Account Executive Job Description
Table of Contents
An Account Executive is a salesperson who manages the long-term relationship with existing clients to drive vertical sales growth while simultaneously looking for and closing new business. Successful Account Executives act as a link between their own organization and the clients and focus on maintaining communication and relationships with the clients, as well as communicating their desires to the rest of the team.
At the same time, the Account Executive is responsible for filling and maintaining a pipeline of new leads, then converting as many of those new leads as possible into clients. This is a difficult tightrope to walk, as the Account Executive must find a balance between finding new business and maintaining existing clients, so they don’t jump ship.
The work environment for an Account Executive may be office-based but will often involve a lot of face-to-face meetings with clients. The role may also potentially be a remote one, with only weekly or monthly office visits for team meetings.
Similar Job Titles:
Sales Executive, Account Manager, Account Representative, Relationship Manager, Client Advisor, Client Manager, Client Executive
What Does an Account Executive Typically Do?
An Account Executive will maintain and grow business with existing clients while at the same time acquiring new prospects and converting them. This will mean a division of time between working with the existing client base and prospecting, with each activity being equally important.
On the client maintenance and growth side, the Account Executive must understand the clients’ businesses well enough to be able to proactively offer solutions, enhancements, and upsells to increase revenue from the clients. This is achieved through regular meetings, asking the right questions, and building a body of knowledge about the clients’ organizations. In addition, the Account Executive must be on hand to solve problems and ensure consistent good service to the clients.
On the new business side, the Account Executive must cold-call, farm leads, and network to develop and maintain a full pipeline of new prospects to be converted into clients.
In short, the Account Executive must perform the following tasks:
- Track the performance of each current client to identify opportunities and set targets
- Develop sales strategies and tactics to close performance gaps
- Hold regular meetings with all current clients to review business, seek growth opportunities and propose incremental sales
- Solve client problems
- Generate new business leads
- Contact and meet with prospects and close new business deals
- Generate daily, weekly, and monthly sales reports
- Prepare an annual sales plan
Track Performance
This involves an analysis of all the organization’s key sales metrics (turnover, GP, budget spend, lost sales etc.) to trend client performance and set targets for future sales.
Develop Strategies and Tactics
Based on the above analysis, this involves determining which strategy will most likely work and then drawing up an action plan to either maintain client sales growth or correct sales losses.
Hold Regular Client Meetings
The Account Executive must meet each client for a business review according to a planned sales cycle. In many cases, the frequency will be determined by the client’s current size and importance, as well as their potential for future growth.
Solve Client Problems
The Account Executive must be the FPOC (First Point Of Contact) for all issues and must be prepared to take ownership of their resolution.
Generate New Business Leads
This involves trawling the web, using search tools, networks, and contacts to generate qualified leads who may be interested in the company’s products or services. These leads must be captured and segregated into hot, warm, and cold leads. Each of these segregations will be contacted in a specific way to secure face-to-face meetings and close deals.
Contact and Meet With Prospects and Close New Business Deals
This is fairly self-explanatory, and is the bread-and-butter sales role, demanding perseverance, organization, discipline, and dedication.
Generate Sales Reports
The Account Executive is responsible for noting, tracking, and reporting on all sales activities, ensuring that issues can be preemptively addressed, long-term performance trended,and fact-based plans drawn up.
Prepare an Annual Sales Plan
Using sales metrics, trends, and analysis, The Account Executive must prepare an annual sales plan identifying opportunities, setting targets, proposing strategies, and listing tactics to reach goals. This must be presented to management, and then delivered upon.
Roles an Account Executive Typically Collaborates With
An Account Executive will most often work alongside the following roles:
| Sales Manager | Project Manager | Marketing Manager |
| Sales Director | Brand Manager | Sales Coordinator |
| Product Manager | Business Development Manager | Sales Representative |
Account Executive Salary
The national average salary for an Account Executive will typically be between $63,000 and $117,000 per annum in the U.S. The median is around $90,833.
What Is the Account Executive Pay Difference by Location?
Average salaries for an Account Executive differ by location as follows:
| City | Average Salary |
| San Francisco, CA | $113,533 |
| Seattle, WA | $99,313 |
| Denver, CO | $91,853 |
| Austin, TX | $89,333 |
| Washington, DC | $101,103 |
| Milwaukee, WI | $89,893 |
| Boston, MA | $102,333 |
| New York, NY | $109,263 |
What Is the Account Executive Pay Difference by Experience Level?
Depending on experience, pay will vary as follows:
| Experience Level | Average Salary |
| < 1 year | $86,075 |
| 1–4 years | $89,319 |
| 5–9 years | $94,961 |
| 10–19 years | $95,993 |
| 20+ years | $95,993 |
Account Executive Job Description Template
[Company Name] is looking for a professional, experienced, and talented Account Executive to join our team and grow sales.
Your job as an Account Executive at [Company Name] will be to develop existing client relationships to deliver vertical growth while also harnessing new business. You will be joining a strong team of sales achievers who thrive on long term, mutually beneficial relationships with our clients.
You’ll be working closely with existing clients to understand their needs, develop proposals that are appropriate and profitable, and achieve buy-in to your proposals. In addition, you will be finding and onboarding new clients. This is a target-driven, fast-paced opportunity that requires energy, enthusiasm, and a passion for sales.
The Account Executive’s Tasks
- Working with clients to understand their needs and deliver perfect solutions
- Developing client relationships to find and secure new business opportunities
- Being the first point of contact for your account base
- Prospecting for and finding new clients while maintaining existing ones
- Reporting on and planning your activities to ensure maximum efficiency
- Representing our organization and what it stands for
Required Skill Set
The Account Executive should possess the following qualifications, skills, and attributes:
- Excellent consultative sales skills
- Negotiation skills
- Focus on client needs while safeguarding volume and profit for their own organization
- Perseverance
- Excellent communication and presentation skills
- Strong product knowledge
- In-depth business understanding
- Knowledge of MS Office, particularly Excel
- Analytical and planning skill
- Self-discipline and time management skills