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National account specialist vs account executive

The differences between national account specialists and account executives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, an account executive has an average salary of $69,618, which is higher than the $44,370 average annual salary of a national account specialist.

The top three skills for a national account specialist include national accounts, business development and customer expectations. The most important skills for an account executive are customer service, CRM, and healthcare.

National account specialist vs account executive overview

National Account SpecialistAccount Executive
Yearly salary$44,370$69,618
Hourly rate$21.33$33.47
Growth rate4%5%
Number of jobs102,414205,561
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 65%Bachelor's Degree, 78%
Average age4744
Years of experience4-

What does a national account specialist do?

A national account specialist is an individual whose specialty is reaching out to potential customers nationally, as well as serving the existing customers and closing sales. Responsibilities of this position include maintaining good relationships with customers, analyzing sales statistics, projecting expected sales, and preparing budgets. They sometimes work only on specific accounts and customers. A national account specialist must work with other departments to define sales strategies and to increase the company's revenue.

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.

National account specialist vs account executive salary

National account specialists and account executives have different pay scales, as shown below.

National Account SpecialistAccount Executive
Average salary$44,370$69,618
Salary rangeBetween $27,000 And $72,000Between $44,000 And $109,000
Highest paying City-Portland, OR
Highest paying state-Oregon
Best paying company-Hitachi Vantara
Best paying industry-Finance

Differences between national account specialist and account executive education

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

National Account SpecialistAccount Executive
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 65%Bachelor's Degree, 78%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeSUNY College of Technology at AlfredUniversity of Pennsylvania

National account specialist vs account executive demographics

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

National Account SpecialistAccount Executive
Average age4744
Gender ratioMale, 41.5% Female, 58.5%Male, 57.2% Female, 42.8%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.0% Asian, 5.1% White, 73.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%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 Percentage6%5%

Differences between national account specialist and account executive duties and responsibilities

National account specialist example responsibilities.

  • Manage billings to include: communicate and solve issues for bills in error; setup customers for billing EDI and EIP.
  • Manage a portfolio of accounts end to end RFP program execution inclusive of pricing, contracting, process and technology solutions.
  • Administer a high volume of inbound EDI orders for quality and timeliness.
  • Utilize knowledge of state/government funding to implement into the various state-fund and Medicaid contracts.
  • Verify Medicaid eligibility and other health insurance policies, process patient registration, and update patient demographic information.
  • Interview incoming patients, his/her relatives, or other responsible individuals to obtain identifying and biographical information with insurance and financial information
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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.
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National account specialist vs account executive skills

Common national account specialist skills
  • National Accounts, 33%
  • Business Development, 16%
  • Customer Expectations, 7%
  • Outbound Calls, 6%
  • Account Management, 5%
  • Process Improvement, 4%
Common account executive skills
  • Customer Service, 9%
  • CRM, 6%
  • Healthcare, 5%
  • Sales Process, 5%
  • Salesforce, 4%
  • Work Ethic, 4%