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Account Executive Compensation

We are in the process of reviewing/changing our compensation structure for our Account Executives (A/E). I was wondering if anyone could tell me how they were compensating their A/E's. Are you paying salaries plus bonus or commission? What are the salary ranges? How are the bonus or commissions calculated? Anything would be helpful. Below is an outline of our A/E's responsibilities.

Spend 25% of their time developing new business with the balance of their time managing customers that have been assigned to them. They are responsible for the day-to-day management of these accounts as well as increasing the value of these clients through the sale of additional products and services. They also have the support of Client Service people to help with the detail of the projects we are working on.

Thank you for your help.

James Lohr
Performance Communications Group

This A/E term is used so widely and for different ranks by various agencies that it is getting confusing. I know some agencies use it for their top rank account people and probably this is what you are refering you. Well, their compensation can range anywhere between C$60,000 to C$150,000 plus bonuses and commissions depending on the size of agency and the size of business these people handle.

In our company, an A/E is intermediate person who reports to Account Manager or Account Director directly and Group Account Director indirectly. Their compensation ranges anywhere between C$30,000 to C$45,000 depending on their qualification and experience. Bonus is on top of that when declared. No commissions are offered at this level.

Johnson Paul CGA
Controller
Campbell Michener & Lee Incorporated

We pay our AE's a base salary (range is $45,000 to $65,000) plus commission (5% or 7% of new clients net profit in the first year) and a bonus (1/3 of Agency net profit goes to a bonus pool which is then distributed to all staff prorata based on base salaries).

I would like to see the results of your survey. Could you email me a copy?

Mary Henry
Finance Director
Kleier Communications

We pay in the $44-58K base range with no bonus at that level.

Gary Ruzich
PreVision Marketing

We pay our AE's salaries in the $36K - $55K range. No special compensation for this group. The company pays bonuses and profit sharing to all employees based upon an individual's annual compensation.

Allen Corley
Controller
WarrenCordes+

Will you please include the city in which you work when replying to the C&P e-mails? It helps when determining what would be appropriate for our agency. Thank you very much. All of your responses are extremely helpful.

Lisa Alexander
Shea-Campbell & Assoc.
Carmel Valley, CA