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Sales and commercial roles

Prospecting, closing a sale and developing a client account involve distinct responsibilities. When building your sales team, start with the stage that needs more resources and the types of clients you serve.

One sales function, several areas of responsibility

The sales function organises client acquisition and development. Its leadership sets targets, selects the markets to pursue and coordinates the teams’ work. A manager’s remit may cover a geographical area, an offering or a client segment.

Sales job titles can indicate specialisms, but they do not define a role on their own. Before recruiting, clarify who prospects, who leads negotiations and who takes over the account after the contract is signed. Also define the handovers with marketing and the teams responsible for supporting clients.

Understanding the different roles

Qualify opportunities and lead the sale

One possible division of responsibilities is for the SDR to qualify prospects, then for the Account Executive to present the solution, negotiate and close the sale. For a BDR or Business Developer role, explicitly describe the stages covered: the title alone does not define the work expected.

  • SDR / BDR
  • Business developer
  • Account executive

Develop client accounts

The Account Manager manages the commercial relationship with existing clients and works on renewals or additional sales. The Key Account Manager is responsible for a portfolio of major or key accounts; their remit may also include prospecting for these accounts. The choice therefore depends on the portfolio assigned, as well as the level of experience required.

  • Account manager
  • Key account manager

Provide technical expertise and support salespeople

Pre-sales brings technical expertise to proposals and negotiations. Sales enablement equips salespeople through training, coaching and resources that support selling. These contributions address two different needs: handling the complexity of the offering and helping the team sell it more effectively.

  • Sales engineer
  • Sales enablement

Manage sales activity and processes

Sales leadership sets the direction and coordinates the team. Sales Ops focuses on sales processes; RevOps extends coordination to marketing, client support and finance. For a cross-functional need, clarify which decisions the person will be able to make with these functions.

  • VP Sales / CSO
  • Sales ops & RevOps

Job profiles in this family

Start with the sales bottleneck

Few prospects become viable opportunities

Examine the target audience, the information available and the qualification criteria. If this is the stage that needs support, consider a dedicated prospecting or qualification role. Agree with marketing on what should be passed to the salesperson before an initial conversation.

Opportunities are waiting for sales follow-up

If qualified opportunities have no next action planned, assess the sales work that needs to be picked up: conversations with decision-makers, proposals and negotiations. Adding someone to lead these opportunities may be more appropriate than increasing the volume of contacts.

Sales regularly require technical expertise

When proposals require detailed technical answers, define the scope of pre-sales involvement. Agree with the product or technical team which commitments need approval before they are presented to the client.

Teams do not share the same information

If information is lost during handovers between marketing, sales and client follow-up, describe the process that needs to be made reliable before choosing a Sales Ops or RevOps title. The remit must include the teams actually involved and explicit authority to resolve competing priorities.

Define the hiring need before choosing the title

Describe the portfolio and sales cycle

Specify the target clients, the offering to sell and the stakeholders to convince. Distinguish new accounts to win from existing clients. These details make the need more concrete than a request for a versatile salesperson.

Assign responsibility after the contract is signed

Identify who is responsible for the commercial relationship, who supports the client’s use of the offering and who negotiates the renewal. Several teams may work on an account; make their responsibilities clear to the client.

Distinguish capacity from working methods

Before adding a salesperson, establish whether the work is constrained by a lack of time, expertise or a clear process. For a sales automation role, particularly one titled GTM Engineer, list the tasks to automate and the people who will check the results.

Frequently asked questions

How do you write a job advert for a salesperson covering the full cycle?

Describe each stage they will be responsible for, from prospecting to client follow-up, then indicate where they will spend most of their time. Specify the support available to prepare proposals, answer technical questions and handle sales administration.

Does the title Key Account Manager imply people management?

Do not infer team management from the title. Managing key accounts is an area of sales responsibility; if the role includes people management, specify the team to manage, the decisions expected and the time allocated to this responsibility separately.

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