Inside account executive vs inside sales specialist

The differences between inside account executives and inside sales specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an inside account executive and an inside sales specialist. Additionally, an inside account executive has an average salary of $77,391, which is higher than the $50,944 average annual salary of an inside sales specialist.

The top three skills for an inside account executive include customer service, inbound calls and CRM. The most important skills for an inside sales specialist are customer service, CRM, and sales process.

Inside account executive vs inside sales specialist overview

	Inside Account Executive	Inside Sales Specialist
Yearly salary	$77,391	$50,944
Hourly rate	$37.21	$24.49
Growth rate	4%	4%
Number of jobs	161,659	251,423
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 83%	Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	4	4

What does an inside account executive do?

Inside account executives are management professionals who are responsible for contacting and influencing prospective customers to optimize business outcomes. These executives must ensure customer satisfaction and account retention by providing superior customer service within active accounts to promote business growth. They are required to work with internal teams to manage and improve the operational inside sales process. Inside account executives must also provide a sales-related solution that utilizes sources of information so that they can resolve customer product issues.

What does an inside sales specialist do?

An inside sales specialist is primarily responsible for securing sales by reaching out to clients to sell products and services. They may communicate with customers through calls and correspondence or personally recommend products in a retail store setting. Moreover, they are also responsible for responding to inquiries or concerns, identifying the customers' needs, devising strategies to find sales opportunities, and discussing products to customers. An inside sales specialist is often required to meet sales goals and report to managers should there be any issues or problems.

Inside account executive vs inside sales specialist salary

Inside account executives and inside sales specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Inside Account Executive	Inside Sales Specialist
Average salary	$77,391	$50,944
Salary range	Between $47,000 And $125,000	Between $34,000 And $75,000
Highest paying City	-	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	-	Washington
Best paying company	-	Keller Williams Greater Seattle
Best paying industry	-	Real Estate

Differences between inside account executive and inside sales specialist education

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

	Inside Account Executive	Inside Sales Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 83%	Bachelor's Degree, 69%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	SUNY College of Technology at Alfred

Inside account executive vs inside sales specialist demographics

Here are the differences between inside account executives' and inside sales specialists' demographics:

	Inside Account Executive	Inside Sales Specialist
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 60.5% Female, 39.5%	Male, 52.0% Female, 48.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.9% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.3% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 13.9% Asian, 5.1% White, 73.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between inside account executive and inside sales specialist duties and responsibilities

Inside account executive example responsibilities.

Operate Salesforce and manage opportunities accordingly.
Maintain all inside sales activities with CRM tools to track success and report metrics to management.
Account analysis and preparation, assessing customer needs, and preparation of professional sales recommendations tailor to each customer s business.
Present Groupon as a unique way to attract new customers and design specific features base around their needs.

Inside sales specialist example responsibilities.

Manage individual sales activities by developing highly effective, communications focuse relationship with multiple sales channels.
Present presentations to potential clients through Microsoft PowerPoint.
Maintain and update assigned territory through SalesLogix CRM program.
Revise and update CRM database to ensure accurate customer information.
Operate as inside sales consultant, primarily in areas of customer relations, sales/service support, coordinating production and transportation scheduling
Call on corporate counsel, c-level executives and law firms to sell solutions with traditional litigation support.

Inside account executive vs inside sales specialist skills

Common inside account executive skills

Customer Service, 13%
Inbound Calls, 8%
CRM, 8%
Sales Process, 7%
Customer Satisfaction, 6%
Salesforce, 4%

Common inside sales specialist skills

Customer Service, 13%
CRM, 7%
Sales Process, 5%
Work Ethic, 5%
Product Knowledge, 5%
Outbound Calls, 4%

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Inside Account Executive
Inside Account Executive vs Inside Sales Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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