Account Executive (AE)
An account executive (AE) is a salesperson who owns qualified opportunities and runs them through discovery, demos, proposals and negotiation until the customer signs.
Also called: AE, closer, sales executive
Why it matters
The AE is responsible for turning pipeline into revenue. They learn the buyer's problem, map the stakeholders involved, show how the product fits, handle objections, and manage pricing and contract terms. AEs are usually measured against a quota of closed revenue, along with win rate, average deal size and sales cycle length.
An AE differs from an SDR or BDR, who books the first meeting but does not usually close. In smaller companies, an AE may do both prospecting and closing. After the sale, many companies hand the customer to an account manager or customer success manager, though some AEs keep ownership of renewals and expansion.
Example
An AE at a data security company receives a meeting an SDR booked with a bank's IT director. In discovery she learns the bank has a regulator deadline in six months. She brings in a solutions engineer for a technical demo, meets the CISO and procurement lead, sends a proposal, negotiates terms, and closes the contract.
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