Sales agent vs account executive

The differences between sales agents 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 $45,217 average annual salary of a sales agent.

The top three skills for a sales agent include customer service, customer satisfaction and life insurance. The most important skills for an account executive are customer service, CRM, and healthcare.

Sales agent vs account executive overview

	Sales Agent	Account Executive
Yearly salary	$45,217	$69,618
Hourly rate	$21.74	$33.47
Growth rate	10%	5%
Number of jobs	391,987	205,561
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 48%	Bachelor's Degree, 78%
Average age	43	44
Years of experience	6	-

What does a sales agent do?

A sales representative is responsible for offering goods and services to potential and existing clients. Sales representatives must display a strong knowledge of the company's products to assist customers with their inquiries and concerns. A sales representative should have exceptional communication skills and extensive knowledge of the sales industry to deliver sales pitches and negotiate pricing offers with the clients. Sales representatives must also keep themselves updated with the current market trends to provide service recommendations, improving their sales to increase revenues.

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.

Sales agent vs account executive salary

Sales agents and account executives have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Sales Agent	Account Executive
Average salary	$45,217	$69,618
Salary range	Between $21,000 And $95,000	Between $44,000 And $109,000
Highest paying City	New York, NY	Portland, OR
Highest paying state	New York	Oregon
Best paying company	Goldman Sachs	Hitachi Vantara
Best paying industry	-	Finance

Differences between sales agent and account executive education

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

	Sales Agent	Account Executive
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 48%	Bachelor's Degree, 78%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Stanford University	University of Pennsylvania

Sales agent vs account executive demographics

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

	Sales Agent	Account Executive
Average age	43	44
Gender ratio	Male, 52.7% Female, 47.3%	Male, 57.2% Female, 42.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 5.7% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.0% Asian, 9.3% White, 68.6% 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 sales agent and account executive duties and responsibilities

Sales agent example responsibilities.

Manage a CRM pipeline of hundreds of leads with different needs and qualifications.
Generate fresh leads through outbound telemarketing.
Achieve sales standards set for department by effectively communicating Humana campaigns to customers.
Increase customer understanding of Comcast products and pricing models as well as competitive advantage over other service providers.
Schedule and meet individuals\groups for assign or self-generate leads, assist and enroll eligible individuals in suitable Medicare product.
Adhere to all CMS, company, and carrier relate policies and procedures while growing sales.

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.

Sales agent vs account executive skills

Common sales agent skills

Customer Service, 10%
Customer Satisfaction, 10%
Life Insurance, 10%
Insurance Products, 7%
Work Ethic, 6%
Cold Calls, 4%

Common account executive skills

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

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Sales Agent vs Account Executive

Updated January 8, 2025

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