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 –

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.

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.

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:

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:

Although a particular sales position may sound attractive, most job descriptions don't tell you much about a day in the life of a role.

The job description may allude to the type of software you'll be using or include a broad description of responsibilities but they usually don't provide enough detail.

But you must understand how you'll be spending your time before you apply for an AE position. So, what does an account executive do?

An account executives day is anything but boring. It is action-packed and non-stop from start to finish. No two days are exactly the same, but an AE typically starts their day early, around 7:30 AM, and ends around 4:30 PM with a few off-hours activities as well.

An account executive's day includes tasks like :

Then there are internal meetings sprinkled throughout their weekly and monthly schedules, including weekly departmental kick-offs, team meetings, and one-on-ones with their manager.

Plus, there may be after-hours activities to handle, such as networking events or calling executives at the end of their days around 7 or 8 PM

Most highly successful AEs carefully plan their schedules and employ time-blocking to efficiently use their time to ensure productivity. Time blocking is where you block out specific parts of your calendar to complete a particular task.

If you've been looking at job postings, you may be wondering if an AE is the same as an AM. Although they both work directly with customers, AEs often are responsible for converting potential clients into new customers.

In some organizations, Account Managers take over the customer support role from an Account Executive. But in other companies, an AE will continue to work with prospects after they become paying customers.

An account executive needs a wide range of skills to succeed, such as:

These skills are essential as AEs encounter various personalities while striving to meet buyer expectations and hit monthly or quarterly revenue targets.

Clearly important for anyone on a job search for an AE role, account executives are typically paid a base salary plus commissions. According to the Bridge Group, the average base salary for an AE is $66 thousand with on-target earnings (OTE) or an estimated annual income of $132 thousand per year. This estimated amount is reached when quota targets are hit.

Of course, these are averages, and an AE's salary varies based on industry, organization, and geography. According to Glassdoor, account executive salaries can start as low as $35 thousand a year.

Each time you apply for an account executive role, you should customize your resume to ensure your wording aligns with what the potential employer is looking for. When you take the time to do this, the preliminary screening software won't disqualify your resume for lacking specific keywords or skills.

For example, if a job description mentions the same skill several times, then chances are that will be one of the skills the Applicant Tracking Software (ATS) will be looking for. And if your resume doesn't include it you could be prescreened out before the hiring manager ever sees your resume.

Of course, you want to be honest about your skills, but if you possess the skills designated in the job posting and don't list them on your resume, you'll miss out. On the other hand, don't go overboard when listing skills on your resume.

Listing more than your top five – 10 skills could also be a red flag to the hiring manager or recruiter reviewing your resume. So, which account executive skills should you include on your resume? Some of the most common skills employers look for on AE resumes:

There are many ways to get account executive jobs. First, it helps to have a bachelor's degree or more in business administration, marketing, communications, or public relations.

A common way to become an account executive is to gain experience and develop contacts in an entry-level role, such as a sales representative or account coordinator. Then you can transition into an account executive role from there. For example, some organizations have junior account executives who work underneath a senior account executive. And if you excel in that role, you'll be able to advance through the account executive ranks.

The post What Does An Account Executive Do? (A Day In The Life) appeared first on Salesman.com.