Outside account executive vs outside sales

The differences between outside account executives and outside sales can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, an outside account executive has an average salary of $81,372, which is higher than the $77,292 average annual salary of an outside sales.

The top three skills for an outside account executive include marketing campaigns, salesforce and sales presentations. The most important skills for an outside sales are customer service, product knowledge, and ongoing support.

Outside account executive vs outside sales overview

	Outside Account Executive	Outside Sales
Yearly salary	$81,372	$77,292
Hourly rate	$39.12	$37.16
Growth rate	4%	4%
Number of jobs	185,399	333,400
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Average age	44	47
Years of experience	-	4

What does an outside account executive do?

An outside account executive is in charge of developing strategies to secure sales in the field, aiming to reach sales targets and client satisfaction. To carry out their duties, they must research client and business opportunities, reach out to clients through face to face interactions, offer products and services, explain product specifications, and process payments. They may also perform product demonstrations, arrange payment plans, and negotiate contracts, building positive relationships with clients along the way. Moreover, an outside account executive must produce regular sales and account reports, updating managers as required.

What does an outside sales do?

An outside sales representative is responsible for generating the company's sales and revenues by offering goods and services to existing and potential clients, responding to the customers' inquiries and concerns about the products, and researching on possible leads. Outside sales representatives monitor the current industry trends to identify new business opportunities that would help the business adjust to market changes to achieve profitability goals. An outside sales representative must have excellent communication and customer service skills, immediately resolving complaints and assisting on marketing promotions to gain sales prospects.

Outside account executive vs outside sales salary

Outside account executives and outside sales have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Outside Account Executive	Outside Sales
Average salary	$81,372	$77,292
Salary range	Between $51,000 And $127,000	Between $56,000 And $104,000
Highest paying City	-	Arlington, VA
Highest paying state	-	New Hampshire
Best paying company	-	Morgan Stanley
Best paying industry	-	Manufacturing

Differences between outside account executive and outside sales education

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

	Outside Account Executive	Outside Sales
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 76%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	SUNY College of Technology at Alfred

Outside account executive vs outside sales demographics

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

	Outside Account Executive	Outside Sales
Average age	44	47
Gender ratio	Male, 61.7% Female, 38.3%	Male, 78.3% Female, 21.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.0% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 14.8% Asian, 5.7% White, 68.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.3% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	5%	6%

Differences between outside account executive and outside sales duties and responsibilities

Outside account executive example responsibilities.

Manage all aspects of tactical implementations, including creative and technical development, measurement, reporting and ROI analysis.
Account analysis and preparation, assessing customer needs, and preparation of professional sales recommendations tailor to each customer s business.
Supervise and coordinate the daily activities of manufacturers representatives engage in promoting and selling roofing products.

Outside sales example responsibilities.

Plan logistical outside sales route, planned/schedule sales calls with web-base CRM program, manage various sales cycles.
Manage and create all content distribute via various social media outlets: Facebook, twitter, feedback blogs, etc.
Perfect the craft of upselling customers.
Prepare material estimates/bids for houses, windows, doors, trusses, etc.
Increase existing customer base and generate new dealer and customer relationships within the HVAC equipment and sales.
Estimate, price, bid and follow up to all mechanical HVAC and plumbing plan and spec projects.

Outside account executive vs outside sales skills

Common outside account executive skills

Marketing Campaigns, 24%
Salesforce, 22%
Sales Presentations, 19%
Client Relationships, 17%
Cold Calls, 4%
SEO, 3%

Common outside sales skills

Customer Service, 30%
Product Knowledge, 9%
Ongoing Support, 4%
Work Ethic, 4%
CRM, 4%
Flyers, 4%

Outside Account Executive vs. similar jobs

Outside Account Executive related careers

Outside Account Executive related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Sales Industry
Outside Account Executive
Outside Account Executive vs Outside Sales

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse sales jobs