The Revenue Formula
Your guide to getting AEs to self-prospect (finally)
Mar 25, 2025
Account Executives often resist self-prospecting, but there are fun and effective ways to change that. The podcast explores the role of AI in sales and discusses overcoming the challenges of self-prospecting. Motivational incentives emerge as key, from visual cues to big commission strategies. Team dynamics also play a crucial role in encouraging collaboration between AEs and SDRs. With the right support and engaging incentives, self-prospecting can transform sales performance and drive higher-value deals.
34:46
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Quick takeaways
- Motivating AEs to self-prospect can be achieved through enhanced commission structures and reduced quotas on self-sourced deals.
- Encouraging collaboration between AEs and SDRs fosters a unified sales approach, improving pipeline generation and overall performance.
Deep dives
Challenges of Self-Prospecting
Self-prospecting presents significant challenges for account executives (AEs) despite being a hopeful goal for sales leaders. AEs often do not engage in self-prospecting due to a lack of motivation and the perception that pipeline generation is not part of their job description, especially when they have a sales development representative (SDR) team supporting them. Many AEs associate pipeline generation with a daunting workload that detracts from closing deals, resulting in a culture where they become reliant on SDRs. This reliance becomes self-perpetuating, as the introduction of SDRs frequently diminishes the urgency for AEs to engage in self-prospecting efforts.
