account-executive skill

---
name: account-executive
description: Expert full-cycle enterprise sales strategist for B2B SaaS. Use when planning sales strategy, pipeline management, deal progression, account planning, competitive displacement, or territory optimization. Covers multi-threading, executive engagement, champion development, buying committee navigation, and complex deal orchestration. Use for enterprise selling, account expansion, land-and-expand, and quota attainment.
---

# Account Executive

Strategic enterprise sales expertise for B2B SaaS companies — from pipeline building and deal progression to executive engagement and account expansion.

## Philosophy

Elite enterprise selling isn't about pitching features. It's about **becoming indispensable** to your champion's success.

The best enterprise AEs:
1. **Qualify ruthlessly, pursue relentlessly** — Time is your scarcest resource
2. **Multi-thread early and often** — Single-threaded deals die
3. **Sell outcomes, not products** — Features don't close deals, business impact does
4. **Control the process** — Mutual action plans beat hope
5. **Land with intent to expand** — Every deal is an account, not a transaction

## How This Skill Works

When invoked, apply the guidelines in `rules/` organized by:

- `pipeline-*` — Pipeline management, prioritization, forecasting
- `relationship-*` — Multi-threading, champion development, executive access
- `deal-*` — Deal progression, momentum, competitive displacement
- `account-*` — Account planning, expansion, land-and-expand
- `execution-*` — Time management, territory optimization, cadence

## Core Frameworks

### Deal Qualification (MEDDPICC)

| Element | Question | Red Flag |
|---------|----------|----------|
| **Metrics** | What business outcomes will success deliver? | No quantified value |
| **Economic Buyer** | Who signs the check? | Haven't met them |
| **Decision Criteria** | How will they decide? | Unknown or changing |
| **Decision Process** | What are the steps to close? | No clear timeline |
| **Paper Process** | Legal, procurement, security? | Unknown blockers |
| **Identified Pain** | What problem demands solving NOW? | Nice-to-have, not need |
| **Champion** | Who is selling internally for you? | No internal advocate |
| **Competition** | Who else is being evaluated? | Unknown alternatives |

### Deal Stages and Exit Criteria

```
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  DISCOVERY    │  SCOPING    │  VALIDATION  │  PROPOSAL   │  CLOSE     │
│     10%       │    25%      │     50%      │    75%      │   90%+     │
├───────────────┼─────────────┼──────────────┼─────────────┼────────────┤
│ Pain confirmed│ Solution    │ Technical    │ Commercial  │ Verbal     │
│ Champion ID'd │ requirements│ validation   │ terms       │ commitment │
│ Budget range  │ defined     │ complete     │ agreed      │ Legal/     │
│ Timeline set  │ Success     │ EB engaged   │ Proposal    │ procurement│
│               │ criteria    │ ROI accepted │ delivered   │ complete   │
└───────────────┴─────────────┴──────────────┴─────────────┴────────────┘
```

### The Buying Committee

```
                    ┌──────────────────┐
                    │  ECONOMIC BUYER  │
                    │  (Signs check)   │
                    └────────┬─────────┘
                             │
         ┌───────────────────┼───────────────────┐
         │                   │                   │
    ┌────▼────┐        ┌─────▼─────┐       ┌────▼────┐
    │TECHNICAL│        │  CHAMPION │       │ USER    │
    │  BUYER  │        │ (Your     │       │ BUYER   │
    │(IT/Sec) │        │  advocate)│       │(End user│
    └─────────┘        └───────────┘       │ leader) │
                                           └─────────┘
                    ┌──────────────────┐
                    │   INFLUENCERS    │
                    │ (Consultants,    │
                    │  Peers, Legal)   │
                    └──────────────────┘
```

### Account Tiering

| Tier | Characteristics | Time Investment | Strategy |
|------|-----------------|-----------------|----------|
| **Tier 1** | $100k+ potential, strategic fit, active buying | 40% of time | White-glove, executive-sponsored |
| **Tier 2** | $50-100k potential, good fit, developing need | 35% of time | High-touch, multi-threaded |
| **Tier 3** | $25-50k potential, fit confirmed, timeline unclear | 20% of time | Efficient, templated |
| **Tier 4** | <$25k or poor fit | 5% of time | Automated, self-serve, or disqualify |

### Pipeline Math

```
Target: $1M Annual Quota
Average Deal Size: $50K
Win Rate: 25%
Average Sales Cycle: 90 days

Required:
- Closed Won: 20 deals/year
- Pipeline Coverage: 4x = $4M active pipeline
- Opportunities/Quarter: 20 new opps
- Meetings/Week: ~8 qualified meetings

Pipeline Coverage by Stage:
- Discovery (10%): 40% of coverage
- Scoping (25%): 25% of coverage
- Validation (50%): 20% of coverage
- Proposal (75%): 10% of coverage
- Closing (90%): 5% of coverage
```

### Competitive Positioning

| Situation | Strategy | Risk |
|-----------|----------|------|
| **Incumbent** | Land-and-expand, proof of value, executive alignment | Complacency, disruption |
| **Challenger** | Differentiation, champion mobilization, urgency creation | Longer sales cycle |
| **Unknown** | Early discovery, pain quantification, category creation | Education burden |
| **Displacing competitor** | FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt), cost of status quo, migration support | Resistance to change |

## Deal Momentum Indicators

### Positive Signals

- Champion proactively schedules next meeting
- Economic buyer agrees to attend presentation
- Customer shares internal documents/org charts
- Technical team asks detailed implementation questions
- Procurement timeline communicated
- Reference calls requested
- Legal/security review initiated

### Danger Signals

- Meetings rescheduled or cancelled
- New stakeholders introduced late
- "Let me run this by..." with no follow-up
- Competitor mentioned after you thought you'd won
- Budget concerns raised after proposal
- Champion goes dark
- "We'll get back to you" without date

## Anti-Patterns

- **Happy ears** — Hearing what you want, ignoring red flags
- **Single-threading** — Relying on one contact who leaves or loses influence
- **Feature dumping** — Presenting capabilities without connecting to outcomes
- **Proposal too early** — Sending pricing before value is established
- **Hoping vs. controlling** — No mutual action plan, just waiting
- **Demo before discovery** — Showing product without understanding needs
- **Ignoring competition** — Assuming you're the only option
- **Neglecting champions** — Not enabling them to sell internally
- **Forecast fantasy** — Committing deals that aren't real
- **Post-close abandonment** — Moving on without ensuring success for expansion