What Is an Account Executive (And Does Your Company Need One)? Answers from the Front Lines

Account executives are the quarterbacks of the modern revenue organization. Part salesperson, part strategic advisor, part project manager, AEs play a critical role in not just closing new business, but retaining and expanding key accounts over the long term.

In fact, a study by Bain & Company found that a mere 5% boost in customer retention can increase profits by 25% to 95%. It‘s no surprise, then, that more and more companies are investing in their account executive teams as the key to driving predictable, sustainable growth.

But for all their importance, there‘s still a lot of confusion around what exactly account executives do, what skills they need to succeed, and when a company should hire one. In this guide, we‘ll demystify the AE role and give you the inside scoop on:

The key responsibilities of an account executive
Essential skills and traits of top performing AEs
When and why you should consider hiring an AE
Advice from leaders in the trenches on building a great AE team

By the end, you‘ll be armed with the knowledge you need to either take your own account executive career to the next level, or build out a rockstar AE function at your organization. Let‘s jump in.

Inside the Mind of an Account Executive

Account executives sit at the intersection of sales, customer success and project management. (Source: Close.com)

What does an account executive actually do? While the specifics vary, most AE roles revolve around four core responsibilities:

1. Closing new business

Account executives are often tasked with bringing in net new logos, particularly at smaller companies where lines blur between sales and account management. This involves:

Prospecting and qualifying inbound leads
Performing discovery and demos
Navigating procurement and legal requirements
Negotiating terms and getting contracts signed

Depending on deal size and complexity, closing a new account can take anywhere from a few weeks to many months. Enterprise AEs in particular need to be adept at managing long, complex sales cycles with many stakeholders.

2. Driving account growth

Once the ink is dry, an AE‘s job is just beginning. Now the real work starts – delivering value and expanding the account over time. This is where that trusted advisor status really comes into play. Growth activities include:

Conducting regular business reviews to understand the client‘s evolving needs
Identifying opportunities for upsells, cross-sells and package expansions
Developing account plans to hit increased revenue targets
Collaborating with service delivery teams to ensure the client is getting maximum value

According to a 2021 survey by Gainsight, 84% of companies now have a dedicated function for customer success and account growth. AEs play a key role here in partnering with CSMs to spot expansion opportunities.

3. Defending against churn

Of course, you can‘t grow accounts if you‘re losing them to churn or competitors. AEs have to play defense as well as offense. Retention activities include:

Monitoring product usage and adoption metrics
Quickly responding to support issues or escalations
Building strong relationships across the client organization
Reminding the customer of your value and ROI
Locking in successful renewals

Defending your book of business requires a mix of relationship skills, problem solving, and commercial savvy. You have to continually resell your customers on why they bought from you in the first place.

4. Providing strategic advice

Ultimately, an account executive‘s job is to make their clients as successful as possible. That means going above and beyond basic account maintenance to serve as a proactive, consultative partner. Some ways AEs add strategic value:

Sharing relevant industry news, research and best practices
Giving advice on how to get more value out of the product
Making introductions to helpful people and resources in your network
Partnering on the customer‘s long-term business strategy and goals

"The best AEs have deep knowledge of their customers‘ business and proactively bring them new ideas to help them hit their goals," says Tommy Jester, Director of Sales for North America at cloud phone system provider Aircall. "It‘s not about pitching, it‘s about serving as a trusted partner."

Skills of the Top 1% of Account Executives

So we know what account executives do – now let‘s look at what separates the best from the rest. After speaking with dozens of sales leaders and drawing on my own experience, I‘ve identified six critical traits top AEs share:

Business acumen – Successful AEs don‘t just understand their own product, they understand their customers‘ businesses inside and out. They can walk the walk and talk the talk. Killer AEs are voracious learners, absorbing information about their industry and applying it to help clients succeed.
Relationship building – AEs have to quickly build rapport and gain trust with economic buyers, influencers, and end users alike across a client organization. "Your ability to form genuine connections is arguably more important than your sales skills," notes Jester. Focus on being curious about your customers as people, not just a revenue target.
Entrepreneurial spirit – The best AEs think like business owners. They‘re always looking for creative solutions to customer challenges and aren‘t afraid to push back on the status quo. "I look for AEs who consistently bring new ideas to the table and are comfortable with ambiguity," says Naheed Bleecker, SVP of Sales at marketing analytics platform Singular.
Data & tech savvy – In the age of Big Data, account executives can‘t afford to be luddites. They have to be comfortable using CRM, business intelligence, and other tools to analyze account health, track leading indicators, and measure results. "If you can‘t pull your own reports or forecast pipeline, you‘re going to struggle," warns Jester.
Resilience – Even the best AEs face constant rejection, adversity and customer fire drills. The ones who rise to the top have the mental toughness to power through and stay focused on their goals. "So much of an AE‘s success comes down to their ability to maintain a positive attitude and keep plowing ahead no matter what obstacles crop up," says Byron Matthews, CEO of sales readiness platform MindTickle.
Coachability – Account executives never stop learning and growing. The best ones seek out feedback from their managers, peers and mentors and are always working to sharpen their skills. "I‘m looking for lifelong learners who are humble enough to acknowledge their gaps and put in the work to improve every day," says Bleecker.

Of course, this isn‘t an exhaustive list – qualities like strategic thinking, project management, and communication are important as well. But in my experience, these six traits are what really move the needle from good to great.

When to Hire Your First Account Executive

Okay, so we‘ve covered the what and the how of account executives. But what about the when and the why? When does it make sense to bring a dedicated AE on board, and what challenges should they be solving for your org?

Generally speaking, it‘s time to hire an account executive when:

You have a stable of valuable customers that need focused attention to grow and retain
Your deal sizes are increasing and sales cycles are getting more complex
Customer retention and growth are becoming critical to hitting your revenue goals
You need to provide a higher touch, more consultative sales process to land enterprise accounts
Your current sales reps or CSMs are stretched thin servicing existing accounts while still trying to hunt new logos

"The biggest mistakes I see companies make is waiting too long to hire AEs and letting valuable accounts languish or churn out," says Elay Cohen, CEO of revenue intelligence platform SalesHood. "If your CSMs are playing whack-a-mole and your sales reps are too busy chasing new logos to grow current customers, you needed an AE yesterday."

That being said, not every company is ready for a dedicated AE hire. You need a few things in place first:

A strong sales pipeline and steady stream of new business
Clearly defined account segments and coverage model
Documented sales and account management processes
Buttoned up CRM and account health tracking
Cross-functional alignment between sales, marketing, product and customer success

Hiring an AE too early before you have your ducks in a row can do more harm than good. "I‘ve seen AEs get thrown to the wolves without proper onboarding, clear account plans, or internal support," says Jester. "They end up flailing and either burning out or walking out."

Do an honest assessment of your maturity level before pulling the trigger. An account executive can move the needle, but they‘re not a panacea for broken processes or misalignment.

Building Your Account Executive A-Team

So you‘ve determined you‘re ready for your first account executive hire – congrats! How do you build out your AE function for success? Here are some tips from the experts:

Specialize for your segments

The hunters and farmers model is quickly going extinct in favor of specialized roles. "We‘ve seen a lot of success splitting our AE team between mid-market, enterprise, and strategic accounts," says Bleecker. "This allows each rep to focus on the unique needs and challenges of their segment."

Other companies choose to specialize AEs by product line, industry vertical, or sales motion (inbound vs. outbound, velocity vs. solution sale). The key is matching your AE structure to your specific business needs and target customer profiles.

Provide continuous enablement

Onboarding isn‘t a one-and-done activity for AEs – learning and development should be an ongoing process. "We invest heavily in both initial and continuous enablement for our account executives," says Jester. "That includes a mix of training sessions, call coaching, account plan reviews, and deal mentorship."

The best enablement programs blend together product training with industry and client knowledge, as well as soft skills like objection handling and storytelling. Don‘t just focus on features and functions – help your AEs build domain expertise and business acumen.

Set the right goals & incentives

You get what you pay for, so make sure your account executive compensation plan is aligned with your strategic priorities. "If you want your AEs to focus on retention, make sure a good chunk of their variable pay is tied to renewal rate or net revenue retention," advises Jester. "If growth is the priority, bake upsell and cross-sell targets into their quota."

Also consider setting team goals in addition to individual targets to foster collaboration and knowledge sharing. With the right carrots, your AEs will be motivated to balance both short-term wins and long-term client success.

Give them the right tools

Account management at scale requires more than just a spreadsheet and a phone. Equip your AEs with tools for:

CRM & deal management – Pipeline tracking, sales forecasting, reporting
Communication – Video conferencing, sales engagement, conversational intelligence
Business intelligence – Account health monitoring, revenue analytics
Content sharing – Sales collateral, email templates, proposal software
Productivity – Meeting scheduling, document signing, note taking

The less time your AEs spend on manual grunt work, the more time they can spend proactively planning and engaging with clients. Automate the low-value tasks so they can focus on the high-impact work.

Key Takeaways & Next Steps

We covered a lot of ground in this guide, so let‘s recap the key points:

Account executives are responsible for closing new business, driving account growth, defending against churn, and providing strategic advice to clients
Top performing AEs possess a mix of business acumen, relationship building skills, entrepreneurial spirit, data & tech savvy, resilience, and coachability
It‘s time to hire an AE when you have a stable of valuable accounts that need focused attention to grow and retain, and your current reps are stretched too thin
To set your AE team up for success, specialize roles around target segments, invest in continuous enablement, set the right goals and incentives, and provide the tools for success

If you‘re an aspiring or current AE, focus on honing the core skills we discussed and seeking out opportunities to take on more strategic account work. If you‘re a sales leader, take a hard look at your coverage model and org structure to determine if you have the right AE muscle in place to hit your retention and growth goals.

No matter where you‘re starting from, one thing is clear – account executives are becoming an increasingly critical part of the modern revenue organization. And with these tips in hand, you‘re well on your way to AE success.

What Is an Account Executive (And Does Your Company Need One)? Answers from the Front Lines