What's a typical career path for a sales professional?

I stronly believe that sales people are one of the most likely people to get to the highest position in any business right upto the role of a CEO. In fact, many CEOs in global companies either come from either sales or product background. 

• A sales person would start their sales career somewhere as a SDR/BDR. 
• And then move into an account executive quota carrying role. 
• From there, they would either branch into management or continue to be a senior Individual Contributor (think about a Key Account Director) 
• I have seen successful sales people eventually getting into GM, CRO or even CEO roles

I wish I could say there was a typical path but it is not often the case.

If you were stay within the same company, and want to go the individual contributor (IC) track, you might view a typical career path to look something like: inbound SDR to outbound SDR to AE to Sr AE (or AM).

If you were stay within the same company, and want to go the management track, it depends on what you are most interested in and the opportunities that are created. In the example above, you can stay as an SDR but move from Team Lead to Manager to Director to VP. But maybe you are promoted to an AE and then into management.

If you switch companies, often times you can get into leadership more quickly if the company is smaller and/or a startup.

When it comes to promotion the biggest chasms I see (the toughest jumps to make) are SDR to AE (never closing to closing) and IC to Manager (never leading officially, to leading and often times no longer producing).

According to all the websites and experts, a typical career path for a sales professional is to move from BDR to AE to Sales Manager, or a variation of this, and that can absolutely be your path. What you'll most likely find, is that there is NO typical path - especially as you discover who you are as a sales professional and your sales style.

Each of us have unique strengths and interests, and instead of focusing on a career ladder, where you only have one option in moving up/down in roles, you should focus on in developing your career lattice based on skill and sales style. By this, I mean:

Identify what you know and don't know, as it pertains to the sales process:

• What parts of the sales process you are skilled in and can leverage as you progress in your career? This can be leveraged to identify roles that you qualify for, can succeed in, and show your expertise.

• Where in the sales process do you need to develop or hone your skillset further?

  This info can be used to identify which roles can help you grow and develop your expertise in the sales process.

Determine the type of seller you are/sales motion you are interested in:

• Do you like speaking to decision makers early in the sales process? Do you like working multiple deals at the same time? Do you want to close multiple deals a month/quarter?

• Would you prefer a longer sales cycle with each prospect? Do you like building long-term relationships and developing plans and strategies that span across multiple buying panels and decision makers? Are you content with closing 1-2 deals a quarter, or even a year?

• Do you prefer to work with buyers who are early adopters, where you sell vision and strategy and a reasonable approach to taking risks, or do you prefer working with early/late majority buyers, when what you're selling may have mass market appeal and your buyer is a bit more risk-averse.

Once you have identified the type of seller you are, the sales motion you most prefer, the skill set you have today and where you want to develop further in the sales process, you now can make an informed decision about YOUR career path and identifying what is the best next move for you. This may be a move up, across, diagonal or down - as long as you're making career decisions with information and goals to continue your growth, it's a good move.

Remember, it's not about doing what's typical, it's about making career decisions that makes it right for you.

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.

There are two primary paths for sales professionals who want to continue to level up in sales. The individual contributor path and the management path.

Individual contributors might start as an Sales Development Rep or Business Development Rep. These are entry level sales roles that involve appointment setting for a more senior Account Executive who then takes a meeting and works to close business. At most tech companies, the most junior Account Executives work in the small business division, and more senior reps sell to progressively larger segments.

So career progression might look like BDR -> Small Business Account Executive -> Mid Market Account Executive -> Enterprise Account Executive

On the other side, if you pursue the management track, you may promote in any segment from account executive to manager. Typically this involves taking on leadership responsibilities (something like a team lead program to get experience) and coaching peers to development the management skillset.

This could look like BDR-> Account Executive -> Sales Manager -> Director -> VP of Sales.