Cien.ai Growth Essentials Series: How To Organise The Ideal Sales Team
By Rob Kall, Co-Founder & CEO, Cien.ai
“Our sales team organization was out of control with 5 different seller roles. Using data to
simplify was critical.”
– Mid-Market CRO
Are You Overthinking Your Sales Org—or Not Thinking Enough?
One of the most common interventions during a GTM strategic review is reorganizing the
sales team. But getting it right is harder than it looks. Should you specialize roles or keep them general? The answer, as always, is “it depends.”
In complex sales environments with long cycles and multiple stakeholders, specialization is
necessary. In simpler, transactional models, over-specialization just adds friction and
overhead. But the problems don’t stop at structure. Even when roles like SDR, AE, AM, and CSM existon paper, reps often end up doing “a little bit of everything.”
That destroys accountability and blurs performance metrics. And then there’s the question of management. Some orgs run with rep-to-manager ratios as low as 4:1—but unless those leaders are true player- coaches, that’s more drag than lift.
So What’s the Right Way to Organize?
Start by making a clear structural choice—and use your GTM motion as the rationale:
If your model is complex, define and enforce tight role boundaries. Measure where value is
created by role and ensure handoffs are crisp.
Don’t let SDRs call into existing customers. Don’t have AMs prospecting. If you’ve got hunters, make sure they hunt—and spend 75%+ of their time doing so. Comp them differently. Hunting is difficult!
Sales Team Role Reference Chart
| Role | Purpose | Notes |
| Account Executive (AE) | Primary seller | Critical to have role clarity. |
| SDR/BDR | New logo pipeline via outbound | Jr. role; can evolve to AE. Not needed in simple sales models. |
| Inbound Rep (IR) | Handle inbound leads | Often easiest role—training ground or hybrid SDR use. |
| Account Manager (AM) | Manage existing client relationships | Define clear handoff post- sale. |
| Sales Engineer (SE) | Technical demos and complex questions | Needed only for technical/complex products. |
| Customer Success (CSM) | Ensure usage, onboarding, renewals | Varies from support to strategic; aims to reduce churn |
| Line Manager (Mgr) | Make reps more effective | 1:7 is ideal; 1:4 only works with player-coaches. |
| Sales Director / VP | Owns quota, leads GTM motion | Involved in top deals and setting strategy. |
What Does Success Look Like?
With Cien.ai, your org design is no longer a guessing game. Our Heatmap Analysis surfaces hidden org problems, including misaligned role execution and weak manager leverage. Value Intelligence reveals where revenue creation actually happens—and who’s doing the heavy lifting.
You’ll know if your hunters are truly hunting, if your SDRs are creeping into CS territory, and if your managers are actually leading. In short: Organizational science becomes science. And your team gets faster, clearer, and more accountable.
About the Cien.ai Growth Essentials Series
This article is part of the Cien.ai Growth Essentials Series, inspired by our work with B2B
business leaders, growth consultants, and PE operating partners. These articles focus on the
non-technical aspects of improving GTM performance. For the analytical and technical
methods used to quantify these concepts, explore our Practical RevOps Analytics Series.
