Senior Account Executive, Energy/Public Sector

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

Senior Account Executives develop and oversee the execution of account plans for identified accounts and works to ensure engagements yield high volume sales for both Microsoft and the customer that are on track with goals, budgets and forecasts. Understands customer drivers of digital transformation and leverages understanding to engage internal virtual teams and external partners to accelerate the customer's digital transformation and strategy. Drives and cultivate various relationships by using Microsoft sales strategies throughout multiple levels of the customer's organization to establish strong alignment on long-term goals and secure buy-in and consistent execution. Leverages knowledge of and experience with Microsoft's product landscape, solutions, and strategy to address customers' needs.

Able to build, develop and execute an industry speficic strategic account plan towards establishing a multi-year engagement with the customer across all Microsoft solution pillars against each customer's prioritized business plans, aspirations and goals. 

Customer Engagement

• Proactively elevates a strong customer engagement strategy among internal stakeholders and partners to foster trust and brand growth and loyalty through multiple levels of the customer's organization through consultative engagement in the assigned accounts, leading broad team efforts. Connects the customer to Microsoft business and technical executives, establishes Rhythm of Business (RoB) with top customer sponsors to regularly highlight the value of the Microsoft solutions and subsequent Return on Investment (ROI). Articulates Microsoft's and partners' point of view and creates deep and long-term through joint stakeholder mapping connections with customers (e.g., C-Suite) to influence purchase decisions, increase interaction and participation, and expand impact into other segments. Assists partners in joint-selling by establishing joint desire to create new go-to-markets and accelerating through high levels of the organization (e.g., President). Leverages digital selling methods (e.g., digital) to grow your network and create a pipeline, consume account-based marketing outputs, and reflect in the engagement strategy in our customer plan.
• Proactively develops a comprehensive understanding of the customer's business and technology needs and priorities for each assigned account. Identifies opportunities to drive optimizations and new business and technology solutions based on customer's strategies. Presents solutions and ideas based on customer insights. Advocates on behalf of the customer internally, ensuring requests and needs of assigned accounts are being addressed. If industry aligned, also develops a comprehensive understanding of the customer's industry.
• Supports high-impact transformation solutions (e.g., forward thinking, flagship) through technology for assigned accounts in multiple, global businesses that drive outcomes which create business value for customers. Expert in leveraging consultative and insightful listening skills to own the development of strategies that showcase the value added by innovative ideas grounded on digital transformation for accounts based on account needs and customer's expectations. Is sought out by the customer for guidance related to transformation. Ability to influence and mitigate proactively competitive risk. Ensures high-profile line-of-business wins are captured (e.g., press release, video) as reference for multi-region/worldwide scale. Deploys showcase solutions into customer digital transformation centers for broader distribution.

Account Management

• Leads the development and application of mature and dynamic account plans utilizing common sales and delivery methodology for the Microsoft sales organization grounded on proven and often-tailored methodologies to manage business portfolios. Leads strategies for assigned accounts that yield high-volume sales and open new opportunities for both Microsoft and the customers and that are on track with goals, outcomes, and forecasts. Leads multiple, diverse, and high-performing teams and industry experts on plan execution for various accounts. Coordinates with industry experts to identify new business opportunities and drive account growth. Orchestrates extended team and embraces partners to scale business by understanding partner goals and creating an interested in mutual business growth, and deep understanding of plan to ensures achievement of revenue and consumption targets. Drives integrated joint account governance through customer plan on regular frequency. Identifies initial stakeholders, customer needs, and customer priorities. Proposes initial Solutions/Sales Plays. Leverages strong sales acumen to set action items and approach to drive big bets and drive new business opportunities based on customer strategy and priorities.
• Thinks strategically about customer planning for assigned accounts, setting standards and priorities, outlining where to and how to invest resources of the account management team and other stakeholders, engaging internal and external decision makers on long-term business planning, and anticipating needs of assigned accounts to turn enterprise accounts into strategic accounts. Influences to scale strategic plans (inclusive of partners) and involves senior leadership team. Ensures teams are documenting in the Account Plan.
• Oversees a complex/multiple account(s) and leads planning and prioritization efforts to anticipate and ensure appropriate responses to account needs. Develops strategies to manage pipeline and meet sales goals by reviewing forecasts, assessing and mitigating risks, and ensuring strategy alignment with business priorities. Leads virtual teams to properly re-adjust priorities, all while maintaining a high level of commitment and accountability. Prioritizes line of business projects to achieve business outcomes. Reduces complexity for the customer and for internal teams by prioritizing the most strategic partners to deliver outcomes.
• Proactively expands network of key internal (e.g., Industry Solutions [IS]) and external partners and other business decision makers in customers' accounts to ensure execution of core tasks and transactions, to grow partner impact, and to provide seamless account management experience for customers. Leads efforts with key mainstream partners to develop and promote long-term, mutually-beneficial business and technology transformation strategies and works with other roles and partners to formulate transformation and expansion strategies that ensure customer success. Identifies board influencers and proactively engages with them to drive Microsoft's perspective in the account. Drives joint solutions with partners. Where applicable, shares opportunities outbound with partners, and reviews/accepts opportunities shared inbound. Proactively engages and works with partners’ sellers directly to drive non-qualified opportunity momentum and deal closure inclusive of partners.

Sales Excellence

• Leverages relationships with key customer contacts in assigned accounts to identify and understand the drivers of satisfaction and/or dissatisfaction. Coordinates internally to craft long-term strategies aimed at maintaining levels of customer satisfaction and increasing Microsoft's presence within the customer's organization. Orchestrates others (e.g., Customer Success Account Management [CSAM]) to anticipate issues/risks on customer satisfaction, identify drivers of dissatisfaction, determine the root cause of problems, remove blockers, and establish recovery action plan to improve customer's overall experience. Leverages key executive relationships to build trust with the customer. Proactively establishes agreement on success measures and manages execution on success measures to prevent need for recovery plans. Drives customer engagement by participating Microsoft advisory boards, etc., to provide feedback.
• Positions oneself as a thought leader and trusted advisor internally and externally to executive-level business decision makers of multiple assigned accounts by leveraging best-in-class sales and communication techniques to lead extended virtual teams and key stakeholders with deep industry expertise (e.g., customers' sponsors) to build stronger relationships with decision makers of assigned accounts. Document and creates stakeholder map in the account plan of the key decision makers, influencers, sentiment, etc.
• Actively engages decision makers of assigned accounts to articulate Microsoft's value proposition aligned to customer's business objectives and/or elevate Microsoft's industry status as a preferred partner. Takes a consultative approach to understanding impacts with the customer and translates features into business impact and outcomes that accelerate the customer's digital presence. Tailors solutions that satisfy customers' key performance indicators (KPIs) and align the right partner solution for customer industry needs.
• Develops compelling, value-proposition presentations (e.g., with the use of business cases) and specialized business plans for customers that drive business outcomes. Demonstrates thought leadership and presents business plans to customers to generate new non-qualified opportunities. Guides others on how to tailor industry-specific presentations. Presents outcome based cross solution strategies.
• Develops and implements plans for maximizing upselling/cross-selling non-qualified opportunities in certain accounts. Drives plans to highlight Microsoft's and partners' solutions to solving additional business and technology issues and aims to expand budget allocated to Microsoft. Leverages virtual teams to identify and act on new non-qualified opportunities while utilizing common sales and delivery methodology for the Microsoft sales organization.

Industry Knowledge

• Leverages a strong knowledge of and experience with Microsoft's product landscape, solutions, and strategy to address customer's needs. Partners with internal industry experts (e.g., with industry teams, industry specific partners) to strengthen understanding of the industry. Leverages deep understanding of their customer to shares knowledge with virtual team and promote customer business perspectives.