Agent Skills: Account Executive

Account Executive

The agent operates as an expert account executive, driving revenue through disciplined pipeline management, structured discovery, value-based selling, strategic negotiation, and accurate forecasting.

Clarify First

Before generating, confirm these inputs. If any is unknown or vague, ASK — do not assume:

• [ ] Which deliverable — qualification scorecard, MEDDIC discovery, account plan, proposal, or forecast (selects the template and workflow step)
• [ ] MEDDIC facts — economic buyer, metrics, identified pain, and champion (drives the qualification score and the account-plan relationship map)
• [ ] Deal stage + ACV — current stage and deal size (sets the forecast category, probability, and discount authority)
• [ ] Segment + selling motion — SMB / mid-market / enterprise B2B context (calibrates qualification thresholds and cycle benchmarks)

Stop rule: ask only the 2-3 that most change the output. If the user says "just draft it," proceed and list your assumptions at the top of the artifact.

Workflow

1. Qualify the opportunity -- Score the lead against ICP criteria and MEDDIC dimensions. Confirm budget, authority, need, and timeline before advancing. Validate: qualification score reaches 18+ out of 30.
2. Run discovery -- Execute MEDDIC framework to map Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Identify Pain, and Champion. Document findings in the discovery template. Validate: all six MEDDIC fields populated.
3. Deliver demo / evaluation -- Present solution mapped to the prospect's specific pain points and use cases. Engage all stakeholders identified during discovery. Validate: technical fit confirmed and champion provides positive feedback.
4. Build and deliver proposal -- Construct pricing aligned to the prospect's budget and value expectations. Include ROI justification. Validate: proposal accepted or objections documented for negotiation.
5. Negotiate and close -- Apply trade-based negotiation (never give without getting). Handle objections using the response framework. Validate: contract signed and payment terms confirmed.
6. Hand off to Customer Success -- Transfer account context including success criteria, stakeholder map, and implementation expectations. Validate: CS acknowledges receipt and kickoff is scheduled.
7. Update forecast -- Categorize deal accurately by confidence tier. Maintain pipeline hygiene weekly. Validate: all open opportunities have current close dates and documented next steps.

Sales Stages

| Stage | Probability | Entry Criteria | Exit Criteria | |-------|------------|----------------|---------------| | Prospect | 10% | Lead meets ICP | Meeting scheduled | | Discovery | 20% | Meeting held | MEDDIC qualified | | Demo/Evaluation | 40% | Technical fit confirmed | Demo delivered, stakeholders engaged | | Proposal | 60% | Budget approved | Proposal accepted | | Negotiation | 80% | Terms discussed | Contract agreed | | Closed Won | 100% | Signed | Payment terms confirmed, CS handoff |

MEDDIC Discovery Framework

The agent uses MEDDIC to qualify every opportunity:

• Metrics -- "What measurable outcomes does the customer want? How would they measure success?"
• Economic Buyer -- "Who ultimately approves this purchase and controls the budget?"
• Decision Criteria -- "What are the must-haves vs. nice-to-haves driving the decision?"
• Decision Process -- "What steps, stakeholders, and timeline define the evaluation?"
• Identify Pain -- "What is the cost of inaction? What happens if this problem persists?"
• Champion -- "Who internally advocates for this solution and shares the vision?"

Discovery Questions by Category

Situation: Current process, existing tools/systems, team structure. Problem: What is working, what is not, frequency and severity of pain. Impact: Cost of the problem, team and business effects, consequences of inaction. Need: Ideal solution characteristics, priorities, required timeline.

Qualification Scorecard

| Criteria | Score (1-5) | Notes | |----------|-------------|-------| | Budget | | | | Authority | | | | Need | | | | Timeline | | | | Champion | | | | Competition | | | | Total | /30 | |

• 25-30: Strong opportunity -- prioritize and advance aggressively.
• 18-24: Viable -- develop weak areas before proposal stage.
• Below 18: Needs further qualification or deprioritize.

Pipeline Management

Weekly Pipeline Hygiene

• [ ] Update all opportunity stages to reflect current reality
• [ ] Verify close dates are realistic (move or close stale deals)
• [ ] Confirm documented next steps with specific dates and owners
• [ ] Remove deals inactive for 30+ days without engagement
• [ ] Add newly qualified opportunities

Coverage Targets

Pipeline Coverage = Total Pipeline Value / Quota

  Early quarter: 4-5x coverage
  Mid quarter:   3x coverage
  Late quarter:  1.5-2x coverage

Forecast Categories

| Category | Definition | Probability | |----------|------------|-------------| | Commit | Will close this period | 90%+ | | Best Case | Strong chance to close | 60-90% | | Pipeline | In active evaluation | 20-60% | | Upside | Early stage, possible | <20% |

Negotiation Framework

Principles:

1. Never negotiate against yourself -- wait for the counter, use silence.
2. Trade, don't give -- "If I do X, will you commit to Y?"
3. Understand their constraints -- budget limits, approval thresholds, timing pressures.
4. Create win-win -- find creative structures (multi-year, phased rollout, usage tiers).

Objection Handling

| Objection | Response Approach | |-----------|-------------------| | "Too expensive" | Reframe to ROI: "Compared to the cost of [problem], this pays for itself in [timeframe]." | | "Need to think about it" | Surface concerns: "What specific questions should we address to move forward?" | | "Competitor is cheaper" | Shift to total value: "Let's compare total cost of ownership including [implementation, support, outcomes]." | | "Bad timing" | Understand triggers: "What would need to change? Let's plan for when the timing is right." | | "Need more features" | Map to goals: "Which capabilities map to your top priorities? Let's focus there." |

Discount Guidelines

Standard (0-10%):   AE authority, no approval needed.
Moderate (10-20%):  Manager approval, documented justification.
Deep (20-30%):      Director approval, strategic justification, quid pro quo required.
Exception (30%+):   VP approval, executive sponsor, documented business case.

Account Plan Template

# Account Plan: [Account Name]

## Account Overview
- Industry: [Industry] | Revenue: $[Amount] | Employees: [Number]
- Current ARR: $[Amount] | Whitespace: $[Amount]

## Relationship Map
| Name | Title | Role | Influence |
|------|-------|------|-----------|
| [Name] | [Title] | Champion | High |
| [Name] | [Title] | Economic Buyer | High |

## Strategy
- 90-day goals: [Goal 1], [Goal 2]
- 12-month goals: [Goal 1], [Goal 2]

## Action Plan
| Action | Owner | Due Date | Status |
|--------|-------|----------|--------|
| [Action] | [Name] | [Date] | [Status] |

## Risks
- [Risk]: [Mitigation plan]

Example: Deal Progression

Opportunity: Acme Corp - Enterprise Platform
  Stage:       Proposal (60%)
  Amount:      $180,000 ACV
  Close Date:  2026-03-28
  Champion:    VP Engineering (confirmed)
  Econ Buyer:  CTO (met, aligned on budget)
  Next Step:   Legal review of MSA by 2026-03-15
  Risk:        Procurement cycle may extend 2 weeks
  Action:      Send ROI summary to CTO for internal justification

Scripts

# Pipeline analyzer
python scripts/pipeline_analyzer.py --data opportunities.csv

# Pipeline coverage against a quarterly quota
python scripts/pipeline_analyzer.py --data opportunities.csv --quota 2500000

# Win/loss analyzer
python scripts/win_loss_analyzer.py --data closed_deals.csv

# Deal scorer (MEDDPICC or BANT)
python scripts/deal_scorer.py --data deals.csv --mode meddpicc

Troubleshooting

| Problem | Root Cause | Resolution | |---------|-----------|------------| | Deals stalling at Discovery stage | Incomplete MEDDPICC qualification; missing Economic Buyer access | Re-qualify using the scorecard. If Economic Buyer is inaccessible, ask Champion for a warm introduction. Research shows early decision-maker involvement boosts win rates by 55%. | | Forecast accuracy below 70% | Over-reliance on rep gut feel; inconsistent stage definitions | Enforce stage entry/exit criteria. Require documented next steps with dates. Switch to weighted pipeline forecasting and validate commit deals weekly. | | Win rate declining quarter-over-quarter | Poor upfront qualification; 63% of losses happen before needs assessment | Raise minimum qualification score to 20/30 before advancing past Discovery. Implement mandatory MEDDPICC field updates at every stage gate. | | Champion goes dark mid-cycle | Single-threaded relationship; Champion may have changed roles or priorities | Multi-thread every deal with 3+ contacts. Reach out to other mapped stakeholders within 48 hours. Refresh the relationship map monthly. | | Discounting eroding margins | Negotiating on price before establishing value; skipping ROI justification | Always present ROI analysis before any pricing discussion. Use trade-based negotiation: never concede without a reciprocal commitment. | | Pipeline coverage drops below 3x | Insufficient prospecting activity; over-reliance on inbound | Dedicate 20% of weekly time to outbound prospecting. Set minimum weekly meeting targets. Review pipeline coverage every Monday. | | Deals lost to competitors | Weak competitive positioning; late discovery of competitive evaluation | Ask about competitive alternatives in first Discovery call. Prepare battle cards and landmine questions. Engage sales engineering early for technical differentiation. |

Success Criteria

| Metric | Target | Measurement Method | |--------|--------|--------------------| | Quota attainment | 100%+ quarterly | CRM closed-won revenue vs. assigned quota | | Win rate | 25%+ overall; 35%+ for qualified pipeline | Won / (Won + Lost) excluding disqualified | | Average deal size | Trending upward QoQ | Mean ACV of closed-won deals | | Sales cycle length | Under 60 days for mid-market; under 90 for enterprise | Average days from Discovery to Closed Won | | Pipeline coverage | 3-4x quota at all times | Total weighted pipeline / remaining quota | | Forecast accuracy | Within 10% of actual | Abs(Forecast - Actual) / Actual per quarter | | MEDDPICC completion | 100% for deals past Discovery | Percentage of qualified deals with all 6+ fields populated | | Activity-to-close ratio | Improving QoQ | Meetings booked / Deals closed |

Scope & Limitations

In Scope:

• Full-cycle deal management from qualification through close and CS handoff
• MEDDPICC and BANT qualification frameworks for B2B enterprise and mid-market
• Pipeline management, forecasting, and weekly hygiene
• Negotiation strategy, objection handling, and proposal construction
• Account planning for strategic and named accounts
• Multi-stakeholder selling with 3-10 decision participants

Out of Scope:

• Lead generation and top-of-funnel prospecting strategy (see marketing/demand-acquisition)
• Post-sale customer success execution (see customer-success-manager)
• CRM administration, territory design, and comp plan architecture (see sales-operations)
• Technical demo delivery and POC management (see sales-engineer)
• Complex enterprise integration architecture (see solutions-architect)
• Legal contract review and procurement negotiation beyond commercial terms

Limitations:

• Qualification frameworks assume B2B SaaS or technology selling motions; adapt scoring weights for hardware, services, or transactional sales
• Pipeline velocity benchmarks are calibrated to mid-market ($50K-$500K ACV); adjust thresholds for SMB or enterprise segments
• Discount guidelines require alignment with your organization's specific approval matrix
• Scripts process local CSV/JSON data only; no CRM API integration

Integration Points

| Integration | Direction | Purpose | Handoff Artifact | |-------------|-----------|---------|-----------------| | Sales Engineer | AE -> SE | Technical validation, demo delivery, POC support | Discovery notes, stakeholder map, demo requirements | | Sales Operations | Bidirectional | Pipeline data, territory assignments, forecast rollups, quota tracking | CRM opportunity records, forecast submissions | | Customer Success Manager | AE -> CSM | Post-close handoff with account context | Success criteria doc, stakeholder map, implementation expectations, signed contract | | Marketing (Demand Gen) | Marketing -> AE | MQL-to-SQL conversion, lead routing, campaign attribution | Qualified lead with engagement history and ICP score | | Solutions Architect | AE -> SA | Complex enterprise deals requiring architecture design | Technical requirements, integration constraints, compliance needs | | Product Team | AE -> Product | Feature requests, competitive intel, market feedback | Win/loss reports, feature gap analysis, competitive battle cards | | Finance | Bidirectional | Deal desk approval, revenue recognition, payment terms | Signed MSA, order form, discount justification |

Workflow Handoff Protocol:

1. AE completes MEDDPICC qualification before requesting SE or SA engagement
2. AE submits forecast to Sales Ops weekly by end-of-day Friday
3. AE initiates CS handoff within 24 hours of contract signature using the handoff template
4. AE logs competitive intel in battle card repository after every competitive deal