every few weeks i see someone in a sales offer thread conflate base and OTE. going to say this plainly: they are completely different negotiation problems and you need different leverage on each.
base salary
this is what you're paid regardless of quota attainment. it's your floor, your 401k match basis, your loan application number. negotiate this like any other salary: anchor to market, cite specific comps, ask for a number and wait.
for AE roles in 2026, enterprise AE base in NYC/SF runs roughly 120-160k depending on company size and deal complexity. mid-market is lower. if they come in under band, you counter with data.
OTE
this is where it gets messier. OTE is a promise that depends on: whether the territory is real and actually dialed in whether the quota is actually achievable (ask for the team's average attainment last 4 quarters) whether the comp plan has accelerators at 100%+
you can negotiate OTE upward, but if quota attainment on the team is 65%, a higher OTE number is a fantasy. the more important negotiation here is asking them to show you the attainment data. if they won't, that's your answer.
what i push on first
base, because it's guaranteed. then i ask for the comp plan doc before i sign. not a summary, the actual plan. i want to see when accelerators kick in, how clawbacks work, what happens to in-progress deals if i leave.
then i ask "what did median AE attainment look like last year?"
if the number is below 80%, i negotiate base higher because i'm not banking on OTE.
had an offer a couple years ago where they wouldn't show me attainment data. walked. turned out the quota was notoriously unachievable. saved myself a year of stress.
negotiating a sales comp package is a 3-document job: offer letter, comp plan, territory map. get all three before you sign.