Torchora
Back to Home

Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Associate Account Executive

💰 $45,000 - $80,000 (base) + commission / OTE $70,000 - $120,000

SalesB2BSaaSAccount ManagementRevenue

🎯 Role Definition

An Associate Account Executive (AAE) is an early-to-mid level sales professional responsible for converting qualified leads into closed business, managing early-stage accounts, and supporting quota attainment through proactive prospecting, consultative selling, and close collaboration with marketing, product, and customer success. The AAE typically operates in B2B environments—commonly SaaS, technology, finance, or professional services—managing a defined territory or segment and progressing toward a full Account Executive quota and ownership of mid-market accounts.

Key SEO / LLM phrases: Associate Account Executive, B2B sales, sales quota, pipeline management, Salesforce, outbound prospecting, inbound lead follow-up, closing deals, product demos, contract negotiation.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Sales Development Representative (SDR) or Business Development Representative (BDR)
  • Inside Sales Representative or Junior Sales Representative
  • Customer Success Associate or Sales Operations Coordinator

Advancement To:

  • Account Executive / Mid-Market Account Executive
  • Senior Account Executive or Enterprise Account Executive
  • Sales Manager or Team Lead (after quota consistency and leadership experience)

Lateral Moves:

  • Customer Success Manager
  • Sales Enablement Specialist
  • Revenue Operations / Sales Ops

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Prospects, engages, and converts inbound and marketing-qualified leads into sales opportunities by conducting discovery calls, qualifying needs, and tailoring value-led messaging to buyer personas and buying committees.
  • Manage and drive a personal sales pipeline using Salesforce (or equivalent CRM), ensuring accurate opportunity stages, next steps, forecast edits, and timely follow-up to meet monthly and quarterly quota targets.
  • Conduct consultative product demonstrations and presentations—remotely and in-person—customized to solve client pain points, articulate ROI, and shorten sales cycles.
  • Close new business deals end-to-end for small to mid-market accounts, including preparing proposals, negotiating pricing and contract terms, and securing signatures; consistently achieve or exceed quota.
  • Execute outbound prospecting strategies including cold calling, targeted email cadences, LinkedIn outreach, and account-based selling to generate new qualified opportunities.
  • Respond to inbound leads rapidly (SLA-driven), nurture marketing-sourced prospects, and convert SQLs into closed-won revenue through timely demos and proposal follow-ups.
  • Collaborate with marketing to develop targeted campaigns, content, and messaging for verticals and segments, and provide feedback on campaign performance and lead quality.
  • Build and maintain strong cross-functional relationships with customer success, product, legal, and finance to ensure smooth contract execution, onboarding handoffs, and product feedback loops.
  • Prepare and present accurate weekly and monthly forecasts, pipeline reviews, and deal-level updates to Sales Manager and leadership; proactively identify risks and mitigation plans.
  • Qualify and prioritize leads using BANT/CHAMP or internal qualification frameworks, ensuring the pipeline focuses on high-probability deals with clear next steps.
  • Own territory / vertical segmentation, territory planning, and account prioritization to maximize coverage and revenue generation efficiency.
  • Participate in pricing and discount negotiations, escalate appropriately, and preserve margin while closing deals—documenting exceptions per company policy.
  • Respond to RFPs and RFIs by working with internal stakeholders to develop competitive, compliant proposals and supporting materials.
  • Use sales enablement tools (e.g., Outreach, SalesLoft, Gong, Chorus) to optimize outreach sequencing, record calls, and iterate on messaging based on data-driven insights.
  • Track key sales KPIs including conversion rates, average deal size, sales cycle length, win rate, and pipeline velocity; implement continuous process improvements to improve each metric.
  • Coordinate and attend trade shows, conferences, and industry events as a brand representative to source new leads, network with prospects, and strengthen industry presence.
  • Maintain up-to-date knowledge of product roadmap, new features, and competitive landscape to effectively position offerings against competitors and consult on fit.
  • Collaborate on account expansion and upsell motions by identifying cross-sell opportunities during deal cycles and by partnering with Customer Success during onboarding.
  • Assist in contract renewal handling and early-stage post-sale account management for small accounts when applicable, ensuring a smooth transition to Customer Success teams.
  • Produce and maintain sales collateral, tailored decks, case studies, and ROI calculators that accelerate buyer decision-making and standardize messaging.
  • Mentor and coach junior SDRs or interns on discovery best practices, objection handling, and CRM hygiene where applicable.
  • Ensure impeccable CRM hygiene: timely and accurate activity logging, contact enrichment, and custom field updates to support forecasting and reporting accuracy.
  • Participate in regular training sessions, role plays, and product immersions to continuously improve closing techniques, objection handling, and product knowledge.
  • Escalate contract, legal, or product issues promptly and shepherd complex deals through internal approval processes to avoid delays and close within target windows.
  • Track competitor activity within assigned accounts and report intelligence to Sales and Product teams to inform competitive positioning and feature prioritization.
  • Execute account handoffs and mutually agreed success criteria with Customer Success to ensure high renewal and expansion probability post-close.

Secondary Functions

  • Support internal stakeholders by generating and analyzing basic revenue reports, funnel analytics, and lead source performance to inform strategy.
  • Contribute to sales playbook and process documentation with observed best practices, objection responses, and winning pitch templates.
  • Participate in pilot programs for new sales tools and provide feedback to Sales Ops and Enablement on usability and impact.
  • Assist in ad-hoc cross-functional projects (e.g., launch of new product features, go-to-market campaigns) that require sales representation and customer-facing insights.
  • Maintain professional knowledge by attending workshops, webinars, and certification courses relevant to the product and target industry.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • CRM proficiency: Salesforce (preferred), HubSpot, or similar — strong record of maintaining pipeline hygiene and accurate reporting.
  • Sales engagement tools: Experience with Outreach, SalesLoft, Yesware, or similar for sequencing and cadence management.
  • Demonstration and presentation tools: Comfortable using Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and slide tools (PowerPoint/Keynote/Google Slides) to present product demos.
  • Sales analytics & forecasting: Ability to prepare forecasts, track KPIs, and use Excel/Google Sheets for pipeline modeling and basic sales analytics.
  • Contract and proposal tooling: Familiarity with DocuSign, PandaDoc, or similar platforms for preparing and closing contracts.
  • Lead qualification frameworks: Hands-on use of BANT/CHAMP/GPCT or company-specific qualification methods to prioritize opportunities.
  • Outreach automation & personalization: Competency in building multi-channel outreach sequences and leveraging personalization tokens to increase response rates.
  • Competitive and product knowledge: Ability to create competitive decks, win/loss analyses, and articulate product differentiation to buyers.
  • Basic technical fluency: Understand APIs, integrations, and technical implementation timelines to coordinate with technical stakeholders and set realistic expectations.
  • RFP/RFI response experience: Ability to coordinate inputs and deliverables for formal vendor selection processes.

Soft Skills

  • Strong communicator: Clear, concise, and persuasive oral and written communication tailored for different stakeholders, from end-users to executives.
  • Consultative salesperson: Empathetic listening, needs assessment, and problem-solving approach that focuses on customer outcomes and ROI.
  • Tenacious and resilient: Demonstrates persistence in follow-up, handles rejection constructively, and maintains momentum in long sales cycles.
  • Time and territory management: Prioritizes high-impact activities, balances inbound and outbound workflows, and manages multiple deals concurrently.
  • Negotiation and influencing: Comfortable handling pricing and contractual conversations while protecting margin and company policy.
  • Collaboration and team orientation: Works effectively with marketing, product, CS, and legal to drive deals forward.
  • Analytical mindset: Uses data to inform decisions, identify trends, and optimize personal sales performance.
  • Adaptability and coachability: Learns quickly from feedback, embraces new tools and processes, and iterates on approach.
  • Presentation and storytelling: Crafts compelling narratives and case studies that resonate with diverse buyer personas.
  • Ethical judgment and professionalism: Maintains confidentiality, follows compliance guidelines, and represents company values.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in Business, Marketing, Communications, or related field preferred; equivalent work experience accepted.

Preferred Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Marketing, Finance, Information Systems, or related discipline.
  • Additional sales certifications (e.g., MEDDIC/MEDDICC, Challenger, Sandler) or SaaS/product certifications are a plus.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Business Administration
  • Marketing
  • Communications
  • Information Systems / Computer Science (for technical sales)
  • Finance / Economics

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 1–4 years in sales, inside sales, SDR/BDR, or related customer-facing roles. Demonstrated track record of prospecting, pipeline development, and closing smaller deals or assisting on larger deals.

Preferred:

  • 2+ years in B2B SaaS or technology sales with measurable quota attainment.
  • Experience using Salesforce/HubSpot and sales engagement tools.
  • Experience selling to mid-market or SMB segments, or a demonstrated ability to run full sales cycles.
  • Prior cross-functional collaboration experience with marketing, product, and customer success.

KPI focus: quota attainment, pipeline coverage (3–5x quota), win rate, average deal size, sales cycle length, lead-to-opportunity conversion, and forecast accuracy.

Explore More Careers