discovery, building the business case, navigating the buying group and managing the deal to a decision.
The first AE hire is a pivotal moment for a founder-led company. Without an explicit qualification standard, discovery framework and stage-gated process to learn from, even a strong AE will ramp slowly. AE underperformance is often a symptom of a sales motion that was never made visible, not a poor hire.
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