What methods do you use to get new clients? What do you find works best?
The interviewer asks this question to see if you are usually given a book of business or if you have worked with cold clients or done cold calls in the past. Many times an account executive has to perform cold calls and reach out to new clients that have never been contacted prior. They want to see if you have ever made a cold call along with your confidence and comfort level in doing them.
Avoid discussing that you have made cold calls if you haven't, always be honest with your experience. Do not try and make up a cold call success story if you have never had one. If you do the interviewer will probe you more on this question and will end up being able to tell that you have never performed a successful one.
If you have go-to methods, then share an example of the most successful or memorable way you gained a new client. Discuss the top two methods that you always try first to gain new clients and why they have been successful for you. Give an example of how you think you would try to gain new clients in the role that you're interviewing for.
"I have a couple of success stories of gaining new clients that I am pretty proud of. In my role as an account executive in my last role, I was able to add around five new clients per month by using this one method. I connected with professionals in ABC space which wasn't the most obvious client for us but I knew that if I could discuss how other areas of their business would benefit from our marketing platform then their conversions would increase. By providing strong evidence and testimonials, I was able to increase my new client business by 15% each year."