What is an Account Executive?

An account executive is a mythological creature known for having the strength of Hercules, the courage of Athena, the cunning of Odysseus and the perseverance of Pheidippides (yes, the guy that invented marathons). 

Now that you know what an account executive is we can move on… 

In all seriousness, an Account Executive is a fancy title for what we used to know as a Sales rep. I guess the new title is less threatening and people don’t associate it with used car sales.

Traditionally an Account Executive is salesperson that works a territory that is provided to him/her. Normally, they are paid on what is known as an OTE model. What is an OTE you ask? Well, it means “On Target Earnings”. This means that they usually have a mix of fixed and variable compensation. We can find companies all over the map when it comes to the compensation distribution. Some will pay you all commissions with no base pay, while others will pay you all salary with no commissions (I have never understood that last one). Most successful companies are somewhere close to the 60/40 split, that means 60% base that you get no matter what and 40% variable or commissions depending directly on the business you win for the company. 

Their main responsibility is to bring home the bacon (or beans for my vegan friends). The territories they work normally have goals/quotas attached to them. The quotas are determined hopefully by a competent team that does thorough analysis of the territory- active accounts in it, whitespace accounts, marketing efforts to support the target, additional resources that will be provided, BDR/SDR/ADM support, historical market penetration/conversion rates, etc, etc. 

Now you know what an Account Executive is and that you don’t have to be afraid of them. If they are good, they will try to help everyone else do their jobs better by finding ways their products can add value to your business.