Sales Manager

Blenheim Chalcot ,
London, Greater London
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Job Description

Title: Sales Manager This is a great role for an entrepreneurial sales professional to join, build and ultimately lead a vibrant team at a new start up. The successful candidate will be primarily responsible for accelerating the rate of sales growth through new customer acquisition and existing customer upgrade. The expectation is that this person will be the organisation's first full time salesperson and over time would be the person under or around whom a team would develop. This is an exciting time to join Researcher: we have spent the last 6 months testing advertising solutions for academic publishers via our platform. We have now passed proof of concept, have brilliant case studies and great customer feedback that is consistently resulting in upgrades after pilot phases. 100% of customers so far are upgrading, with an average order value increase of 56% above the pilot. We have now signed all of the Big 4 journal publishers as well as several smaller UK and US publishers. We are building an increasingly replicable B2B lead generation engine and our name is starting to get out there in the academic publisher community. This role would suit an experienced sales person with the ambition to transition from leading individual contributor (at the outset) to team leader in a classic player-coach role. The pace with which you are able to scale the revenues of the business will dictate the pace with which you ramp the team. The role will report to the CEO of Researcher and be a critical member of the management team. Key Accountabilities: * Achieve the monthly, quarterly and annual targets for new business * Develop strategic relationships with key clients in the Academic Publishing industry * Own the follow-up to marketing-generated leads, converting MQLs into SQLs and deals to achieve long-term relationships with customers * Independently generate your own pipeline of opportunities (via cold calling, networking, etc.), setting an example for other members of the sales team * Run both large and small pitches for new business and upgrades on existing business, owning proposal creation and client presentations, ensuring that presentations, collateral and other client facing materials are of the highest standard and tell a compelling story * Manage an effective handover to customer success to ensure customer service and growth objectives are met * Ensure pipeline is maintained and provide timely management reporting * Occasional travel and representation of Researcher at industry events * In coordination with the Head of Business Development (a role primarily focused on strategic relationships with Publishers and other service providers to the academic sector), drive revenue growth through the successful implementation of key customer sales strategies and creation of sales tactics * Interpret regional economic and market trends as they emerge and work with the Head of Business Development to develop plans, programs, and sales initiatives to meet changing market needs * Help to inform product development through market and client insights * At the appropriate phase in the scaling of the business, hire, train and build a high-performing sales team. This will involve setting targets, allocating quotas, running team meetings and 121s, managing individual contributor performance through training, coaching and performance management (while retaining a client list and continuing to lead by example as a lead contributor) and the other functions expected of sales management. Knowledge, Skills and Capabilities: * (Essential) A proven track record of selling services, technology and information solutions. Experience working with complex digital products * (Desirable) Experience selling to academic publishers and societies * The credibility required to open, nurture and solidify senior stakeholder / customer relationships, across multiple groups and organisational levels. * Demonstrable experience building insight into customers' needs in order to create matching solutions that will serve their marketing objectives. Ability to build a clear, measurable proposal that will resonate with the customer. * The commercial acumen and relationship-building ability to manage and generate revenue from existing customers * Strong negotiation skills to maximise return for Researcher in a way that continues to meet the client objectives. A proven closer. * Target-driven person motivated by beating monthly and quarterly targets. * (Desirable) Experience managing or coaching a small team and/or the desire to transition to become the business's commercial player-coach. * Willingness to grow with the business, from selling to leading * Ability to foresee, interpret and rapidly respond to market changes by adjusting strategies and realigning priorities accordingly * Ability to deal with the ambiguity / fluidity that comes with a start-up business that is in transformation * Excellent written, verbal, interpersonal and presentation skills Key P

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