Account Executive, Commercial

Kong · London, UK

Base: Not disclosed
OTE: Not disclosed
Posted: 2mo ago

Still open · checked 12 min agoon Kong's careers page

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The Braun Read

Proceed with caution

A few things here deserve a hard look before you spend time on it.

Pay: No pay listed at all.
Transparency: Says nothing about quota, attainment, deal size, territory or sales cycle.
Pipeline: Mostly self-sourced. Great if you like outbound, rough if you don't.
Time on market: Open 64 days. Ask why it's been hard to fill.
Company hiring: Ramping up: posted 6 sales roles in the last 30 days.

Based only on what the posting says. Flags are a starting point for your first call, not a final judgment.

Questions to ask on the first call

Built from what this posting leaves out. How they answer tells you as much as what they say.

1.
What percent of reps hit quota last year?
Not in the posting
2.
Who sits with reps and reviews calls each week?
Explains the attainment number
3.
What are the base and the OTE for this role?
No pay listed
4.
What's the annual quota, and how was it set?
Not in the posting
5.
What share of last year's closed deals did reps source themselves?
Mostly self-sourced
6.
Why is this role open? Did someone leave, or is it new?
Always ask

The role

Sell Kong Konnect, an API and AI connectivity platform, to mid-market enterprises as a net-new hunter. Build and manage your own book, with outbound pipeline and creative prospecting outside the CRM.

Mid-Market · New Logo · Outbound

Selling motion

New Logo

Who you are selling to

Mid-Market

Pipeline expectations

Mostly self-sourced. Expect a lot of outbound.

Compensation

The posting doesn't list pay.

What is not disclosed

This posting doesn't tell you:

Base salary
OTE
Quota size
Quota attainment
Average deal size
Territory
Sales cycle length

The questions above cover the big ones.

Full posting

Are you ready to unlock intelligence? If you don’t think you meet all of the criteria below but are still interested in the job, please apply. Nobody checks every box - we’re looking for candidates that are particularly strong in a few areas, and have some interest and capabilities in others. About the Role: We are looking for an experienced sales professional, ideally with open source experience who will be selling into mid market enterprise accounts. The ideal candidate has been a part of the sales efforts for other early-stage enterprise products in an entrepreneurial setting. The Account Executive will be integral to our growth plan and in acquiring new customers. Kong’s Account Executive will be the primary point of contact and the face of Kong for our prospects. What You'll Do: • Sell Kong Konnect Platform on Kong’s Commercial sales team. • Meet and/or exceed individual quota, objectives and KPIs. • Take ownership to build and manage your book of business, which includes understanding and documenting the buying criteria and process, determining the appropriate motion and patterns, ensuring pipeline accuracy based on evidence, and working the leads to closure. • Collaborate and leverage an ecosystem of resources including pre sales, post sales, channel partners, customer success and leadership to promote Kong and drive new business. What You'll Bring: • A true desire to see customers benefit from the investment they make with Kong. • 2+ years of experience in direct sales experience selling enterprise software to small to mid-size organisations ideally with open source, APIs, and/or infrastructure software. • Effective communicator and strong interpersonal skills. • Excellent negotiation, presentation and closing skills. • Experience with fast growing startups is a plus. • Strong background in territory planning and revenue generated from outbound pipeline. • You have a measurable track record in new business development and over achieving sales targets. • Knowledge of MEDDIC and Challenger methodologies is a plus. Preferred: • A top performer with experience hunting and closing net new logos. • Experienced with creatively sourcing companies outside of your CRM. • You have previously worked in an early-stage company and you know how to navigate and be successful in a fast-growing organization. • Motivated, collaborative, driven and results oriented. #LI-JM3 About Kong: Kong Inc., the AI Connectivity Company, is building the connectivity layer of AI. Trusted by the Fortune 500® and AI-native startups alike, Kong’s unified API and AI platform enables organizations to secure, manage, accelerate, govern, and monetize the flow of intelligence across APIs and AI traffic — on any model, any cloud. For more information, visit www.konghq.com http://www.konghq.com.

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