Building a Consumption-Ready Revenue Machine: Redefining GTM Roles

Last week I wrote about how AI is finally closing the loop between insight and action for revenue teams. Another revolution happening in parallel that deserves attention is how the consumption model is forcing a complete restructuring of revenue teams.

The Hunter-Farmer Debate Is Dead

I've been having this conversation with revenue leaders for the better part of a year. The traditional dichotomy of "hunters" who land new business and "farmers" who grow existing accounts is becoming obsolete, and a more nuanced view of sales roles is needed.

The hunter-farmer model made sense in a seat-based world. You had hunters focused on landing large, upfront contracts. You had farmers focused on annual renewals and basic account expansion. The lines were clear, the handoffs were clean, and everyone knew their lane. Again -- for better or for worse, consumption pricing throws all of that out the window.

When customer value scales directly with usage, you need roles that can think strategically about the entire customer lifecycle. A customer might start small, grow exponentially, plateau, then expand into new use cases.

The Rise of the Strategic Account Executive

What I'm seeing in progressive companies is the emergence of what is called the "Strategic Account Executive" - a fundamentally different role that owns the entire customer journey from initial landing to long-term expansion.

Their compensation gets tied to ongoing consumption and growth, creating completely different incentives. Instead of maximizing upfront ACV and moving on, they're invested in ensuring customers achieve deep, sustained value over time.

Allison Pickens (ex-Gainsight, Startup Advisor) has watched this evolution firsthand, and notes how changing pricing is changing entire business models for both upstarts and established incumbents, creating fascinating new team structures. At companies like Snowflake and dbt Labs, "the same AE and same SA work together from the initial deal through onboarding, expansion, and renewal. Together they own the Net New ARR target, with the AE responsible for pitching, closing, stakeholder alignment, and hunting for new upsell/cross-sell opportunities, and the SA working with practitioners on technical best practices."

Close alignment between pre-sales and post-sales activities follows naturally. No more throwing customers over the fence after the initial deal.

Pricing Models Dictate Revenue Org Structure

Your pricing model fundamentally determines your optimal GTM structure, and you can't ignore this relationship.

Seat-based pricing naturally leads to hunter-centric organizations focused on maximizing upfront ACV. The sales motion is relatively predictable. You identify decision makers, demonstrate value, negotiate terms, and close. Once the contract is signed, the relationship moves to a different team focused on renewals.

Consumption-based pricing requires something completely different. As Allison puts it: "The usage-based pricing model creates a shared responsibility across the entire company for revenue."

This shared responsibility is reshaping entire organizations. Product teams become directly accountable for driving usage growth (that feeds revenue), Customer Success teams shift from reactive support to proactive expansion, Marketing teams focus on activation and engagement beyond lead generation and enabling sales teams with the resources they need in the frontlines.

Companies adopting usage-based models find that traditional sales coverage models built from segmented accounts assigned to territories were designed for seat-based pricing, where the customer value and journey was relatively predictable. The new reality requires coverage models built around customer lifecycle stages and usage patterns.

If you’re revisiting your GTM structure and think we can help in anyway, I’d love to chat: cal.com/chandrika