How To Hire An Account Executive
How To Hire An Account Executive
An Account Executive (AE) plays a pivotal role in driving revenue, nurturing client relationships, and closing deals. Whether you're expanding your sales team or launching a new product line, hiring the right AE is essential to fueling business growth and maintaining customer satisfaction. In today's competitive market, the best AEs blend relationship-building with sales strategy and know how to turn opportunities into long-term value.
Understanding The Role & Responsibilities
Account Executives are responsible for managing the full sales cycle, from prospecting to closing. They often act as the bridge between your company and its clients, identifying customer needs and delivering solutions that generate revenue and loyalty.
Typical responsibilities include:
- Prospecting and qualifying leads through outreach, referrals, or inbound interest
- Conducting discovery calls to assess client needs and pain points
- Presenting product demos and crafting tailored solutions
- Negotiating pricing, preparing proposals, and closing contracts
- Collaborating with customer success and marketing teams
- Meeting or exceeding sales quotas and KPIs
- Managing and expanding accounts through upselling or cross-selling
- Using CRM tools to track pipeline, activities, and forecasting
In some organizations, AEs may focus on new business, while in others, they manage existing accounts post-sale. It’s important to define your AE’s scope before hiring.
Skills To Look For In A Great Account Executive
Account Executives need more than just charm. They must be strategic thinkers, strong communicators, and disciplined performers.
Key skills to prioritize:
Sales Acumen & Closing Ability
AEs must know how to uncover needs, position solutions, handle objections, and close deals. Look for candidates with a consistent track record of meeting or exceeding quotas.
Relationship-Building
A successful AE develops trust and rapport with clients. They listen well, communicate clearly, and follow up reliably.
CRM & Pipeline Management
Familiarity with tools like Salesforce, HubSpot, or Outreach is essential. Strong AEs use these tools to manage complex sales cycles and forecast accurately.
Business & Product Knowledge
Top performers understand your product’s value and can translate technical features into customer outcomes. Industry knowledge is a plus.
Resilience & Adaptability
Sales comes with rejection. Look for candidates who bounce back quickly, iterate on feedback, and thrive in fast-paced environments.
Collaboration Skills
AEs work cross-functionally with marketing, operations, product, and customer success. Collaboration and internal communication are key.
Other Transferable Titles
If you're expanding your search, candidates with these titles may have the right skill set:
Sales Representative
Often focused on outbound outreach and early-stage sales, these professionals may be ready to own the full sales cycle as an AE.
Business Development Representative
BDRs generate leads and qualify prospects. Many are looking to grow into AE roles and already understand the sales process well.
Customer Success Manager
CSMs who’ve managed renewals or expanded existing accounts may bring a relationship-first approach to sales.
Marketing Specialist
Marketers with a strong understanding of buyer journeys and messaging may transition well into consultative selling roles.
Account Manager
Depending on the organization, Account Managers may have experience with post-sale relationship-building and upselling, skills that translate to AE work.
Interview Questions
Use these questions to evaluate candidates effectively:
- Walk me through a deal you closed from start to finish. What made it successful?
- How do you research and qualify leads before reaching out?
- Describe your approach to objection handling during a sales call.
- What CRM tools have you used, and how do you manage your pipeline?
- Tell me about a time you missed quota. What did you learn and change?
- How do you tailor your pitch based on different buyer personas?
- Describe your follow-up process after a demo or sales meeting.
- How do you collaborate with customer success or marketing to close deals?
These questions help uncover skills in closing, communication, process, and self-awareness.
Evaluating & Making The Final Decision
After the interview, consider:
- Sales results and quota attainment in past roles
- Ability to communicate value and adapt messaging
- Consistency in CRM and pipeline hygiene
- Fit with your target customers and sales motion
- Willingness to learn your product, market, and team dynamics
If possible, ask candidates to role-play a discovery call or pitch your product. This provides insight into their preparation, communication, and consultative style.
When checking references, ask about reliability, performance under pressure, and relationship-building strengths.
Partner With Premier
Hiring an Account Executive is about more than filling a sales seat. It’s about finding someone who will drive growth, elevate your brand, and represent your company with integrity.
At Premier, we specialize in connecting companies with experienced AEs who bring both hustle and heart to their work. Whether you need someone to build a book of business from scratch or expand existing accounts, we’ll help you find the right fit fast.
Let Premier help you hire your next revenue-driving AE. Contact us today.
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