Outside sales executive vs account executive

The differences between outside sales executives and account executives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, an outside sales executive has an average salary of $71,981, which is higher than the $69,618 average annual salary of an account executive.

The top three skills for an outside sales executive include customer service, CRM and account management. The most important skills for an account executive are customer service, CRM, and healthcare.

Outside sales executive vs account executive overview

	Outside Sales Executive	Account Executive
Yearly salary	$71,981	$69,618
Hourly rate	$34.61	$33.47
Growth rate	4%	5%
Number of jobs	249,969	205,561
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 75%	Bachelor's Degree, 78%
Average age	47	44
Years of experience	4	-

What does an outside sales executive do?

An outside sales executive is primarily in charge of spearheading and overseeing the sales procedures in an organization. Their responsibilities typically revolve around setting goals and objectives, establishing guidelines, liaising with key clients, and developing strategies to develop strong business relationships with customers and other external parties. Furthermore, as an outside sales executive, it is essential to lead and encourage the workforce to reach goals while implementing the company's policies and regulations, creating new ones as needed.

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.

Outside sales executive vs account executive salary

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

	Outside Sales Executive	Account Executive
Average salary	$71,981	$69,618
Salary range	Between $49,000 And $104,000	Between $44,000 And $109,000
Highest paying City	Seattle, WA	Portland, OR
Highest paying state	Washington	Oregon
Best paying company	Marshberry	Hitachi Vantara
Best paying industry	Technology	Finance

Differences between outside sales executive and account executive education

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

	Outside Sales Executive	Account Executive
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 75%	Bachelor's Degree, 78%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	SUNY College of Technology at Alfred	University of Pennsylvania

Outside sales executive vs account executive demographics

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

	Outside Sales Executive	Account Executive
Average age	47	44
Gender ratio	Male, 65.4% Female, 34.6%	Male, 57.2% Female, 42.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 13.9% Asian, 5.1% White, 73.3% 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 Percentage	6%	5%

Differences between outside sales executive and account executive duties and responsibilities

Outside sales executive example responsibilities.

Manage a team of 15-25 ISE's through effective sales coaching, call monitoring and creating sales spiff programs.
Sell SaaS B2B for leading cloud-base expense management provider.
Track all sales activity within the company database and SalesLogix, a CRM software program.
Maintain CRM and provide assistance in customer's needs, including engine, chassis and transmission parts.
Perform regular sales visits throughout assign territory to develop relationship with independent grocery and convenient stores.
Assist MRO organizations in composite shop design and organization.

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.

Outside sales executive vs account executive skills

Common outside sales executive skills

Customer Service, 16%
CRM, 12%
Account Management, 7%
Business Sales, 6%
Cold Calls, 6%
Business Solutions, 4%

Common account executive skills

Customer Service, 9%
CRM, 6%
Healthcare, 5%
Sales Process, 5%
Salesforce, 4%
Work Ethic, 4%

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Outside Sales Executive
Outside Sales Executive vs Account Executive

Updated January 8, 2025

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