What Does An Account Executive Do? (A Day In The Life)

Sales is a popular career choice, with over 14 million of the 147.7 million employed US citizens holding Sales and Related Occupations. That's almost 9.5% of US workers! Of course, there are a wide variety of sales positions available. These include retail, automobile, insurance, real estate, advertising, and inside sales. And there are many different sales titles too, such as – * Sales development rep (SDR) * Account executive (AE) * Account manager (AM) If you're considering getting into sales, it's best to understand these positions so you can figure out where you fit in. And since there is an average of 2.6 AEs for every SDR, you may see more job postings for this position. So, let's take a look at what an Account Executive does day-to-day. What is an account executive? Account executives are part of a sales team. It is a job title found primarily at advertising agencies, public relations firms, financial services companies, and technology companies. Responsibilities for account executives vary from company to company. Some are primarily responsible for building great relationships with potential customers and closing business for their organization. Other account executives support existing client accounts to manage, grow, and renew those accounts. And some account executives are responsible for both closing new business and managing existing accounts. Although they are called executives, they're not executives in the traditional sense because they don't typically manage a team. Instead, they represent the company as the primary company contact for new and existing clients. What does an account executive do? An account executives duties vary depending on the specific business and industry they work in. For example, if they're responsible for closing new business and managing existing accounts, activities they engage in include: * Negotiating and closing business with new customers. * Retaining existing customers by supporting them and developing strong client relationships. * Growing existing customer accounts to increase revenue. * Coordinating all tasks related to their accounts. * Identifying new potential clients for the company. * Developing sales strategies based on industry trends and data. * Guiding potential customers through the buying process. * Preparing for and attending client meetings, including discovery calls, product demos, and presentations. What is a typical account executive job description? The ideal candidate for an Account Executive position can identify and attract new potential customers. Then they need to close the business, onboard new clients, and manage the customer relationship moving forward. This involves selling and relationship-building skills to maintain and grow customer business for the company. Additional details you might see in a typical account executive job description include: * Educate and guide prospects throughout the buying process * Manage a pipeline of qualified leads and build relationships with prospective customers * Work with existing assigned accounts to retain and grow their business * Close business with new and existing customers while meeting designated targets * Work collaboratively with marketing and product teams to develop sales strategies for new and existing products * Project management experience for senior account executive roles can be requested as well. An Account Executive's day-to-day routine Although a particular sales position may sound attractive, most job descriptions don't tell you much about a day in the life of a r...