There are multiple ways in which technology services companies are organized, from marketing and sales to talent acquisition and billable delivery teams. We want to summarize what we see in sales and go-to-market (GTM) organizational structures to shed some light on potential ways to organize these growth teams.
Some companies we see have a more transactional business nature, while others have a longer-term relationship bias. This transactional characteristic can tilt sales efforts towards more hunting initiatives compared to a focus on growing existing accounts (“farming”).
It is common to see smaller tech services companies continue to generate new sales opportunities from their founders' efforts. With scale, it makes sense to start implementing a sales organizational structure that unlocks more visibility and attempts to bring additional predictability to the company’s revenue streams.
Account Executives (AEs) are tasked with creating relationships with new accounts and bringing in new deals. In several cases, junior sales team members are paired with AEs to assist with outreach, qualifying new prospects, and other research tasks. These junior sellers can be part of an inside sales team and are typically called Sales Development Reps (SDRs). If the services company has business units or portfolios of accounts, these sellers can serve as hunters for a specific BU, business segment, or vertical.
Account Managers (AMs) are responsible for serving and growing existing customers. If the company has AEs, the transition period from AE to AM coverage can vary depending on the service provided, the account potential, and other factors.
Account Teams are a group of professionals with different roles responsible for scaling existing accounts. Depending on the service company's size and the customer’s potential, this could mean two or more individuals are teamed up to serve an account. For example, it is common to see a relationship role (AM) paired up with a delivery role (project manager or similar). If the account merits it, additional roles (technical role, SME, others) could help provide appropriate coverage (technical role, SME, others).
Each role and team configuration can be considered as a company transitions from founder-led sales to a professional team-based approach. Management should also assess how to link variable compensation to performance for each of these roles and teams.
At Alten Capital we invest in business services and technology services companies. Our value creation framework starts with growth and GTM efforts to impact our portfolio company’s growth vector (https://alten.capital/strategy). Please reach out to us to explore potential partnerships.