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Today's technology sales organizations have evolved into specialized teams with distinct roles, each focused on specific stages of the customer journey. This specialization allows companies to optimize each phase of the sales process while creating clear career progression paths for sales professionals.

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This guide explores the complete structure of a modern tech sales organization, the responsibilities of each role, and the career paths available as you advance in your sales career.

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Entry-Level Roles: The Foundation

Sales Development Representative (SDR)

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Primary Focus: Inbound lead qualification and meeting setting

Key Responsibilities:

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• Responding to and qualifying inbound leads from marketing efforts

• Conducting initial discovery calls to understand prospect needs

• Setting qualified meetings for Account Executives

• Maintaining accurate CRM records and activity tracking

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Typical Experience Required: 0-2 years, often entry-level with no prior sales experience

Career Path: Typically advances to Account Executive or Customer Success roles after 12-24 months

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Business Development Representative (BDR)

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Primary Focus: Outbound prospecting and opportunity generation

Key Responsibilities:

• Researching and identifying target prospects

• Executing multi-channel outreach campaigns (email, phone, social)

• Generating interest through personalized messaging

• Qualifying opportunities before passing to Account Executives

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Typical Experience Required: 0-2 years, often entry-level with no prior sales experience

Career Path: Similar to SDRs, typically advances to Account Executive roles after demonstrating consistent success

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Mid-Level Roles: Full-Cycle Selling

Account Executive (AE)

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Primary Focus: Opportunity management and deal closing

Key Responsibilities:

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• Managing the full sales cycle from qualified lead to closed deal

• Conducting thorough discovery and needs assessment

• Delivering compelling demonstrations and presentations

• Handling objections and negotiating contracts

• Achieving quarterly and annual revenue targets

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Typical Experience Required: 2-5 years, typically including SDR/BDR experience

Career Path: Can progress to Senior AE, Enterprise AE, or sales management roles

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Small Business/SMB Account Executive

Primary Focus: High-velocity sales to small and medium-sized businesses

Key Responsibilities:

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• Managing shorter sales cycles with fewer stakeholders

• Handling higher volume of opportunities simultaneously

• Often conducting both prospecting and closing activities

• Focusing on transactional efficiency and standardized processes

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Typical Experience Required: 1-3 years, often the first AE role after SDR/BDR

Career Path: Typically advances to Mid-Market or Enterprise AE roles, or specializes in SMB management

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Mid-Market Account Executive

Primary Focus: Sales to medium-sized organizations with more complex needs

Key Responsibilities:

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• Managing moderately complex sales cycles (3-6 months)

• Navigating multiple stakeholders and buying committees

• Developing tailored value propositions for specific use cases

• Balancing volume and deal complexity effectively

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Typical Experience Required: 3-5 years, usually including SMB sales experience

Career Path: Can progress to Enterprise AE, strategic accounts, or management roles

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Enterprise Account Executive

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Primary Focus: Complex sales to large organizations with enterprise requirements

Key Responsibilities:

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• Managing sophisticated, longer sales cycles (6-12+ months)

• Coordinating complex POCs and security/compliance reviews

• Navigating matrix organizations with numerous stakeholders

• Developing and executing strategic account plans

• Handling high-value contract negotiations

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Typical Experience Required: 5+ years, typically including Mid-Market sales experience

Career Path: Can advance to Strategic Account Management, Field Sales Leadership, or executive sales roles

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Specialized Sales Roles

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Solutions Engineer/Sales Engineer

Primary Focus: Technical pre-sales support and solution validation

Key Responsibilities:

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• Providing technical expertise during the sales process

• Conducting detailed product demonstrations

• Leading proof of concept implementations

• Addressing technical objections and requirements

• Creating custom solution architectures

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Typical Experience Required: 3-7 years, often with technical background or product expertise

Career Path: Can progress to Solutions Architecture, Technical Sales Management, or Product Management

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Channel Account Manager

Primary Focus: Partner relationship management and enablement

Key Responsibilities:

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• Recruiting and onboarding channel partners

• Training partner sales teams on products and positioning

• Developing co-selling strategies with key partners

• Managing partner pipelines and performance metrics

• Resolving channel conflicts and optimizing partner programs

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Typical Experience Required: 3-7 years, typically including direct sales experience

Career Path: Can advance to Channel Sales Leadership, Alliance Management, or direct sales leadership

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Account Manager

Primary Focus: Existing customer relationship management and growth

Key Responsibilities:

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• Maintaining and strengthening customer relationships post-sale

• Identifying upsell and cross-sell opportunities

• Ensuring customer satisfaction and addressing concerns

• Managing renewal processes and contract negotiations

• Working closely with Customer Success on adoption and value realization

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Typical Experience Required: 2-5 years, often including AE experience or Customer Success background

Career Path: Can progress to Strategic Account Management, Sales Management, or Customer Success Leadership

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Customer Success Manager (CSM)

Primary Focus: Managing relationships with the company's most valuable accounts

Key Responsibilities:

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• Developing long-term strategic account plans

• Expanding footprint across divisions and business units

• C-level relationship development and executive sponsorship

• Coordinating cross-functional resources to support key accounts

• Managing complex contract structures and enterprise agreements

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Typical Experience Required: 7+ years, including enterprise sales and account management experience

Career Path: Can advance to Global Account Director, Regional Vice President, or other executive sales roles

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Sales Leadership Roles

Sales Team Lead

Primary Focus: Frontline coaching and performance management

Key Responsibilities:

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• Providing daily guidance and call coaching to team members

• Monitoring activity levels and pipeline health

• Conducting regular 1:1s with direct reports

• Supporting deal strategy and occasional customer calls

• Often maintains a small personal quota alongside management duties

Typical Experience Required: 3-5 years, including consistent overperformance as an individual contributor

Career Path: Traditional first step into sales management, leading to Sales Manager roles

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Sales Manager

Primary Focus: Team performance, hiring, and development

Key Responsibilities:

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• Building and managing a team of sales representatives

• Recruiting, hiring, and onboarding new team members

• Setting and enforcing performance expectations

• Providing coaching and development

• Forecasting and reporting on team performance

• Collaborating with other departments on strategy and enablement

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Typical Experience Required: 5-7 years, typically including some team lead experience

Career Path: Can progress to Senior Manager, Director, or specialized sales leadership roles

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Director of Sales

Primary Focus: Multi-team strategy and departmental leadership

Key Responsibilities:

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• Managing multiple sales teams or segments

• Developing sales strategies and go-to-market approaches

• Setting quota and territory plans

• Building scalable sales processes and methodologies

• Collaborating with executive leadership on company strategy

• Managing larger budget and resource allocation

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Typical Experience Required: 7-10 years, including successful sales management experience

Career Path: Can advance to VP of Sales, SVP of Sales, or Chief Revenue Officer roles

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Vice President of Sales

Primary Focus: Overall sales organization leadership and revenue responsibility

Key Responsibilities:

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• Owning the entire revenue organization's performance

• Setting strategic direction for all sales functions

• Building and evolving the sales organizational structure

• Developing compensation plans and incentive structures

• Representing sales at the executive level

• Managing large-scale hiring and team expansion

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Typical Experience Required: 10+ years, with progressive sales leadership experience

Career Path: Can progress to SVP of Sales, Chief Revenue Officer, or other C-suite roles

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Chief Revenue Officer (CRO)

Primary Focus: Complete revenue strategy across all customer-facing functions

Key Responsibilities:

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• Aligning sales, marketing, and customer success strategies

• Optimizing the entire customer journey for revenue growth

• Developing go-to-market strategies for new products and markets

• Leading large-scale transformation and optimization initiatives

• Reporting directly to the CEO and board on revenue performance

• Setting long-term revenue vision and organizational structure

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Typical Experience Required: 15+ years, with executive leadership experience across multiple revenue functions

Career Path: Terminal executive role, can transition to CEO, board roles, or advisory positions

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Supporting Sales Roles

Sales Operations

Primary Focus: Systems, processes, and operational efficiency

Key Responsibilities:

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• Administering CRM and sales technology stack

• Developing and optimizing sales processes

• Creating reporting and analytics dashboards

• Managing territory and quota planning

• Supporting compensation administration

• Enabling data-driven decision making

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Typical Experience Required: Varies widely, often includes analytical background or sales experience with operational focus

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Career Path: Can progress to Sales Operations Leadership, Revenue Operations, or broader operations roles

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Sales Enablement

Primary Focus: Tools, training, and resources to improve sales effectiveness

Key Responsibilities:

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• Developing onboarding and training programs

• Creating and maintaining sales collateral and playbooks

• Coordinating cross-functional knowledge sharing

• Analyzing skill gaps and designing improvement programs

• Managing sales methodology implementation

• Supporting product launch readiness

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Typical Experience Required: Often includes background in sales, training, or product marketing

Career Path: Can advance to Sales Enablement Leadership, Sales Effectiveness, or L&D leadership roles

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Revenue Operations (RevOps)

Primary Focus: Cross-functional alignment and revenue process optimization

Key Responsibilities:

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• Aligning processes across marketing, sales, and customer success

• Managing the full technology stack supporting the revenue organization

• Developing integrated analytics and reporting across the customer journey

• Identifying and resolving operational bottlenecks

• Supporting strategic planning across revenue functions

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Typical Experience Required: Typically includes experience across multiple revenue functions and systems

Career Path: Can progress to RevOps Leadership, Chief Operations Officer, or other operations executive roles

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Understanding this organizational structure helps you map your current position and potential career paths within tech sales. Each role provides different experiences, skills development, and compensation opportunities, allowing you to strategically plan your career progression based on your strengths and interests.