How to hire an account executive

A talented account executive can make the difference between retaining a customer or losing them to a competitor. The role is a skillful combination of project management, communication, and sales.

However, hiring account executives isn't easy due to this unique balance of soft and hard skills. By neglecting to screen a particular skill or trait, you risk engaging a candidate that endangers your organization and client relationships.

Below, we outline what you should know before you hire an account executive, key skills to look out for, where to find candidates, and how to select your next hire.

What you need to know before hiring an account executive 

Before you hire an account executive, answer these key questions:

Do you need one?

Without a strong reason to hire, your new account executive could soon run out of meaningful tasks to perform. This wastes your hiring budget, increases employee turnover, and demotivates the rest of your team. The bottom line – hire account executives based on business demands.

For example, you’re probably ready to hire an account executive when:

• Your account management team doesn’t have the capacity to serve projects effectively

• You’ve won new clients or expanded existing projects

• Your account team lacks specialized skills, such as negotiation or proposal drafting 

What are their responsibilities?

Detail all relevant responsibilities before drafting an account executive job description. This will help you assess the right skills and experiences in your screening process while offering the new hire clear guidance when they join.

When outlining responsibilities, consider these two main types of account management:

1. Ensuring client satisfaction while overseeing project progress, delegating team tasks, and managing client communications

2. Selling, up-selling, and renewing client contracts with little project involvement

Many roles fall somewhere in between the two extremes. So, clarify to applicants which tasks from each category belong to the open role. In addition, confirm if candidates must have prior experience with specific types of products or clients.

What’s the right compensation level?

Offering your prospective account manager appropriate compensation is key to attracting them and, once hired, keeping them motivated.

Based on past ads, Indeed averages account executive salaries at $70,314 per year with an extra $20,000 annual commission. Meanwhile, Glassdoor’s estimate is an average salary of $73,000 per year and $44,000 commission.

You should also check what your competitors pay their account executives. Compare like for like – similar experience, seniority levels, and client responsibilities. Filter job board ads by company names and job titles like “account executive” or “senior account executive,” taking note of advertised salaries.

Aim to meet or exceed your competitors’ compensation packages to attract high-quality candidates. 

Skills and qualifications to look for in an account executive 

There’s no formal qualification for account management, but you may ask for professional certifications depending on business needs. For example, managing complex projects could require a relevant certification like Project Management Professional (PMP).

That said, many candidates bring transferable skills from past work experience, including sales, project management, customer support, or other client-facing roles. So, check that applicants possess the right skill set instead of insisting they have prior account management experience.

Look for the following mix of skills to meet both the relational and strategic aspects of the account manager role. 

Hard skills

• Project management: Ensures client projects are delivered efficiently and on time while communicating updates and balancing internal resources.

• Industry knowledge: Stays up-to-date with news and trends in client industries to improve the quality of the project delivery.

• Product/service knowledge: Understands and articulates your product or service’s features and benefits, while facilitating clients’ special requirements.

• General computer skills: Comfortably executes common Mac or PC tasks, including web browsing, managing inboxes and calendars, and using the Microsoft Office suite.

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software: Uses CRM tools, including updating customer records, managing pipelines, and exporting reports.

• Sales mindset: Identifies opportunities to upsell and cross-sell to clients and successfully renews ongoing projects.

• Proposal and contract development: Identifies the appropriate structure and content for proposals and contracts, including requirements list, pricing, and commercial terms.

Soft skills

• Communication: Listens attentively to clients while confidently presenting updates and de-escalating difficult situations.

• Customer centricity: Focuses on enhancing customer satisfaction and convenience within the scope of the contractual agreement.

• Problem-solving: Methodically defines, breaks down, and analyzes both internal and client-facing problems.

• Prioritization: Executes competing tasks for multiple accounts according to urgency and importance to meet deadlines.

• Negotiation: Pitches profitable new deals while adapting to customer needs and constraints.

• Team management: Coordinates and tracks project members’ tasks and deadlines. 

Where to find skilled account executives 

Your ideal account executive may come from a variety of backgrounds, so advertise your role on general job boards like LinkedIn and Indeed. 

Source candidates by filtering relevant job titles like “account executive,” “project manager,” or “sales manager.” Then, share your opening with those who have matching skills and experience.

However, big job boards tend to attract many unsuitable applicants, which can slow the hiring process. Below, we explore three alternative strategies to find a closer fit.

3 creative ways to find account executive candidates 

1. Hire from your target market

People working in your target customer verticals understand your clients’ needs well. So, headhunt applicants from your target market with transferable account management skills.

For example, if you were to recruit an account executive to manage your real estate vertical, target real estate professionals for the job. 

Use job board filters for job title, company, and industry, and shortlist individuals based on their advertised skills. Then, invite those on your shortlist to apply for your position. 

2. Headhunt successful customer service managers

Customer service managers solve client problems cost-effectively while under pressure – hence why they’d make excellent account executives. 

As a first step, pinpoint companies with proven customer service results in your market. For example, look for firms recognized as a Certified Customer Service Organization (CCSO) or shortlisted for industry prizes like the US Customer Experience Awards. 

You can then use job boards to identify these companies’ customer service managers and invite them to apply for your opening.

3. Allow hybrid or remote work

Account managers can perform many activities remotely, from client communications to team status updates. Making your role hybrid or remote will expand your applicant pool with talented individuals from further afield.

Ask the hiring manager how many in-person days your role requires. Then, add a line to your job description like, “hybrid or remote options available for the right candidate,” to attract as many skilled applicants as possible.

How to select the best account executive candidates 

Once you’ve got a solid applicant pool, your next challenge is shortlisting top candidates. Achieve this by assessing skills and traits and asking role-specific account executive interview questions.

Screen applicants with talent assessments

Talent assessments are a quick and unbiased way to evaluate applicants’ skills, behaviors, and traits. TestGorilla makes this stage easy with its extensive test library and real-time ranking of your highest-scoring candidates.

Combine up to five of the following tests to create a custom account executive assessment:

• Account Management test

• Account Executive (B2B Sales) test

• Cognitive ability tests, such as problem-solving and verbal reasoning

• Situational judgment tests, including intermediate communication skills

• Software tests, like Salesforce CRM and Microsoft PowerPoint

• Personality tests, such as the Enneagram and DISC test

Ask behavioral and scenario-based interview questions

The interview questions you ask account executive candidates should be a mix of:

• Behavioral questions: Checking past behaviors and experiences with questions such as, “Tell me about a time when you provided an above-average customer experience.”

• Scenario-based questions: Testing knowledge and skills through real-world scenarios, such as, “Imagine a long-standing client has received a better offer from a competitor. How would you approach the situation to convince them to stay?”

By balancing both question types, you‘ll understand the achievements of their past roles while seeing them apply their skills on the spot. 

Keep questions relevant by integrating the role’s required skills and your current business challenges. For example, if your team’s struggling to hit project deadlines, ask a behavioral question like, “Tell me about a situation where you hit a tight deadline within a team.”

Common mistakes when hiring an account executive 

Steer clear of these common pitfalls when you hire account executives.

Overlooking soft skills

It’s easy to focus your screening process on hard skills like industry knowledge and sales tactics. However, account management relies on building trust with clients. So, neglecting soft skills could lead to hiring a poor communicator who can’t build customer relationships.

To avoid this pitfall, actively test soft skills such as communication, negotiation, and prioritization across your talent assessment and interview stages.

Prioritizing account executive experience

Someone with prior account management experience isn’t automatically a great fit for your role. For example, they may not adapt to your culture, product, or clients. So, give equal opportunity to applicants who previously worked as project managers, customer service managers, or other roles with transferable skills.

TestGorilla makes this approach easy. By testing the role’s core skills and traits, you get an unbiased, data-driven shortlist of top candidates, irrespective of their previous job titles.

Neglecting detail in your job description

Without detailed responsibilities in your job description, you risk hiring account managers who lack key traits or experience – endangering your bottom line. So, ensure you provide sufficient detail about the job’s requirements and day-to-day tasks. 

For example, include the requirement to achieve strict sales targets, or you might hire a talented project manager who’s unable to renew contracts or upsell.

It’s essential to mention:

• Whether the account executive is expected to sell to new or existing clients

• How many customers they’re expected to manage simultaneously

• The industry and size of their client's companies

• The range of products and services they’re managing 

Find exceptional account executives with TestGorilla

Talented account managers not only motivate clients to repeat their purchases but also support the rest of your team in delivering great projects.

To hire account executive candidates with suitable credentials, testing a mix of hard and soft skills is vital. For example, communication, prioritization, sales skills, and CRM software experience are critical to many account management roles.

TestGorilla’s extensive test library offers a variety of skills, cognitive, personality, and other types of tests – making it easy for you to create tailored account executive assessments.

Ready to get started? Sign up for a free TestGorilla account today. 

You can also learn more by booking a free live demo with our team or watching a prerecorded product tour outlining TestGorilla’s top hiring features.