The idea of “paying it forward” is what helps drive career progression for salespeople at LeanIX’s Boston office.
Sales careers at the IT management SaaS provider often start in the sales development representative role and for many, becoming an account executive is the next rung on the ladder. Bobby Burns, Jr. — an enterprise account executive for the East Coast — said his journey from SDR to AE started by charting his career progression with his manager. Then cross-team collaboration and consistent mentorship from leaders and peers sharpened skills like chatting with prospects and building out his sales strategies until he felt comfortable selling on his own.
“It was so helpful to have talented people as resources and I’m excited to pay it forward when I am no longer the newest AE in town,” Burns said.
Burns, a self-proclaimed rookie AE, is already lending support to other employees in his former SDR shoes as a host for SRD-focused lunch and learns. Burns shared how impactful support from every area of the business has been in his two years at the company, as well as the tools that make AEs at LeanIX successful.
What’s LeanIX’s approach to career development?
Leadership takes a proactive approach to professional development based on an
individual’s goals. During one-on-ones with managers, time is set aside to create a professional development roadmap, which can evolve as time goes on. That meeting keeps the big picture in mind, which is important as the daily SDR grind can be mentally taxing.
My personal goals were developed as I interacted with different departments in the business. I went out of my way to collaborate with sales engineers and the customer success team. I even ran a lunch and learn for the whole company to show what the SDR day-to-day looks like.
What peer-to-peer collaboration helps AEs be successful once they graduate from SDRs?
The SDRs and AEs work together to tackle their territories. Leadership — along with myself — believes that the SDR role is the most important position in the company. The SDR-to-AE transition is an ebb and flow of learning and knowledge-sharing.
When I was an SDR, I was continuously supported by other AEs, sales engineers and leadership on prospect calls. I also had recurring meetings with an AE to discuss strategy. We honed in on my sales skills and reviewed calls that went well, or critiqued calls where adjustments could have been made. It was so helpful to have talented people as resources and I’m excited to pay it forward when I am no longer the newest AE in town.
When I was an SDR, I was continuously supported by other AEs, sales engineers and leadership on prospect calls.”
What are some of the most impactful tech tools AEs use to generate and close deals?
We use Salesforce, Slack, Confluence, Seismic and many other tools. We leave no stone unturned when it comes to sales enablement and driving success across the organization.
Slack is by far my favorite tool. The ease of use to communicate and collaborate with anyone across the company is crucial. I even can Slack people from our Germany office to get information and answers that I need in minutes.
What characterizes the AE team culture at the company?
“Company, team and then self.” Our Sales Director Mark Hemphill implemented that mentality with the inception of the LeanIX U.S. office. It’s contagious and fosters a collaborative, selfless environment where everyone benefits.
No matter the situation in the workplace, following that mentality helps us make the right decisions. For example, if there is a disagreement about a certain process or decision, things can get personal and heated quickly. But keeping that mentality in mind turns the disagreement into a collaborative effort to make the company better.
What employee traits make the SDR-to-AE transition successful?
I believe the underlying common denominator for a successful SDR-to-AE transition is all about the idea of “want.” If you want something bad enough on a deep level, everything else seems to fall into place accordingly.
If the want is not there, then maybe career progression should be reevaluated, and there is nothing wrong with that. I have seen successful transitions from the SDR role to other departments in the organization. The nice thing about the SDR role is that it can be a segue to not just becoming an AE, but also a customer success manager, sales engineer or whatever else a person wants to become.
