[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":116},["ShallowReactive",2],{"lesson-/academy/account-executive/ae-certification-assessment":3},{"path":4,"data":5,"html":69,"toc":70,"prev":80,"next":16,"track":86},"/academy/account-executive/ae-certification-assessment",{"title":6,"description":7,"primaryQuery":8,"module":9,"order":9,"publishedAt":10,"author":11,"reviewedAt":12,"asset":13,"relatedTool":16,"practiceCall":17,"challenge":16},"The Account Executive Certification Assessment (CAE): How It Works and How to Pass","The CAE is earned on one scored live call — the negotiation and close with the economic buyer. This is the assessment page: what it tests, how it's scored, the 3.0+ pass bar, and what passing earns.","account executive certification assessment",6,"2026-09-10","closers","2026-09-24",{"type":14,"title":15},"scorecard","The CAE assessment scorecard: five dimensions, 0–4 each, pass at 3.0+ (Distinction 3.9+)",null,{"persona":18,"industry":19,"objection":20,"difficulty":21,"goal":22,"deal":23,"voice":68,"assessment":68},"ae_economic_buyer","saas","call-me-next-quarter","brutal","Run the full AE close out loud — diagnose the economic buyer's real problem, handle the final objection, and make the direct ask to a clear yes or a dated next step.",{"company":24,"product":25,"valueProp":26,"buyer":27,"benefits":28,"downsides":32,"pricing":36,"competitors":37,"proof":38,"features":39,"situation":45,"blockers":46,"battlecards":52},"Northwind","a revenue platform that unifies pipeline, forecast and call activity in one view","sales leaders forecast with confidence and stop chasing reps for updates","the VP of Sales (the economic buyer who owns the number)",[29,30,31],"forecast accuracy without chasing reps for updates","pipeline, calls and forecast in one view","rep-level coaching from real call data",[33,34,35],"a real implementation — weeks, not days","needs clean CRM data to work","priced for mid-market and up","annual contract from ~$30k, tiered by seats","Clari and their existing CRM dashboards","a 300-rep org cut forecast error from 18% to 6%",[40,41,42,43,44],"unified pipeline, forecast and call activity in one view","forecast roll-ups by rep, team and segment","call recording and transcription with deal-level notes","two-way CRM sync (Salesforce / HubSpot)","rep-level coaching scorecards from real calls","You are VP of Sales at a 300-person company with 60 reps across three segments. Last quarter you gave the board a number that came in 18% light and could not explain why — the next board pack is due in nine days and the chair has asked for the miss and the fix in the same slide. Clari is in for forecast AI, Salesforce is the CRM, and RevOps is mid-negotiation on the Clari renewal. Your CFO sits on the committee and holds the only signature that matters; the budget window closes at the end of the quarter. The pilot finished, your reps actually use it, and RevOps owns the rollout.",[47,48,49,50,51],"The CFO is on the committee and will ask what this replaces, not what it adds","Clari's renewal is being negotiated right now, so new spend has to fit inside that number","Your RevOps lead implements it, and has already said no to two tools this year","Anything over $30k needs a business case signed by finance before procurement will open a PO","The board pack is due in nine days, so a 'yes, next quarter' ships the old number and the miss unexplained",[53,58,63],{"competitor":54,"weWin":55,"theyWin":56,"whenItMatters":57},"Clari","call-level coaching data Clari does not surface, and a mid-market rollout your RevOps lead can run without a services contract","deeper forecast AI, an enterprise base your board has heard of, and a renewal already in motion","if the problem is forecast accuracy alone, Clari is already the answer and we are a coaching tool — the honest move is to say that; if reps are not being coached on the calls that missed, that is the gap",{"competitor":59,"weWin":60,"theyWin":61,"whenItMatters":62},"the CRM's built-in dashboards","real call data and coaching, not pipeline fields a rep can shade","already paid for, zero new vendor, and no security review","dashboards cannot tell you why a deal stalled; if the number is wrong because reps are not updating it, that is a CRM discipline problem, not a platform one",{"competitor":64,"weWin":65,"theyWin":66,"whenItMatters":67},"doing nothing until next quarter","board pressure does not wait for the budget window — a pilot inside this quarter gives the CFO a number to argue with","no risk, no procurement, and the miss may have been seasonal","if the miss was a one-off and the pipeline is clean, waiting is rational — do not manufacture urgency",true,"\u003Cp>The Account Executive certification (\u003Cstrong>CAE\u003C/strong>) is earned on one scored live call, not a multiple-choice test. This page is that assessment: you hold a single call \u003Cstrong>out loud\u003C/strong> with the \u003Cstrong>economic buyer\u003C/strong> — the negotiation and close — and it is graded on the same five dimensions as every practice call: opening, discovery, objection handling, composure, and the clear ask. Score \u003Cstrong>3.0 or higher\u003C/strong> and you can issue your certificate — a public page a hiring manager can open, with your name, the band and a verifiable serial.\u003C/p>\n\u003Ch2 id=\"what-the-assessment-is\">What the assessment is\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>It is the graded act of the AE track, and it compresses the whole AE job into one graded call. The lessons are how you get ready; nothing in them is a checklist you have to clear first. You are not running a discovery call or a demo in isolation — you run the \u003Cstrong>close\u003C/strong> with the person who owns the number: diagnose the real problem and its cost, arm the buyer to defend the decision internally, handle their final objection, and make the direct ask.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>You are given a \u003Cstrong>deal card\u003C/strong> — the product, the value proposition, the target buyer, its real benefits and honest limitations, \u003Cstrong>the world this buyer is bringing into the room\u003C/strong> (team, current stack, what just went wrong, who signs), and \u003Cstrong>why a deal like this stalls\u003C/strong>. It stays \u003Cstrong>open in the call panel\u003C/strong> while you negotiate, one copy, exactly like your own notes in a real close.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>The card is context, not a script. Reciting it proves nothing and Marcus will say so — the hard questions are about consequences: "what does this replace in my stack?", "what does the CFO get for thirty grand that he does not already get from Clari?", "who does the work on day one?" A rep who can't answer those hasn't done their homework; a rep who invents a number to survive the question has failed a different way. If the card genuinely doesn't cover it, scope it honestly and commit to a date.\u003C/p>\n\u003Ch2 id=\"how-it-s-scored\">How it's scored\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>The same five-dimension rubric used everywhere on the site, 0–4 each:\u003C/p>\n\u003Cul>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>opening\u003C/strong> — earns attention and sets the frame\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>discovery\u003C/strong> — diagnoses the buyer's problem before pitching\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>objection handling\u003C/strong> — handles the final objection and lands a next step\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>composure\u003C/strong> — steady and articulate under pressure\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>\u003Cstrong>clear ask\u003C/strong> — one specific, unambiguous ask held with silence\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\u003Cp>The \u003Cstrong>overall\u003C/strong> is what counts. \u003Cstrong>3.0+ passes\u003C/strong> (a \u003Cstrong>Distinction\u003C/strong> at 3.9+). Nothing else gates it: no lesson checklist, no multiple-choice section. The result is returned as a band, and a passing call can be issued as your certificate — your name, the band, and a public verify page a hiring manager can open and you can add to LinkedIn.\u003C/p>\n\u003Ch2 id=\"how-to-pass-it\">How to pass it\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>Run the call the way the track taught it: re-anchor on value the buyer already agreed matters, trade rather than fold, handle the objection without arguing, and make the ask directly — then stop talking and let the buyer answer. The buyer is \u003Cstrong>winnable\u003C/strong> — do the job well and you get a yes or a dated next step; pitch features or discount instantly and the call stalls. When you're ready, start the assessment below and hold the call out loud.\u003C/p>\n",[71,74,77],{"id":72,"text":73},"what-the-assessment-is","What the assessment is",{"id":75,"text":76},"how-it-s-scored","How it's scored",{"id":78,"text":79},"how-to-pass-it","How to pass it",{"path":81,"title":82,"description":83,"module":9,"order":84,"kind":85,"practiceCall":16,"core":68},"/academy/account-executive/negotiate-your-first-ae-comp-plan","Negotiate Your First AE Comp Plan: Close the Deal on Yourself","Your first AE comp plan is the most important deal you'll close before you start. Understand it before you negotiate: base vs OTE, how reachable the quota is, the commission rate, the ramp, and any sign-on. Negotiate like an AE — anchor to value, trade for something real, and get every term in writing. Don't just chase the biggest number; chase the plan you can actually hit.",5,"order",{"slug":87,"title":88,"shortTitle":89,"crumb":89,"path":90,"positioning":91,"totalLessons":92,"modules":93},"account-executive","Certified Account Executive (CAE)","Account Executive Certification","/academy/account-executive","The free certification for the promotion from SDR — learning to run the full deal, from discovery and demo to negotiation and the close. The AE is the closer.",27,[94,99,103,107,110,113],{"id":95,"name":96,"lessonCount":97,"description":98},1,"The Promotion: SDR to AE",4,"What changes when you move from booking meetings to owning a book and a revenue quota — and why the AE is the closer — 4 core lessons.",{"id":100,"name":101,"lessonCount":97,"description":102},2,"Discovery at AE Depth","Full discovery and multi-stakeholder qualification — the pain, the money, the people and the path to yes — 4 lessons.",{"id":104,"name":105,"lessonCount":97,"description":106},3,"Demo, Value and the Proposal","Turn discovery into a demo and proposal the buyer can defend internally — 4 lessons.",{"id":97,"name":108,"lessonCount":84,"description":109},"Negotiation and the Close","Price, concessions and the final objections — then the ask. The AE is the closer — 5 lessons.",{"id":84,"name":111,"lessonCount":97,"description":112},"Pipeline, Forecast and Quota","Run a real book: honest pipeline, forecasting, and hitting a revenue quota — 4 lessons.",{"id":9,"name":114,"lessonCount":9,"description":115},"Getting Hired as an AE","Land the AE job — resume, interview answers, comp plan, and the certification assessment — 6 lessons.",1792888517204]