How to write a 30/60/90-day plan for an Account Executive interview
Many AE interview processes include a 30/60/90-day plan, either as a take-home or as part of the final round. It's not really a test of what you'll do in three months. It's a test of how you think: whether you understand how the job makes money, whether you've done your homework and whether your goals are realistic.
What interviewers look for
| They want to see | How it shows up in your plan |
|---|---|
| Homework | Specifics about the company, its customers and its market, taken from public sources |
| Commercial sense | Goals tied to pipeline and revenue, not just "learn the product" |
| Realism | Targets that fit a new starter and the company's sales cycle |
| Self-sufficiency | You plan to build your own pipeline, not wait for leads |
| Coachability | You say what you'll need from your manager and how you'll check progress |
| Communication | A clear, short plan you can explain without reading it |
The template
| Phase | Focus | Example goals | How you'll measure it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Days 1-30: learn | Product, customers, process, people | Complete onboarding and certification; shadow calls; meet key colleagues; review top customer stories; agree your territory or account list | Certification passed; account plan for top accounts drafted; first outreach live by week 4 |
| Days 31-60: build pipeline | Prospecting and first meetings | Run outbound to priority accounts; work any inherited pipeline; run first discovery calls; bring in specialists and partners where useful | First meetings held; first qualified opportunities created; pipeline value against a target agreed with your manager |
| Days 61-90: progress and close | Advancing deals | Move early opportunities to proposal; close quick wins if the cycle allows; refine messaging from what worked | Opportunities at later stages; first closed deal where realistic; forecast accuracy |
Example metrics to choose from
- Days 1-30: certification complete, 20 priority accounts researched, a territory plan agreed with your manager.
- Days 31-60: meetings held per week, qualified opportunities created, pipeline generated.
- Days 61-90: opportunities moved to proposal, pipeline coverage against your ramped quota, first deal closed if the cycle allows.
These are examples, not benchmarks. Where you don't know the company's numbers, label them as assumptions and say you'd agree them in week one.
Tailor it with public information
- The company's website: products, pricing (if public), customer stories and the industries they highlight.
- Annual reports, investor updates or earnings calls if the company is listed: priorities and growth areas.
- Press releases and news: funding, launches, acquisitions, new markets.
- The job advert: the segment, the motion (new business or existing customers) and the tools mentioned.
- LinkedIn: team size, recent hires and who you'd work with.
- Review sites and competitors: what customers praise and complain about.
Never present guesses as facts. "Based on your published customer stories, I'd start with retail and logistics" beats a made-up number every time.
How to present it in 5 minutes ⏱️
| Time | What to cover |
|---|---|
| 0:00-0:30 | Context and assumptions: the role as you understand it |
| 0:30-1:30 | Days 1-30: what you'll learn and who you'll meet |
| 1:30-2:30 | Days 31-60: how you'll build pipeline, and your first target accounts |
| 2:30-3:30 | Days 61-90: how you'll move deals forward |
| 3:30-4:30 | How you'll measure progress and what you need from your manager |
| 4:30-5:00 | Ask: "What would you change?" |
One page or three slides is plenty. Rehearse it out loud with a timer, and bring a printed copy in case the screen share fails.
Common mistakes
- All learning, no selling. If pipeline doesn't appear until day 60, it looks passive.
- Overpromising. Big revenue numbers in month two suggest you don't understand the sales cycle.
- Generic content that could apply to any company.
- Invented internal data, such as quotas or win rates you can't know.
- Too long. Ten slides for a five-minute slot means rushing the part that matters.
- No measures. Every phase needs a way to tell whether it worked.
- Forgetting the team. Good plans mention SDRs, solutions engineers, partners and customer success.
If it's a take-home
Ask the recruiter about the format, the audience and how long you'll have to present. Keep it to what was asked for, finish with two or three questions for the panel, and close with a line such as "I'd validate this with you in week one." It shows you know a plan is a starting point, not a script.
Sources
Questions
What should an Account Executive 30/60/90-day plan include?
A learning phase (product, customers, process and people), a pipeline-building phase (prospecting and first meetings) and a progress phase (moving deals forward and closing where the cycle allows), each with measurable goals.
How long should a 30/60/90-day plan presentation be?
Usually about five minutes unless you're told otherwise. One page or three slides is enough, with time left for questions.
Should my 30/60/90-day plan promise closed deals?
Only if the company's sales cycle makes it realistic. Many AEs are still ramping at day 90, so pipeline, stage progress and a clear forecast are usually more credible measures.
Related guides
Questions to ask a sales recruiter
Quota, comp plan, ramp and team, plus a copy-paste reply.
Microsoft Azure sales interview
Culture themes, seller roles, story prep and a one-week plan.
The AWS Account Executive interview
How the loop works, what it tests and a one-week prep plan.
Turn this into a prep plan you can actually follow
A Notion workbook for AWS sales interviews: a story bank that scores your stories as you write them, 29 question patterns mapped to the principles, a planner for every round and a day-of cheat sheet. £29, one payment.
Principled Pitch is independent. Pay, quotas and hiring processes vary by company and country, so check the details of any role with the recruiter.