I am an Account Development Executive based in MuleSoft’s London office. The Account Development team’s focus is the top of the sales funnel, creating strong opportunities for the Field Sales team.
What is your favorite thing about working on the Account Development team at MuleSoft?
Since joining MuleSoft over a year ago, our Account Development (AD) team in London has grown significantly. It’s been fantastic to work with new ADs and help them to be successful. Whether it’s their first connect with someone from the C-suite, or they successfully explain to a key contact the power of our approach to integration for that person’s business, or just laughing together after a bad call, it’s amazing to see how quickly people grow in the role.
It’s that power of our team working together which makes this job so special.
What’s the most interesting problem you’re working on solving right now?
The AD team works to source new opportunities which means we’re the ones out there on the phone, email, and social media talking to people about how MuleSoft can help them.
Each AD has a hybrid role. That means we work both with inbound leads – people who have expressed interest in MuleSoft – as well as work on outbounding into target accounts to explain how our unique approach to integration can help the company with their ongoing business initiatives.
With this hybrid role, the most interesting puzzle for ADs to solve is how to engage with people across different roles and industries and provide them a clear depiction of MuleSoft’s value proposition in relation to that person’s need and that company’s business goals.
How did you become an Account Development Executive?
During university, I worked as a caller in our college’s fundraising campaigns. I loved hearing about people’s time there and how they wanted to donate to help secure its future. That opportunity was a great initiation into sales, and something I wanted to do more of in my career.
After finishing my Master’s, I was looking for sales roles in the tech industry and was contacted by the Account Development team at MuleSoft. Seeing the wide range of MuleSoft customers – from the likes of Unilever to Wells Fargo – was a key validation of its growing role in the market.
The interviews showed the high caliber of people who work here and their passion for challenging the status quo, a crucial dynamic for any company looking to scale at speed. I was selected for the role, and the rest is history…!
Why did you choose to come work for MuleSoft?
Tech is such a disruptive industry and it’s fantastic to be part of a company growing so quickly. Although people talk about working ‘in tech’, I think there are two categories which we should consider: ‘nice to haves’ or ‘need to haves.’
MuleSoft certainly falls into the latter camp. With the disruption in the market, businesses need to ensure that they can innovate faster than their competitors. Integrating different applications in a composable way is fundamental to that need and that’s what MuleSoft’s tech and our approach to integration addresses.
Being a ‘need to have’ gives us the opportunity to speak to senior leadership teams about the key challenges they face, rather than offering a technology which would be a pleasant addition, but isn’t going to shape the company’s trajectory.
Take us through a typical day in the life.
I arrive in the office around 8am and have a bowl of porridge – definitely need the energy for the day!
Then it’s time to start calling, as I often find people prefer to talk with us before their busy schedule during the 9-5. The rest of the day is filled with further calls, thinking about which accounts we should prioritize, and responding to emails. There’s never a dull moment!
What 3 things are always on your desk and why?
Laptop and phone are essential – how else are you going to contact people?!?
I also have my to-do list to ensure I’m intentional about the day and that I’m correctly prioritizing work.
Finally, I have a few fun pictures of our team from our MuleSoft MeetUp, an annual company-wide gathering where we set celebrate wins and dissect losses from the previous year and the direction for the upcoming one. MeetUp is a fantastic event where you meet Muleys from across the globe and can learn so much from being all together in one place – the disco night isn’t bad either, although some of the dancing is!
What teams do you work with most, and how do you collaborate?
There are three teams we work with most: Account Executives, the Partner Team, and Customer Success.
Account Executives (AEs)
Account Executives are the sales team who take opportunities that ADs open through the rest of the sales cycle. That doesn’t mean we just open a conversation and run – it’s a very collaborative relationship between ADs and AEs where we prospect accounts together, decide who we think are key mobilizers, and work together to help people understand more about MuleSoft throughout the sales cycle.
Partner Team
MuleSoft has a well-established partner ecosystem and our Partner Team builds relationships with these companies. With our on the ground knowledge of what’s happening in target accounts, we work with our partner team to ensure that all stakeholders are aligned.
Customer Success
The Customer Success team works to ensure that MuleSoft customers gain the most benefit of using the platform. ADs help with this effort, and we work with Customer Success to help contact key stakeholders to make sure that they are successful with us.
What’s your favorite activity outside of the office?
In April I completed the London Marathon – I’ve never been so tired! Since then, I’ve really enjoyed keeping up with running, definitely with shorter courses.
In fact, last weekend members of our London MuleSoft team completed a 5k fun-run for our Muleys Give Back month where we’ve been raising money for local charities. Even though the course length wasn’t as long as the marathon, was still quite tired at the end!
What’s the latest technology you’ve learned to use?
We have some really great new sales prospecting tools we’re using – we always like to stay ahead!
What’s your proudest accomplishment in your role here so far?
An extremely satisfying part of my job has been seeing the full sales cycle of one of our key strategic accounts. This company is now using MuleSoft to underpin fundamental changes in the way that they operate and improve how the business interacts with customers. Being part of that conversation and to start seeing the results has been a highlight.
Our Account Development team is growing! Learn more about the team and where you can make an impact.
