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Account planner vs account executive

The differences between account planners and account executives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, an account planner has an average salary of $71,823, which is higher than the $69,618 average annual salary of an account executive.

The top three skills for an account planner include digital marketing, media sales and nielsen. The most important skills for an account executive are customer service, CRM, and healthcare.

Account planner vs account executive overview

Account PlannerAccount Executive
Yearly salary$71,823$69,618
Hourly rate$34.53$33.47
Growth rate19%5%
Number of jobs82,798205,561
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 82%Bachelor's Degree, 78%
Average age3744
Years of experience6-

What does an account planner do?

An account planner is someone who works primarily with clients on how to improve their accounts, sales strategy, and marketing. The account planner creates, develops, and maintains clients' accounts to increase sales and make them profitable. Included in an account planner's task is to monitor competition, determine problems in the actual marketing campaign, provide insight into the market's status, and offer suggestions on how to improve. The account planner also communicates directly with the client and actively works with them to achieve success.

What does an account executive do?

An account executive is responsible for supporting existing clients, closing client deals, and developing sales strategies to increase the company's sales and satisfaction. An account executive must be competitive enough to keep up with the constant changes in the sales industry, including the high demands of digital marketing, a different approach to product advertising, effective negotiation, and presentation skills. An account executive also requires excellent communication skills for the successful acquisition of client accounts and immediately resolve possible complaints as they arise.

Account planner vs account executive salary

Account planners and account executives have different pay scales, as shown below.

Account PlannerAccount Executive
Average salary$71,823$69,618
Salary rangeBetween $48,000 And $107,000Between $44,000 And $109,000
Highest paying CityHarrison, NYPortland, OR
Highest paying stateDelawareOregon
Best paying companyGoogleHitachi Vantara
Best paying industryProfessionalFinance

Differences between account planner and account executive education

There are a few differences between an account planner and an account executive in terms of educational background:

Account PlannerAccount Executive
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 82%Bachelor's Degree, 78%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of GeorgiaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Account planner vs account executive demographics

Here are the differences between account planners' and account executives' demographics:

Account PlannerAccount Executive
Average age3744
Gender ratioMale, 38.6% Female, 61.4%Male, 57.2% Female, 42.8%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 5.0% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 12.0% Asian, 13.2% White, 64.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%Black or African American, 6.7% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 5.6% White, 66.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage10%5%

Differences between account planner and account executive duties and responsibilities

Account planner example responsibilities.

  • Guide production planning activities ranging from developing and revising production schedules, forecasting trends and customer demand, and managing logistics.
  • Direct inbound or outbound logistics operations, such as transportation or warehouse activities, safety performance, or logistics quality management.
  • Coordinate the quality control for clients' letters and mailings as well as ran data pulls and file selects for clients.

Account executive example responsibilities.

  • Create and manage Facebook and twitter accounts.
  • Have achieve Google certification for both SEM and SEO sales.
  • Lead proposal team in winning a $1MM RFP, turning around a key account relationship.
  • Manage all aspects of new FedEx implementations (automation set-up, operational support and training of customers).
  • Develop and manage networking, VoIP, IP/TV, video, cloud, wireless, and security/disaster recovery projects.
  • Source all leads by means of cold calling, leveraging linkedin, referrals, and upselling to existing customers.
  • Show more

Account planner vs account executive skills

Common account planner skills
  • Digital Marketing, 27%
  • Media Sales, 11%
  • Nielsen, 9%
  • Account Executives, 9%
  • PowerPoint, 4%
  • Creative Strategy, 3%
Common account executive skills
  • Customer Service, 9%
  • CRM, 6%
  • Healthcare, 5%
  • Sales Process, 5%
  • Salesforce, 4%
  • Work Ethic, 4%

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