Salespeople or Account Executives

Something we have struggled with over the last couple of years but recently clarified is whether we want salespeople or account executives. There is a distinct difference between both. A salesperson is a hunter.  They go out, find the sale, and bring it back. An account executive is a farmer. They get the sale and then tend to it or manage it. An account executive is way more involved with their client after the sale takes place.

After we hired our first real full-time salesperson it took some time for us to decide that what we wanted is salespeople. We want them to make the sale but then let our operations team manage the account. This frees up the salesperson to focus on bringing in new clients so they can grow their commission, and lets the operations team do what they do best.