Land & Expand Compensation Plan for AEs | Mid-Market Business

Your top Account Executives hold the keys to exponential revenue growth. They expand your best accounts into enterprise contracts and develop customer relationships that drive margins higher with each renewal.

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But are your current comp plans setting them up for success or getting in the way?

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Without the right incentives, even your best AEs leave money on the table. Deals stall, expansions slow-down, and contracts lapse. Missed potential piles up while your competitors move faster.

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This strategic compensation template fixes the issues that hold your Account Executives back from unleashing their true revenue potential. 

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Who Is This Compensation Plan Designed For? 

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Sales leaders and ops professionals at growth-stage SaaS companies running a land and expand model. Ideally, you have 5+ AEs covering mid-market or enterprise customers.

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Your Objective: Establish a compensation structure that accelerates expansion revenue and customer lifetime value. 

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Additional criteria include:

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1. When your expansion <= 20% of total revenue
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2. Multiple sales reps spread across different verticals
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3. Excel spreadsheets no longer serve your complex comp plans
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4. Multiple KPIs to track

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Key Metrics We’ll Use to Customize Your Plan

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Plug these AE performance metrics into our template to auto-generate a tailored comp plan:

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• Average contract value
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• Sales quota minimums
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• Expansion revenue targets
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• Split between new business vs. renewals 
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• Historical pay mix and incentive levels 
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• Sales cycle length 
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• Deal velocity benchmarks

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Outputs You’ll Receive From Our Template

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Our spreadsheet does the number crunching so you can focus on strategic planning and AE enablement. 

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You’ll receive a custom Account Executive compensation framework with:

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• Ideal base salary vs. variable commission mix
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• Quota assignment benchmarks  
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• Differential payouts for new accounts vs. renewals/expansions  
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• Multi-tiered accelerators and bonuses tied to key growth metrics
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• Upside potential for your top performers 

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Benefits You’ll See Across Your Sales Organization

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Get more from your veteran AE team using best practices for incentive alignment.

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• Hit aggressive new customer and expansion revenue goals
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• Increased accountability and visibility into sales performance 
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• Retain your top revenue drivers long-term
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• Continued expansion from existing accounts 
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• Consistent achievement of growth targets

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Take the first step toward unleashing your Account Executives by downloading the template now.

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The Role of Account Executives

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The role of an Account Executive in the SaaS Land and Expand strategy is crucial for driving revenue growth and expanding customer relationships. Their primary focus is on closing new deals and expanding existing accounts while identifying opportunities for upselling and cross-selling. 

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Behaviors that Account Executives should be hired and coached for:

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1. Relationship Building: Account Executives should excel at building strong, long-term relationships with customers. They should have the ability to connect on a personal level, understand customer needs, and act as a trusted advisor throughout the customer journey.
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2. Customer-Centric Approach: Account Executives must possess a deep understanding of customer success principles. They should prioritize customer satisfaction, actively listen to customer feedback, and proactively address any issues or challenges that arise.
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3. Consultative Selling: Account Executives should be skilled in consultative selling techniques. This involves asking probing questions, actively listening, and tailoring solutions to meet the unique needs of each customer. They should focus on providing value and positioning the SaaS solution as a strategic asset for the customer's business.
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4. Expansion Mindset: Account Executives should have a natural inclination towards identifying expansion opportunities within existing accounts. They should be proactive in uncovering customer needs, cross-selling additional products or features, and positioning upsell opportunities that align with the customer's growth plans.
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5. Collaboration and Communication: Account Executives need to be effective collaborators and communicators. They should work seamlessly with cross-functional teams, such as Sales, Customer Success, and Support, to ensure a cohesive customer experience. Strong communication skills are essential for conveying value propositions, negotiating, and addressing customer concerns.
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6. Results-Orientation: Account Executives should be driven by results and possess a strong sense of ownership over their sales targets. They should be motivated to achieve and exceed revenue goals, while also prioritizing the long-term success and expansion of customer relationships.

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Account Executive KPIs (Key Performance Indicators):

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1. Sales quota attainment: Quota attainment measures the percentage of the Account Executive's assigned revenue target that they achieve within a given period. It demonstrates their overall performance in driving revenue growth and expanding customer relationships.
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2. Pipeline Growth: The growth of the Account Executive's sales pipeline shows their effectiveness in prospecting, qualifying leads, and building a robust pipeline of potential customers for expansion opportunities.
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3. Deal Velocity: This KPI measures the average time it takes for an Account Executive to close deals. A shorter deal velocity indicates efficiency and productivity in moving prospects through the sales process and expanding customer relationships.
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4. Average deal size: This is the average monetary value of deals closed by the Account Executive. This KPI helps assess their ability to close deals of varying sizes and indicates the overall revenue potential they bring to the company.
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5. Expansion Revenue: This KPI measures the amount of revenue generated from upsells, cross-sells, and expansion opportunities within existing customer accounts. It reflects the Account Executive's success in identifying and capitalizing on expansion potential.
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6. Expansion Rate: This KPI calculates the percentage of customers who expand their usage or adopt additional products or features within a specific period. It demonstrates the Account Executive's effectiveness in driving expansion within the existing customer base.
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7. Sales pipeline velocity: This KPI measures how quickly opportunities move through the sales pipeline.
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8. Customer Retention: Customer retention rate is a critical KPI in a Land and Expand business. It measures the percentage of customers that renew their contracts or continue using the SaaS solution. Account Executives play a key role in fostering customer loyalty and ensuring high retention rates.
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9. Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV): CLTV measures the total value a customer brings to the company over their lifetime as a customer. Account Executives contribute to CLTV by driving customer expansion, increasing usage, and maximizing revenue opportunities within existing accounts.
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10. Renewal rate: This KPI measures the proportion of customers who renew their subscription or contract at the end of a specified period.

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