Retail account executive vs account director

The differences between retail account executives and account directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-8 years to become both a retail account executive and an account director. Additionally, an account director has an average salary of $114,728, which is higher than the $70,523 average annual salary of a retail account executive.

The top three skills for a retail account executive include customer service, sales objectives and sales process. The most important skills for an account director are account management, project management, and work ethic.

Retail account executive vs account director overview

	Retail Account Executive	Account Director
Yearly salary	$70,523	$114,728
Hourly rate	$33.91	$55.16
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	167,927	132,260
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 80%
Average age	46	46
Years of experience	8	8

What does a retail account executive do?

Retail account executives, also referred to as account handlers, work in almost all fields in a retail store or company to help find leads, close deals with customers, formulate strategies to sell slow-moving products, and communicate product value to customers. Their duties and responsibilities include compiling and analyzing data to find trends, providing support to clients by finding out what they are looking for, and handling complaints and negotiations.

What does an account director do?

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. Account directors supervise the account management staff, ensuring the project's successful completion with the highest efficiency and accuracy. An account director also plans training programs to maximize their performance and productivity, especially when dealing with deadlines and clients' requests.

Retail account executive vs account director salary

Retail account executives and account directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Retail Account Executive	Account Director
Average salary	$70,523	$114,728
Salary range	Between $52,000 And $94,000	Between $82,000 And $158,000
Highest paying City	-	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	-	New Jersey
Best paying company	-	BuzzFeed
Best paying industry	-	Professional

Differences between retail account executive and account director education

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

	Retail Account Executive	Account Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 73%	Bachelor's Degree, 80%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Southern California	University of Southern California

Retail account executive vs account director demographics

Here are the differences between retail account executives' and account directors' demographics:

	Retail Account Executive	Account Director
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 49.6% Female, 50.4%	Male, 50.9% Female, 49.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between retail account executive and account director duties and responsibilities

Retail account executive example responsibilities.

Manage inter-company reconciliations, corporate credit card reconciliations, expense reports and purchase order approvals.
Manage retail accounting month-end processes, including account reconciliations and retail sales tax reporting and compliance, ensuring data integrity.
Process accounts payable, accounts receivables and payroll transactions, and monitor collection activity within compliance of SOX utilizing customize software.
Serve as primary troubleshooter for all retail systems (process, POS issues, etc .).
Provide informational technology functions and support to vendor partner location such as: kiosk and computer POS setup.
Approach customers, upselling the benefits of an alternative, mobile Internet solutions.

Account director example responsibilities.

Manage coordination with HCP agencies for launch.
Manage the development and creation of print and broadcast advertising and in-store merchandising.
Manage relationships with all GPO pharmacy, medical device, and physician preference teams.
Manage client accounts as well as introducing cross selling into other verticals to increase the portfolio.
Manage RFP / RFI process and drive all opportunities that provide a consultative, long-term solution and support.
Increase clients SEO rankings and achieve first page placement both locally and nationally for highly search phrases for a client.

Retail account executive vs account director skills

Common retail account executive skills

Customer Service, 24%
Sales Objectives, 7%
Sales Process, 6%
Sales Associates, 5%
PowerPoint, 5%
Cold Calls, 5%

Common account director skills

Account Management, 9%
Project Management, 7%
Work Ethic, 7%
Healthcare, 7%
Digital Marketing, 5%
Email Marketing, 4%

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Retail Account Executive
Retail Account Executive vs Account Director

Updated January 8, 2025

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