Zendesk

SMB Account Executive

Zendesk$111K — $167K *
Enterprise Technology
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 2+ years of B2B sales or solution engineering experience in SaaS with a record of exceeding targets.
  • Experience in engaging and expanding relationships with customers in tech-driven environments.
  • Strong technical aptitude for detailed AI product architecture discussions.
  • Proven success in prospecting, customer outreach, and utilizing AI-assisted sales methods.
  • Excellent organizational skills with experience in Salesforce or similar CRM tools.
  • Entrepreneurial mindset with a focus on AI and automation trends.
  • Outstanding communication, presentation, and negotiation skills.
  • Experience in creating territory/account plans and using sales tools like Salesforce.

Responsibilities

  • Drive revenue growth by acquiring new SMB customers using AI-powered strategies.
  • Manage and nurture customer relationships to ensure satisfaction and retention.
  • Lead complex sales cycles with tailored, outcome-driven solutions based on AI insights.
  • Develop AI transformation roadmaps with customers, addressing unique business challenges.
  • Articulate compelling ROI and value cases to influence procurement decisions.
  • Facilitate consultative technical discussions about AI product integrations.
  • Identify cross-sell and up-sell opportunities to maximize account revenue.
  • Anticipate AI market trends to refine deal strategies.
  • Maintain a robust pipeline of opportunities in Salesforce and provide forecasts.
  • Collaborate with internal teams to optimize sales campaigns and enhance customer engagement.

Benefits

  • Flexible hybrid work environment, with a balance of remote and onsite work.
  • Access to continuous learning and professional development opportunities.
  • Collaborative team culture that promotes innovation and communication.
  • Opportunities for mentorship and knowledge sharing about AI trends.
  • Performance-based incentives including potential bonuses and other related benefits.
Full Job Description
Job Description

To help advance this vision, we're looking for a dedicated SMB Account Executive who is AI-savvy, has a strong track record in B2B sales, and is passionate about driving SaaS growth. In this role, you will expand our SMB account base through cross-sell, up-sell, and expansion efforts, while closing deals of all sizes and building broad, trusted relationships.

As a key member of our team, you'll harness the latest in AI-driven insights and solutions to accelerate revenue growth, align with customer goals, and deepen Zendesk's impact across the SMB landscape.

What You'll Be Doing:
  • Drive top-line revenue growth by acquiring new SMB customers, leveraging innovative and AI-powered strategies for pipeline development and account expansion.
  • Manage and nurture customer relationships to ensure high satisfaction and retention by personalizing outreach and automating workflows through AI tools.
  • Proactively lead complex sales cycles by integrating AI insights and customer data to craft tailored, outcome-driven solutions for each customer.
  • Co-create with customers clear AI transformation roadmaps grounded in measurable KPIs, uncovering and addressing unique business challenges through deep AI-driven insights.
  • Develop and articulate compelling, data-backed ROI and value cases that impact procurement decisions and demonstrate clear business impact. Tracking and communicating realized outcomes to foster loyalty and drive upsell opportunities.
  • Hold consultative technical conversations regarding AI product architecture and integrations, collaborating closely with Solutions Engineers, AI Specialists, and cross-functional teams to co-design innovative solutions.
  • Identify and pursue opportunities to cross-sell and up-sell new products and services, maximizing account revenue and profitability by understanding adoption history and customer needs.
  • Consistently anticipate AI market trends and competitor moves, leveraging this intelligence to sharpen deal strategies and influence Zendesk's go-to-market approach.
  • Build and maintain a robust, accurately tracked pipeline of qualified opportunities in Salesforce, providing weekly, monthly, and quarterly forecasts while meeting or exceeding revenue targets and activity KPIs.
  • Collaborate with Marketing, Business Development, and other internal teams to optimize sales campaigns and execution, ensuring seamless and tech-enabled customer engagement.
  • Champion the customer voice and act as a Zendesk AI thought leader. Staying relentlessly curious about new trends and raising organizational standards for AI-powered sales excellence.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of local market dynamics and customer behaviors relevant to your assigned territory or region.
  • Manage sales pipeline rigorously, employing qualification frameworks and consistent forecasting to maximize deal velocity and accuracy.
  • Handle renewal processes and collaborate cross-functionally to ensure seamless customer onboarding and account expansion.
  • Collaborate effectively with internal teams including marketing, customer success, and product specialists to amplify sales impact.


What You Bring to the Role:
  • At least 2 years B2B sales or solution engineering experience in SaaS, with a proven record of exceeding targets.
  • Experience engaging and expanding relationships across various customer levels, ideally within a technology-driven environment.
  • Strong technical aptitude and proven ability to have detailed conversations about AI product architecture and integrations.
  • Demonstrated success in account research, prospecting, customer outreach, and closing deals using AI-assisted and traditional methods.
  • Excellent organizational skills with the ability to manage a high volume of opportunities, multiple priorities, and detailed forecasting through Salesforce or similar CRM tools.
  • Entrepreneurial spirit, collaborative mindset, and relentless drive for learning and growth. Especially, regarding AI and automation trends.
  • Outstanding communication, presentation, and negotiation abilities.
  • Experience creating and executing territory/account plans and leveraging key sales tools such as Salesforce, Outreach, and Clari.
  • BA/BS degree or equivalent experience.
  • Willingness to travel as needed.


Who You Are:
  • Customer-Centric Innovator: Anticipates customer needs and drives innovation by blending human experience with AI capabilities to deliver meaningful business impact and value.
  • Data-Driven Decision Maker: Utilizes AI-generated insights and analytics to inform, optimize, and personalize every stage of the sales process from discovery through closing.
  • Collaborative Influencer: Fosters strong, trust based partnerships, both internally and externally, to elevate team performance and customer outcomes.
  • Continuous Learner & Mentor: Proactively stays ahead of AI trends, shares knowledge, and develops peers to build collective AI fluency across the organization.
  • Strategic Thinker with Execution Focus: Balances visionary thinking about the future of AI-enabled sales with disciplined, results-oriented execution for high impact outcomes.


#LI-LM5

The US annualized OTE (On Target Earnings) range for this position is $111,000.00-$167,000.00 with a pay mix of 60/40 (base/commission). This position may also be eligible for bonus, benefits, or related incentives. While this range reflects the minimum and maximum value for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations, the offer for the successful candidate for this position will be based on job related capabilities, applicable experience, and other factors such as work location. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only (or OTE for commissions based roles), and do not include bonus, benefits, or related incentives.

Hybrid: In this role, our hybrid experience is designed at the team level to give you a rich onsite experience packed with connection, collaboration, learning, and celebration - while also giving you flexibility to work remotely for part of the week. This role must attend our local office for part of the week. The specific in-office schedule is to be determined by the hiring manager.

About Zendesk

Zendesk is a customer service software company headquartered in San Francisco, California, USA. It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange with the symbol ZEN and is a constituent of the Russell 2000 Index. The company provides a cloud-based customer support platform which allows quicker and easier interaction between businesses and customers. Zendesk has over 4,000 employees and serves 150,000 customers in 160 countries. The company was founded in 2007 by Mikkel Svane, Morten Primdahl, and Alexander Aghassipour.
Learn more about Zendesk
Size
2,570 employees
Market Cap
$10.3 billion
Industry
Net Income
-$218.1 million
Founded
2007
5 Year Trend
+33.7%
Revenue
$1 billion
NASDAQ

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