The pathway
How you actually get there, here
How you become one varies far more by country than what one does. This is the UK route. Most people take one of these ways in; the right one depends on where you're starting from.
- 1
High-Performing Senior Account Executive
3-5 years as an AE, with 1-2 years at Senior/Enterprise levelSkills to master
- Consistently exceeding quota, complex deal negotiation, informal mentorship of junior reps, understanding of sales process bottlenecks.
You're ready to move on when
- You're the AE who always asks 'why' about the sales process, not just 'how'.
- You've taken on special projects to improve sales playbooks or CRM usage.
- You're often consulted by your manager or peers on tough deals or market insights.
- You've shown a knack for getting other teams (Product, Marketing) to help you close deals.
- 2
Sales Operations Specialist / Analyst
2-4 years in Sales OperationsSkills to master
- Deep CRM expertise (Salesforce admin), data analysis and reporting, process optimisation, understanding of sales tech stack.
You're ready to move on when
- You've moved beyond just running reports to actually interpreting the data and making recommendations.
- You've designed and implemented process improvements that directly impacted sales efficiency.
- You have a strong understanding of how our commercial data flows and where the pain points are.
- You're keen to move from supporting sales to actively shaping sales strategy.
- 3
Product Marketing Manager (with sales focus)
3-5 years in Product MarketingSkills to master
- GTM strategy, competitive analysis, messaging and positioning, sales enablement content creation, understanding of customer needs.
You're ready to move on when
- You've spent significant time with sales teams, understanding their challenges and needs.
- You're passionate about how products are sold, not just how they're built or messaged.
- You've successfully launched products and can articulate the commercial impact.
- You're looking to take a more direct role in commercial execution and strategy.