While I was commiserating with a colleague over a tough week of selling, he flipped his hand up like a New York traffic cop to stop my whining.
“Bliss, you’re the problem,” he said.“It’s up to you to put the ‘executive’ in your Account Executive title. You’ve been granted a franchise [my account list]; go make it happen or find something else to do.” There’s nothing like a cold dose of reality to clear the fog from the mirror and plainly see the reflection of the problem staring back at you. I wanted to be an executive like the people I sold to, but what I didn’t realize (I mean, I already had the title) was that I just wasn’t performing like an executive.
The Account Executive Sales Title
Account Executive (AE) is the ubiquitous title assigned to sales roles across corporate America. I used to detest the title because it’s a catch-all term for sellers of all experience and skill levels. Anyone can have this title, from the guy selling tickets for a local minor league baseball team to the woman selling planes worth tens of millions of dollars. A college degree doesn’t determine whether you got the title or not. If you’re selling, you’re an AE.
In retrospect, the Account Executive title bothered me because of my shallow perception of myself. It seemed like every day I read or heard about young people on a meteoric career trajectory in the tech industry. I aspired to be like them, but foolishly, I chose to gauge my success against these folks, never giving myself credit for my sales accomplishments. Early in my sales career, I often wondered if I’d still be selling in ten or twenty years.
I studied to be a Geologist, and here I was doing something totally different with colleagues twenty to twenty-five years older than me, still doing the same gig. I was the first person in my family to get a college degree, and yet I constantly felt like a failure. The sacrifice I saw my parents make to save for my college education and the poor execution of my early career choices fueled crippling anxiety. The pressure never came from my parents — instead, it’s a never-ending battle against self-doubt that still plays out most days.
As I achieved some success in selling enterprise software, distancing myself from my sales brethren in other industries who were selling commodity-based products and services became more important to me. Reflecting on the situation now, I see that I viewed myself as a higher-level salesperson than these other sellers and felt that having the same title lumped me in with mere amateurs. The truth of the matter, however, was that I was a mere amateur masquerading as a software salesperson. Years of failure and success helped me genuinely appreciate great sellers regardless of what they sell.
Perform Like an Executive for Improved Sales
“It’s up to you, Bliss, to put the ‘executive’ in your Account Executive title,” my sales buddy said. This statement guided my actions for many years until they became part of my business routine. Yes, it took some time, but I genuinely began to see myself as a peer to whoever it was I was selling to, no matter if they were a Vice President of Technology or the CEO.
Embracing the “executive” in your Account Executive title will make you a much better salesperson, too. Every action you take — from your planning to how you use your time and others’ time to the deep knowledge you must develop about each of your client’s businesses — should be viewed through the lens of a Fortune 500 executive. I like to think that whoever came up with the Account Executive title actually included “executive” in the title for this very reason. Think about the compensation opportunities that exist for many of the Account Executive titles.
When you make your numbers, it’s likely your pay will be commensurate with that of many of the executives with whom you’re doing business. It’s up to us to perform like executives and experience the tremendous benefits that come with being a top performer.
