Account Executive (Public Sales)

Manages a defined set of accounts serving as the primary influencer in purchasing decisions.

Engages Portfolio Solution Engineers to enhance the sales process. Engages specialist teams, particularly in non-core secure networking areas, where deep competitive positioning and technical expertise is required.

About Cisco

Why Cisco?

• At Cisco, we’re revolutionizing how data and infrastructure connect and protect organizations in the AI era – and beyond.
• We’ve been innovating fearlessly for 40 years to create solutions that power how humans and technology work together across the physical and digital worlds.
• These solutions provide customers with unparalleled security, visibility, and insights across the entire digital footprint.
• Fueled by the depth and breadth of our technology, we experiment and create meaningful solutions.
• Add to that our worldwide network of doers and experts, and you’ll see that the opportunities to grow and build are limitless.
• We work as a team, collaborating with empathy to make really big things happen on a global scale.
• Because our solutions are everywhere, our impact is everywhere.
• We are Cisco, and our power starts with you.

Responsibilities

• Builds and sustains strong, long-term relationships with customers.
• Collaborates with customers to understand their business goals, identify opportunities for upsell/cross-sell additional solutions, and create demand based on what's possible in customer roadmaps.
• Serves as the Account Orchestrator, aligning and integrating solutions with customer needs, driving sustainable cross-portfolio growth through coordination and competitive deal packing.
• Typically serves multiple domains or product areas across a portfolio or set of accounts.
• Maintains a comprehensive understanding of Cisco’s full product portfolio to articulate Cisco's overall product strategy and how it is differentiated in the market in response to customer outcomes.
• Has a deep focus on core secure networking technologies including switching, wireless, and routing.
• Builds the sales funnel through good opportunity prospecting and drives opportunities through to sales completion to achieve revenue goals.
• Ensures funnel is accurately represented in Cisco's CRM tools.
• Analyses data and creates forecasts to set weekly, monthly, and quarterly sales commitments.
• Stays informed about industry trends, market dynamics, and competitive landscapes
• Typically prospects new deals and develops portfolio within accounts: With significant territory size, and customers in high segmentation tiers (e.g., Key and Premier Accounts) Primarily with C-suite executives including senior level management and decision makers
• Integrates multiple dynamic inputs (e.g., customer feedback, product dependencies, product performance) to maintain thorough knowledge of current customers and prospects
• Identifies customer(s) key decision makers and leverages an understanding of their unique perspectives, and priorities
• Regularly utilizes and leverages market trends and competitive insights to develop and deliver compelling demos and other customer-facing materials
• Elevates customer conversations with value-added insights, competitive analysis, and transformative solutions that drive measurable outcomes
• Acts as a strategic advisor to executive-level, high-value leaders (IT and CXOs) influencing key business decisions
• Negotiates utilizing a consultative approach, customizing terms, and effectively addressing customer objections, and secures commitment to next steps in every interaction
• Designs and presents a customer-first strategy, ensures account plans are informed by and aligned with portfolio plans Leads the account planning process and strategically engages partners/key stakeholders and drives expansion strategies
• Analyzes CRM data, sales performance reports, and workflow trends and co-creates enhancement plans Partners with RevOps, finance, procurement and IT teams to implement enhancement plans, refine sales workflows and reduce bottlenecks
• Champions cross-architecture collaboration to solve complex customer challenges
• Delivery of business value to both End Users and Partners.

Requirements

• Specialization and Focus - Generalist, with knowledge of the full product portfolio but with expertise in the core secure networking portfolio including switching, wireless, routing and firewall.
• Additional dependencies on size and complexity of account, particular franchise focus (architectural, product or opportunity aligned ) may be relevant
• Customer Engagement and Accountability - Primary influencer and account owner, except if the customer relationship is held by a CE/CD.
• The Internal Sales Process - All deal stages.
• Spends most of the time between prospect/qualification and proposal of the deal Corporate Interlock - Low corporate interlock (High in SP, Moderate in Enterprise, Low in Commercial) Typical Sales Cycle - Medium Sales complexity.
• Variable deal size, can be between $50K to $750K (over $1M for SP) Success Measures - Sustained portfolio growth, account growth, account retention What You'll Do Leads complex deal cycles with substantial business contributions.
• Bachelors + 7 years of related experience, or Masters + 4 years of related experience, or PhD + 1 year of related experience

Preferred

• Qualifications Ability to position end-to-end Cisco strategies and solutions to senior customer executives.
• Strong technical and business knowledge with complimentary skills to understand the customers’ business drivers and then align them to Cisco solutions.
• Ambitious self-starter with ability to articulate Cisco product and business strategies and generate the demand to complete the deal.
• Passion, integrity, trust, leadership and execution.

Average length of deal is 3-6 months but can be as long as 12-18 months in more complex accounts/opportunities.