AMA: Carta Senior Director of Sales - Venture Capital at Carta, Rachel Mayes on Developing Your Sales Career

I don’t believe there’s a single "right" career path for a sales professional. Sales is an incredible foundation that can lead to countless opportunities because the skills are universally valuable. Whether you’re pitching investors as a founder or advocating for an internal business initiative, you’re always selling—yourself, your ideas, your vision, or your work. Traditionally, Sales careers may start as an SDR, progress to AE, Mid-Market AE, Enterprise AE, and eventually to Client partner or Senior Relationship Manager. Alternatively, you might take the leadership path, from sales manager and graduate to senior leadership roles. Ultimately, your path should align with your strengths and what gets you excited every morning.

This one’s easy! In sales, your performance metrics are your best evidence. Start with your revenue numbers—they’re the clearest indicator of success. Beyond that, track and showcase your quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) improvements in metrics like close ratio, deal size, or pipeline growth. For example, demonstrating consistent improvement in your ability to close deals is a strong justification for a salary increase. Tracking your own metrics not only helps you improve as a sales professional but also shows leadership you’re thinking strategically and providing valuable insights to the business. Thus making the business ant to invest in you further.

The main differences to me between an Account executive and a Senior account executive comes down to organization, pipeline management, and using a solid sales process like MEDDPICC. Senior AEs always have their CRM (like Salesforce) up to date, accurately forecast QoQ, and know how to multi-thread deals. More Junior AEs tend to have "Closed lost reasons" such as "Wrong Decision Maker/Not the DM" or "Client went dark" This typically shows an inability to build strong relationships or following a consistent sales process.

From a mental perspective burnout is definitely a real challenge in sales. I answered another question in how to handle burnout, as a career in sales is a marathon not a sprint. From a tactical perspective, one of the biggest frustrations I have experienced as an AE are constant book-of-business (BoB) or territory changes. AE's can really hit their stride when they can consistently work their BoB, and sudden, unexpected changes can be disruptive to productivity and revenue. Building a strong BoB is one of the hardest part of sales, once the foundation is set I like to give things time, watch reps cook and allows the “magic” to happen. *This is of course if the current BoB/Territory alignment is working.

When I look at a new opportunity I evaluate the below items: * Product-Market Fit: I evaluate how well the company’s product addresses the market need and its potential for long-term success. * Belief and Passion: I ask myself if I genuinely believe in what the company is building and feel passionate about its mission and product. * Competitive Landscape: I spend time comparing the company to its competitors, speaking with my personal network and meeting with current customers to understand the pros/cons of the product and customer experience. * Growth Potential: I consider how the opportunity aligns with my career goals * Clear Expectations: I ensure the company sets clear expectations around goals, responsibilities, and success metrics before making a decision. This is very important in sales as unrealistic quotas/numbers and expectations is common.

I think there’s a lot to be said about optimizing sales processes with AI. As software continues to improve this will allow AEs to be more productive, manage larger books of business, and deliver highly customized outbound messaging. That said, given the sheer volume of outreach prospects receive today, it’s more important than ever to differentiate yourself, build your network, and establish yourself as a thought leader in your space. If I were an AE starting today, I’d focus on what I want to specialize in and start building relationships—not just with prospects and customers but also with partners in the ecosystem.

The most important intangible traits for account executives include a strong willingness to learn, grit, and the ability to build meaningful relationships while earning clients' trust. They should position themselves as thought leaders in their industry and be genuinely passionate about what they sell, as this authenticity drives success. On the tactical side, organization is the most critical skill. Account executives who manage their book of business with structure, clarity, and a sense of ownership—treating it as if it were their own company—are far more likely to be successful.

This is such a great question! Having been a sales professional since 2013, I completely understand how burnout can arise, especially with the constant "reset" every quarter. What’s helped me is creating clear personal boundaries with work and sticking to a structured, repeatable process. By focusing on the things I can control and holding myself accountable to weekly, monthly, and quarterly KPIs, I’ve built a more predictable and manageable workflow. I view sales as running my own business—it requires exceptional time management and operational efficiency.