Account executive ramp plan template: week by week, with quota ramp, certifications and pipeline targets

An account executive ramp plan sets out, week by week for the first month and month by month after that, what a new AE learns, which certifications they must pass, which calls they shadow and then lead, how much pipeline they build and what share of full quota they carry until they are fully ramped. The template below is ready to copy. Every number in it is an example: replace it with figures from your own past hires and your own sales cycle, because there is no ramp length or quota schedule that fits every team.

This is the operating schedule. The goals for the 30, 60 and 90-day checkpoints, built around qualification, multi-threading and forecasting, are in the 30-60-90 day plan for account executives, and a ramp for reps who mainly prospect is in the 30-60-90 day plan for sales reps.

What goes in an account executive ramp plan?

1. The ramp period: the month in which the AE carries full quota for the first time.
2. The quota ramp: the share of full quota for each month before that.
3. Certification gates: the skills the AE must demonstrate, with a date and a named person who signs each off.
4. Shadow-to-lead steps: when the AE listens, sits in, co-leads and leads calls on their own.
5. Pipeline targets: how much qualified pipeline must exist, and by when, for the ramp quota to be reachable.
6. Pay terms and check-ins: any draw or guarantee during the ramp, how inherited deals are credited, and the review dates.

How long should the ramp be?

Work it out from your own numbers, not someone else's benchmark. Two ways that use data you already have:

• From past hires: for your last several AEs, count the months from start date to their first month at full quota, and use the middle value.
• From your sales cycle: add the weeks it takes a new AE to pass certification to your median days from first meeting to close. Pipeline the AE creates after certification starts closing roughly one sales cycle later.

Example, with invented numbers: certification takes four weeks and the median sales cycle is 75 days, about 11 weeks. A first meeting the AE books in week 5 is likely to close around week 16, in month four. Pipeline built in months two and three matures in months four and five, so this team would set full quota from month five and step up to it from month two.

The ramp plan template

Copy this into the onboarding document. Brackets are for your numbers; the figures shown are examples only.

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE RAMP PLAN
AE: [name]   Segment/territory: [ ]   Start date: [ ]
Manager: [ ]   Onboarding buddy: [ ]   Sales engineer: [ ]
Full monthly quota: [$ ]   Full quota from: [month 5, example]
Qualification framework: [MEDDICC / BANT / in-house]
Comp terms during ramp: see comp plan dated [ ] (ramp quota, draw, credit rules)

WEEK 1  LEARN THE BUYER AND THE TOOLS
- Product overview, ideal customer profile, top three use cases
- CRM, call recording, sequencing and calendar set up and tested
- Listen to [5, example] recorded discovery calls by top performers
  (only recordings made with consent under your call recording policy)
- Receive territory or account list in writing; read the account rules
Manager: daily 15-minute check-in; walk through discount approvals

WEEK 2  PRODUCT AND MARKET
- Product deep dive with a sales engineer; competitor notes; pricing
- Sit in on [3, example] live discovery calls and [2, example] demos
- Research the top [20, example] accounts: why each fits, first angle
GATE 1 (end of week 2): product pitch certification, delivered to the
  manager and a sales engineer, scored on the team rubric

WEEK 3  DISCOVERY
- Learn the qualification framework using closed-won and closed-lost deals
- Co-lead [2, example] discovery calls: the AE runs discovery, the host
  runs the rest
- Re-qualify every inherited deal; update stage, next step and date
- First outreach to [20, example] researched accounts
GATE 2 (end of week 3): discovery role play, scored on the team rubric

WEEK 4  LEAD WITH AN OBSERVER
- Lead [3, example] first meetings while the manager or a peer observes
  silently and scores (a reverse shadow)
- [5, example] first meetings booked for weeks 5 and 6
GATE 3 (end of week 4): demo certification
CHECK-IN: day 30 review against this plan

MONTH 2  RUN THE MOTION, UNDER REVIEW
- Lead all first meetings; manager joins [1 in 4, example] for feedback
- Qualification notes in the CRM the same day on every opportunity
- Pipeline target: [$150,000, example] qualified pipeline created
- Quota: [25%, example] of full quota
GATE 4: CRM hygiene and forecast call (stage, next step, close date on
  every open deal; commit, best case, pipeline called weekly)

MONTH 3  ADVANCE AND NEGOTIATE
- First deal past evaluation; mutual plan agreed with the buyer
- Pipeline target: [coverage of 4x, example] next month's ramp quota
- Quota: [50%, example]
GATE 5: mock negotiation within discount and terms approval rules

MONTH 4  CLOSE
- Quota: [75%, example]; first self-sourced close expected
- Forecast commit calls compared with results every week

MONTH 5  FULLY RAMPED
- Quota: [100%, example]; ramp-specific comp terms end on [date]
- Written ramp review: what helped, what slowed the ramp, next targets

How do you set the quota ramp?

Step the quota up in line with when the AE's own pipeline can close, and write each month's figure down before day one. A worked example with invented numbers, for a full monthly quota of $50,000:

In this example the AE carries $125,000 of quota over the first five months, against $250,000 for a fully ramped AE, so the ramp costs the team the equivalent of two and a half months of one AE's quota. Use that figure when you plan hiring against a revenue target.

Pipeline needed for each ramp month

The pipeline target follows from the quota and your own win rate: pipeline needed = quota ÷ win rate. Example: if your trailing win rate on qualified opportunities is 25%, month four's $37,500 needs $150,000 of qualified pipeline, created about one sales cycle earlier, in month two in the example above. Use your own win rate for the segment, not a company-wide average.

Inherited deals

Decide the rule before the AE starts and put it in the comp plan. Common choices: inherited deals count toward ramp quota at full value; they count, but the ramp quota is raised by the value of the re-qualified inherited pipeline; or they are credited at a reduced rate. Whichever you choose, re-qualify the deals first, as the AE 30-60-90 plan describes, so the credit rests on deals that are real.

Which certifications should gate the ramp?

Score each gate against a short written rubric, and let the AE retake a failed gate within a week rather than holding up the rest of the ramp.

How should shadowing turn into leading calls?

Move from listening to leading in steps, and change one thing at a time: first recordings, then live calls as a silent observer, then co-leading a section, then leading with the manager observing, then leading alone with periodic review. It is the same pattern used to train interviewers, explained in what is reverse shadowing: the observer stays silent, scores against the rubric, and gives feedback the same day. Introduce any observer to the buyer at the start of the call, and use only recordings made under your call recording and consent policy.

Put the ramp pay and quota terms in writing

The ramp plan sets targets; the comp plan sets pay. Make sure the comp plan states the ramp quota for each month, any draw or guarantee and whether it is recoverable, how inherited deals are credited, and the date ramp terms end. Some states spell out written requirements for commissioned employees; two examples, as of November 2026:

• California: when an employee will work in California and is paid commissions, Labor Code section 2751 requires the contract to be in writing and to set out how commissions are computed and paid; the employer gives the employee a signed copy and obtains a signed receipt.
• New York: Labor Law section 191(1)(c) requires a commission salesperson's agreed terms to be in a writing signed by both sides, describing how wages, salary, drawing account, commissions and other monies are calculated, including how often a recoverable draw is reconciled and what is paid when employment ends. The employer keeps it for at least three years; if it cannot produce the writing, the salesperson's account of the terms is presumed correct.

This is general information, not legal advice. Other states have their own wage payment rules; check the state where the AE works.

What should you review at each check-in?

Read leading indicators before revenue. An AE behind on closed revenue in month three with pipeline on target is usually on track; an AE ahead on revenue from one inherited deal, with little pipeline of their own, is not.

How do you use the ramp plan when hiring?

Share a trimmed version in the final interview and ask the candidate how they would adapt it to their last territory: what they would learn first, where they expect the ramp to slow and what pipeline they would need. The answer shows how they think about a sales cycle, and it gives you a plan both sides have seen before the offer. The guide to evaluating a 30-60-90 day plan in an interview covers how to score it; the account executive screening questions and the interview scorecard for sales roles cover the earlier rounds.

Common mistakes