Account executives must have first-class written and verbal skills and be able to relate to a wide variety of people. The job holders are sales professionals, whose job is to secure new accounts for the companies they work for. They visit potential customers to deliver presentations on their products or services, and work at building relationships with existing clients in order to increase the likelihood of a repeat sale.
Additional duties include promoting the company’s products or services at trade fairs, supervising telemarketing activities, communicating with the media and public relations personnel during any product launch and working closely with the marketing department to design and implement sales strategies.
Account executives must be excellent networkers and information-gatherers and well-honed negotiating skills. The work can be demanding at times and there may be deadlines to reach and sales targets to be met. Salaries vary from company to company but are generally in the region of £21,000 to £30,000.