How to hire a national account executive

How to hire a national account executive, step by step

Here's a step-by-step national account executive hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a national account executive job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new national account executive
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a national account executive do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a national account executive, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A national account executive's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, national account executives from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   The following list breaks down different types of national account executives and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of National Account Executive	Description	Hourly rate
   National Account Executive		$22-58
   Account Manager	Account managers are employees who act as the bridge between the company they represent and the client of the company. They are assigned to handle specific clients so that the company will be able to tailor-fit any product or service according to the clients' requirements... Show more	$20-52
   Account Director	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... Show more	$39-75

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Customer Service
   • Healthcare
   • Account Management
   • PowerPoint
   • National Accounts
   • CRM
   • Business Relationships
   • Product Knowledge
   • Salesforce
   • Revenue Growth
   • Work Ethic
   • Customer Relationships
   • Business Development
   • POS

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage a customer relations management (CRM) system by inputting customer orders and information necessary to manage each account.
   • Use SalesForce to effective manage current relationships and new prospects.
   • Utilize SalesForce daily in order to effectively prospect and manage sales cycle.
   • Manage and negotiate contracts with large strategic IDNs while supporting GPO management.
   • Manage OEM relationship from a proactive consultative role proposing strategy and tactics for client base on research data and marketing/engagement metrics.
   • Maintain accounts utilizing a detail CRM database and continuous follow-ups.

   More national account executive duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your national account executive job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A national account executive salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, national account executives' average salary in mississippi is 48% less than in oregon.
   • Seniority. Entry-level national account executives earn 61% less than senior-level national account executives.
   • Certifications. A national account executive with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a national account executive's salary.

   Average national account executive salary

   $75,924yearly

   $36.50 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level national account executive salary

   $47,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 22, 2026

   Average national account executive salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$101,073	$49
   2	Oregon	$96,193	$46
   3	Washington	$93,964	$45
   4	New Jersey	$88,999	$43
   5	Nevada	$86,443	$42
   6	New York	$85,195	$41
   7	Illinois	$81,246	$39
   8	Virginia	$78,818	$38
   9	Connecticut	$78,274	$38
   10	Massachusetts	$77,584	$37
   11	Maryland	$75,546	$36
   12	North Carolina	$73,343	$35
   13	Colorado	$69,303	$33
   14	Florida	$65,796	$32
   15	Pennsylvania	$65,724	$32
   16	Hawaii	$64,982	$31
   17	Texas	$64,853	$31
   18	Georgia	$58,565	$28
   19	Iowa	$56,042	$27
   20	Tennessee	$54,623	$26

   Average national account executive salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Thumbtack	$138,872	$66.77	1
   2	Bristol-Myers Squibb	$125,541	$60.36	65
   3	NRG Energy	$121,205	$58.27
   4	Keurig Dr Pepper	$105,638	$50.79	84
   5	Green Mountain Coffee Roasters	$104,198	$50.10
   6	Elevance Health	$97,773	$47.01
   7	iHeartMedia	$96,658	$46.47	259
   8	Siemens	$96,121	$46.21	395
   9	HMSA	$95,498	$45.91	4
   10	Zurich	$93,280	$44.85	101
   11	The Travelers Companies	$93,097	$44.76	304
   12	Newsmax Media, Inc.	$90,779	$43.64
   13	HireVue	$90,761	$43.64
   14	Sentry	$90,238	$43.38	60
   15	VitalChek	$88,922	$42.75	59
   16	JCDecaux	$87,673	$42.15	5
   17	US Foods	$86,281	$41.48	65
   18	The Hartford	$84,881	$40.81	173
   19	USA Truck	$84,128	$40.45
   20	UnitedHealth Group	$83,721	$40.25	221

4. Writing a national account executive job description

   A good national account executive job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a national account executive job description:

   National account executive job description example

   Areas covered: Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, and Colorado.
   • Responsibilities/Essential Functions:
   
   THIS POSITION COULD BE BASED ANYWHERE IN THE U.S. The NATIONAL ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE will identify high profile national account opportunities, secure agreements for both rental and direct sale programs via the phone and in-person customer visits. Furthermore, this role will be responsible for providing ongoing customer service that supports Aramark's relationship with its national account customers; Support the mission and vision of the National Accounts Group and Aramark Uniform Services through aggressive end user prospecting and qualifying of potential customers; Build a viable prospect base consisting of end users that wear or have short, intermediate, or long term opportunities to wear uniforms/career apparel; Pursue Territory Saturation of Aramark Brand by building market with new installations and / or attaining market share by pursuing existing end user accounts from competitors. Identify ways to grow margin while identify process/cost improvements for customers; Attain annual quota on direct sale and rental new business; Update and maintain an electronic contact management system as well as provide reports on corporate accounts pursuits; Maintain awareness at all times of the contract status of all Fortune 1,000 Businesses and on-going contact in his/her territory; Generate monthly (activity level & results) reports; Attend trade shows / training sessions when necessary and coordinate and follow-up selected direct mail and calling programs; Identify local and regional sales opportunities and forward to appropriate sales person; Performs other duties as assigned or requested.
   
   • Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:
   
   Excellent verbal and written communication skills; Candidate must be located within his/her selling territory; No special physical requirements for this position.
   
   • Working Environment/Safety Requirements:
   
   • Experience:
   
   Five to seven years outside sales business-to-business (B2B) selling is required.
   
   • Travel Requirements:
   
   Candidate must be willing to travel up to 70% of the time.
   
   • Education:
   
   A Bachelor's Degree in Business or related field or equivalent experience is preferred.
   
   • License Requirements/ Certifications:
   
   Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities
   
   The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor's legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)
   
   Connect With Us!
   
   Not ready to apply? Connect with us for general consideration.
   
   Interested in this opportunity?
   
   ARAMARK is an EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION employer - Minority/Female/Disability/Veteran
   
   Aramark will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the Los Angeles Fair Chance ordinance.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find national account executives for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your national account executive job on Zippia to find and attract quality national account executive candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as salesjobs, salesheads, allretailjobs.com, sales trax.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit national account executives, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new national account executive

   Once you have selected a candidate for the national account executive position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new national account executive first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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