Account director vs business development director

The differences between account directors and business development directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-8 years to become an account director, becoming a business development director takes usually requires 8-10 years. Additionally, a business development director has an average salary of $117,784, which is higher than the $114,728 average annual salary of an account director.

The top three skills for an account director include account management, project management and work ethic. The most important skills for a business development director are healthcare, CRM, and patients.

Account director vs business development director overview

	Account Director	Business Development Director
Yearly salary	$114,728	$117,784
Hourly rate	$55.16	$56.63
Growth rate	5%	10%
Number of jobs	132,260	153,601
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 80%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Average age	46	39
Years of experience	8	10

What does an account director do?

An account director is responsible for managing client accounts, monitoring budgets, and sales forecasting. Their goal is to maintain stable account management strategies, meet clients' demands, develop healthy professional partnerships that would generate revenues, increase profitability, and achieve the organization's long-term goals objectives. Account directors supervise the account management staff, ensuring the project's successful completion with the highest efficiency and accuracy. An account director also plans training programs to maximize their performance and productivity, especially when dealing with deadlines and clients' requests.

What does a business development director do?

A business development director specializes in crafting plans and strategies to develop the relationship between the brand, clients, and other key characters in the industry. It is their responsibility to examine and understand everything about the brand and figure out which areas require improvement or changes. They must also conduct a thorough marketing analysis and remain updated on the latest trends in the market to identify new opportunities that would improve customer satisfaction. Furthermore, they must also communicate with all clients, even appear on public gatherings to strengthen brand awareness.

Account director vs business development director salary

Account directors and business development directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Account Director	Business Development Director
Average salary	$114,728	$117,784
Salary range	Between $82,000 And $158,000	Between $72,000 And $192,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	New Jersey	New Mexico
Best paying company	BuzzFeed	alliantgroup
Best paying industry	Professional	Finance

Differences between account director and business development director education

There are a few differences between an account director and a business development director in terms of educational background:

	Account Director	Business Development Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 80%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Southern California	University of Georgia

Account director vs business development director demographics

Here are the differences between account directors' and business development directors' demographics:

	Account Director	Business Development Director
Average age	46	39
Gender ratio	Male, 50.9% Female, 49.1%	Male, 72.3% Female, 27.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	7%	10%

Differences between account director and business development director duties and responsibilities

Account director example responsibilities.

Manage coordination with HCP agencies for launch.
Manage the development and creation of print and broadcast advertising and in-store merchandising.
Manage relationships with all GPO pharmacy, medical device, and physician preference teams.
Manage client accounts as well as introducing cross selling into other verticals to increase the portfolio.
Manage RFP / RFI process and drive all opportunities that provide a consultative, long-term solution and support.
Increase clients SEO rankings and achieve first page placement both locally and nationally for highly search phrases for a client.

Business development director example responsibilities.

Create and manage business development, government affairs and public relations initiatives to achieve growth objectives for this correctional healthcare company.
Achieve access to SVP level resulting in significant new business.
Manage network services, e-ticketing and packaging solutions, CRM solutions, message management, and e-provisioning/identity management/security solutions.
Lead centralized, electronic referral center coordinating post-acute service needs of patients discharging from multiple acute facilities in Arizona region.
Track all sales and marketing activities using a CRM program and analyze data to optimize business development approach and management
Collaborate with the marketing team to ensure laser focuse messages at all conferences and trade shows ensuring competitive logistics solution offerings.

Account director vs business development director skills

Common account director skills

Account Management, 9%
Project Management, 7%
Work Ethic, 7%
Healthcare, 7%
Digital Marketing, 5%
Email Marketing, 4%

Common business development director skills

Healthcare, 9%
CRM, 5%
Patients, 4%
Customer Relationships, 4%
Account Management, 4%
Project Management, 4%

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Account Director
Account Director vs Business Development Director

Updated January 8, 2025

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