The short answer
Account executive tools are the software AEs use to run deals: research and call prep, meeting notes and conversation intelligence, decks and proposals, deal tracking in the CRM, and follow-up. For many AEs the biggest time savers are an AI notetaker that drafts recaps and CRM notes, and a way to tailor decks and one-pagers to each buyer without starting over.
On this page
- The Account Executive Toolkit by Deal Stage
- Call Prep Tools: Walk In Knowing the Account
- Discovery Tools: Listen Instead of Typing
- Collateral Tools: Send Something Worth Forwarding
- Deal Tracking and Follow-Up Tools
- Which Account Executive Tools Save the Most Time
- Tailored Collateral for Every Deal, Without the Rebuild
- Prep any account and build its deck or one-pager in one request
- FAQ
Key takeaways
Prep shapes the call: Ten focused minutes of account prep shapes the whole discovery call. Use tools that put what changed at the account in front of you.
Let software take notes: An AI notetaker lets you listen instead of type, and drafts the recap and CRM update for you to check.
Tailor collateral per buyer: A deck or one-pager built around the buyer's problem gets forwarded internally. A generic one gets skimmed.
One source of deal truth: Keep next steps, stakeholders and risks in the CRM, not in your head or a notebook.
The Account Executive Toolkit by Deal Stage
Every AE tool should serve one stage of the deal. Map your stack against this table and you'll spot the gaps and the overlaps in a couple of minutes.
| Deal stage | The AE's job | Tool category | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prep | Know the account before the call | Research and CRM history | LinkedIn Sales Navigator, your CRM, AI research tools |
| Discovery | Ask well and capture everything | Notetakers and conversation intelligence | Fathom, Gong |
| Demo and collateral | Show their problem being solved | Decks, one-pagers, sales rooms | Slide tools, Dock, collateral generators |
| Proposal | Make it easy to say yes | Proposals and e-signature | PandaDoc |
| Deal tracking | Know what's confirmed and what's missing | CRM and deal management | Salesforce, HubSpot, Outreach, Salesloft |
| Follow-up | Keep momentum between meetings | Email, scheduling and tasks | Calendly, your sequencer, CRM tasks |
Most AEs already own half of this. The real question is which gap costs you the most hours, so the rest of this guide goes stage by stage.
Call Prep Tools: Walk In Knowing the Account
Prep is where discovery calls are won or lost. Ten focused minutes beats an hour of scattered tabs. A call prep template keeps it structured.
- Your CRM history first. Earlier conversations, open opportunities and who you've already spoken to.
- Sales Navigator for people. Who's attending, how long they've been in the role and who else to bring into the deal.
- The account's own words. Website, newsroom and careers page. Note what changed and how they describe their customers.
- An AI sales assistant. Summarizes the account and suggests angles. Our guide to the AI sales assistant covers what to expect. Verify anything you plan to repeat to the buyer.
Write three call goals before you join. One thing to learn, one thing to confirm and one next step to ask for. Whatever tools you use, the output should fit on one screen:
Account: [company] | Meeting: [date, type] | Attendees: [names, roles]
What changed: [news, hires, launches in the last 90 days]
Their words: [how they describe their customers or goals]
Where we are: [stage, last conversation, open questions from the CRM]
Goal 1 (learn): [question]
Goal 2 (confirm): [assumption to test]
Goal 3 (next step): [specific ask, with a date]
Risk: [competitor, budget timing, missing stakeholder]
Discovery Tools: Listen Instead of Typing
For most AEs, an AI notetaker is the fastest win in the whole stack. It records the call, drafts the summary and pulls out next steps, so your attention stays on the buyer.
- Notetakers. Tools like Fathom record Zoom, Google Meet and Teams calls, summarize them and sync notes to Salesforce or HubSpot.
- Conversation intelligence. Platforms like Gong analyze recorded conversations across deals, which also helps managers coach.
- A question bank. Keep your best discovery call questions in one doc, grouped by stage of the conversation.
- A qualification framework. Map what you hear to a framework such as MEDDIC, so the gaps in a deal are obvious.
Always get consent to record. Tell attendees at the start and follow your company's policy and local law.
Collateral Tools: Send Something Worth Forwarding
Your champion has to resell you to people you'll never meet. What you leave behind does that selling, so it has to be about their problem, not your feature list.
- Tailored pitch decks. Five to eight slides built around the buyer's situation. The personalized pitch deck guide covers the structure.
- One-pagers. Often the asset that gets forwarded to finance or the executive sponsor. See what belongs on a sales one-pager.
- Digital sales rooms. Tools like Dock collect decks, proposals and plans in one shared space. Our digital sales room guide explains when they're worth it.
- Proposals and contracts. PandaDoc and similar tools build proposals and quotes from CRM data and collect e-signatures.
Rebuilding the same deck for every buyer is the hidden time sink. Keep one master deck, then swap in the buyer's problem, their numbers and the most relevant proof point. If your team is choosing a platform for this, compare sales enablement tools by category first.
Deal Tracking and Follow-Up Tools
If it isn't in the CRM, it didn't happen. Your forecast is only as good as the next steps, stakeholders and risks recorded against each deal.
- CRM deal views. Salesforce or HubSpot pipelines with required fields for next step and close plan.
- Deal management layers. Outreach and Salesloft add deal views and AI help on top of the CRM.
- Mutual action plans. A shared list of dates and owners from both sides keeps a deal honest.
- Scheduling links. Calendly and similar tools remove the back-and-forth for meetings with several people.
Send a recap the same day. Restate the problem in their words, what you agreed and the next date. Your notetaker can draft it; this structure keeps it short:
Subject: [Company] and [your company]: recap and next steps
Hi [name], thanks for the time today. What I heard:
1. [Problem, in their words]
2. [Impact: the number or consequence they mentioned]
3. [What a good outcome looks like, and by when]
Next steps:
[Owner]: [action] by [date]
[Owner]: [action] by [date]
Here's a [one-pager / deck link] you can share with [stakeholder].
Did I miss anything?
For post-demo variations, see the sales follow-up after demo templates.
Which Account Executive Tools Save the Most Time
Rank tools by hours saved per deal, not by features. Here's a practical order for a typical mid-market AE running several active deals:
- AI notetaker. Removes manual notes and drafts the recap after every call.
- Tailored collateral. Cuts the hour spent rebuilding decks and one-pagers for each buyer.
- CRM activity capture. Auto-logging emails and meetings removes end-of-day data entry.
- Scheduling links. Small per meeting, large across a quarter.
- Proposal tools. Biggest on deals with complex pricing or many approvers.
Your order may differ. Log a week of your own time first. If proposals eat more hours than calls, move them up.
Tailored Collateral for Every Deal, Without the Rebuild
The prep-and-collateral loop repeats on every deal. Research the account, rebuild the deck, write the one-pager, then do it again for the next meeting.
Edithly shortens that loop. Paste the prospect's website and ask for a pitch deck, one-pager or call script, and it builds the asset around their business, on your brand. Each visual is shared as a link with a view count, so you can see whether it's being opened after the meeting.
It works alongside your CRM, notetaker and proposal tool rather than replacing them. See how it fits your day on the Edithly for account executives page.
How Edithly does it
Prep any account and build its deck or one-pager in one request
Paste a prospect's website into Edithly's Home box and ask for what the next meeting needs. It researches the account and builds a pitch deck, one-pager or call script around their situation, on your brand.
- 1
Ask in the Home box
Paste the prospect's site with a one-line request, such as 'pitch deck and one-pager for Brightline Health's COO, focused on onboarding speed'.
- 2
Send and approve credits
Send it. Answer a follow-up question if the assistant asks one, or click Continue to approve credits.
- 3
Open, then share the link
Open the result cards to review each asset, then copy the share link into your follow-up email. Each shared visual shows a view count.
Ask Edithly
Ready
- Reading acme.com
- One pager ready
- Open
- Copy link
- By hand
- 45 to 90 minutes per deal to research and tailor a deck and one-pager
- With Edithly
- A few minutes per deal for a tailored draft you review
Frequently asked questions
What tools do account executives use?
Most AEs work in a CRM such as Salesforce or HubSpot, record calls with conversation intelligence or an AI notetaker such as Gong or Fathom, build decks and one-pagers in slide tools or collateral generators, send proposals with tools like PandaDoc and book meetings with a scheduling link. Many also use LinkedIn Sales Navigator for research and multi-threading.
What is the most useful tool for an account executive?
After the CRM, an AI notetaker or conversation intelligence tool often saves the most time, because it captures discovery details, drafts the recap and fills in CRM notes. The next biggest saving for many AEs is collateral: tailoring decks and one-pagers to each buyer without rebuilding them from scratch every time.
How do account executives prepare for a sales call?
Review the CRM history and earlier call notes, check what changed at the account (news, hires, launches), confirm who is attending and their roles, then write three goals for the call and the questions that test them. Ten to fifteen focused minutes is usually enough for a first discovery call.
Do account executives need a digital sales room?
Not always. Digital sales rooms such as Dock collect the deck, proposal, plan and recordings in one shared space for the buying group. They help most on complex deals with several stakeholders. For simpler deals, a tailored one-pager and a clear recap email often do the job.
How does Edithly help account executives?
Edithly builds tailored assets for each deal. Paste a prospect's website and ask, and it writes a call script with discovery questions or builds an on-brand pitch deck, one-pager or landing page around that account. You share each visual as a link with a view count. It doesn't replace your CRM, notetaker or proposal tool.