# AE, SDR & CSM Competency Framework

> Defines the distinct competency set behind each go-to-market role so you hire, coach, and promote against skills, not job titles.

Free framework for sales leaders. Topic: [Hiring, Interviewing & Team Building](https://www.peerlab.ai/library/topic/hiring-interviewing-team-building/). Published by PeerLab in the [Sales Enablement Resource Library](https://www.peerlab.ai/library/). Source: https://www.peerlab.ai/library/ae-sdr-csm-competency-framework/

## How to use it

Use this as the source of truth when writing a job description, building an interview loop, or evaluating an internal promotion: pull the competency list for the target role first, then build everything else (JD, interview questions, scorecard) from it.

## What's inside

- 6 core SDR competencies with proficiency indicators
- 6 core AE competencies with proficiency indicators
- 6 core CSM competencies with proficiency indicators
- Shared-vs-distinct competency comparison table across all three roles
- Why title-based hiring fails and how competency-based hiring fixes it
- How to use this framework alongside the JD library and hiring rubric

### Hire and coach against the skill set, not the job title

The most common hiring mistake in go-to-market teams is treating SDR, AE, and CSM as points on a single career ladder with the same underlying skill, just "more experienced." They aren't. Each role has a genuinely distinct competency core. This framework defines each, so job descriptions, interview loops, and promotion criteria are built on the right foundation.

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## SDR / BDR Competencies

1. **Prospecting & List Research**: Builds and prioritizes a target list using firmographic/intent signals rather than working a flat, unqualified list. *Indicator: can explain why this account, this contact, this week.*
2. **Cold Outreach Execution**: Executes multi-channel sequences (call, email, social) with message quality that adapts to the persona, not a single generic template. *Indicator: response/connect rate above team benchmark.*
3. **Qualification & Discovery Framing**: Runs a lightweight discovery that sets the AE up, without over-selling or under-qualifying. *Indicator: SDR-sourced meetings convert to opportunity at or above team average.*
4. **Objection Handling (Gatekeeper-Level)**: Navigates the *initial* resistance ("not interested," "send an email," gatekeepers) distinct from AE-level negotiation objections. *Indicator: meeting-hold rate.*
5. **Activity Discipline & Sequence Adherence**, Sustains volume and cadence consistency without quality collapse under pressure. *Indicator: activity-to-target ratio stays stable week over week.*
6. **Handoff Quality & AE Collaboration**: Delivers a clean, context-rich handoff so the AE isn't re-doing discovery from zero. *Indicator: AE feedback score on handoff quality.*

## Account Executive (AE) Competencies

1. **Deep Discovery & Diagnostic Questioning**, Goes beyond the SDR-surfaced pain to the quantified business case. *Indicator: deals progress with a documented business impact, not just a stated interest.*
2. **Value Articulation & Business Case Building**, Builds and defends an ROI/business case in the buyer's own terms. *Indicator: win rate against competitive alternatives.*
3. **Stakeholder Mapping & Multi-Threading**: Identifies and engages economic buyer, champion, and technical evaluator rather than staying single-threaded. *Indicator: number of engaged contacts per closed-won deal.*
4. **Negotiation & Deal Structuring**: Manages pricing, terms, and procurement without over-discounting or losing momentum. *Indicator: average discount vs. plan; cycle time in negotiation stage.*
5. **Forecast Accuracy & Pipeline Discipline**: Calls the number accurately, updates stages honestly, doesn't sandbag or oversell. *Indicator: forecast accuracy variance quarter over quarter.*
6. **Executive Presence & Communication**: Holds credibility with senior buyers, adapts register up the org chart. *Indicator: ability to run a conversation with a VP/C-level contact independently.*

## Customer Success Manager (CSM) Competencies

1. **Onboarding & Time-to-Value Management**: Drives the customer to first meaningful value fast, with a structured plan rather than an ad hoc kickoff. *Indicator: time-to-first-value against benchmark.*
2. **Relationship & Stakeholder Management (Post-Sale)**: Maintains multi-threaded relationships through champion turnover, distinct from AE-stage stakeholder mapping. *Indicator: account health holds through a champion departure.*
3. **Product / Use-Case Expertise**: Deep enough product fluency to consult on usage, not just relay support tickets. *Indicator: usage/adoption metrics per account.*
4. **Risk Detection & Churn Signal Reading**: Reads usage decline, sentiment shift, and stakeholder disengagement *before* a renewal conversation, not during it. *Indicator: lead time between risk flag and renewal date.*
5. **Expansion/Upsell Identification**: Surfaces genuine expansion opportunity grounded in usage data, without turning the relationship transactional. *Indicator: expansion ARR sourced or influenced.*
6. **Renewal Process & Commercial Conversation**: Runs the actual commercial renewal conversation, including a value recap, confidently. *Indicator: GRR on managed book.*

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## Shared vs. Distinct: Comparison Table

| Competency Theme | SDR | AE | CSM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery / Diagnostic Questioning | Light, qualifying | Deep, business-case-building | Usage-and-risk diagnostic |
| Stakeholder Engagement | Single contact, gatekeeper nav | Multi-thread, buying committee | Multi-thread through champion turnover |
| Communication Register | Persona-adaptive outreach | Executive presence | Consultative, ongoing relationship |
| Process Discipline | Sequence/cadence adherence | Pipeline & forecast discipline | Health-score & renewal-cycle discipline |
| Commercial Conversation | None (handoff only) | Negotiation & deal structuring | Renewal & expansion conversation |
| Self-Generation | Core to the role | Partial (some self-sourcing expected) | Not applicable: inbound relationship |

**Why this matters for hiring:** A strong AE candidate is not automatically a strong CSM candidate, and an SDR who's "ready for AE" needs to be evaluated against the AE competency list directly: tenure in the SDR seat is not a proxy for AE-level discovery depth, negotiation skill, or forecast discipline.

**Pair this with:** the *Sales Job Description Library* to turn each competency list into a postable JD, and the *7-Competency Hiring Rubric* to interview against these competencies directly rather than a generic sales aptitude read.