Account Executive - Minnesota

Thousand Oaks, CA, United States

Please note : Sage is specifically looking for candidates who are based in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area . Candidates must be able to travel 50% of the time, including overnight travel, during the peak selling seasons.

Overview:

The Account Executive in Sage US College Sales strategically calls on Higher Education faculty within a designated geographical territory to drive market share growth and usage of Sage digital and print course materials in key disciplines.

Primary responsibilities include:

• Hunting for new business to increase market share • Conducting well-structured consultative sales calls that lead to closed business • Persuasively demonstrating technology product capabilities • Establishing partnerships with key customers and stakeholders Successful Account Executives systematically manage a large geographic territory using in-person and virtual approaches, create leads and progress opportunities through their pipelines daily, and juxtapose account growth outreach with maintenance activities which ultimately results in successful adoption and retention of Sage course material products.

Essential Job Functions & Responsibilities:

Sales

The strategic territory selling plan is created with the help and direction of Sales Management:

Reps conduct high quality sales calls and technology demonstrations using professional consultative selling techniques. During peak selling seasons, daily travel to assigned campuses is required.

Sales calls are made via well-planned strategic campus visits, video calls, telephone, and email exchanges.

Identify and create new sales leads in assigned territory each selling season; proactively sell to those identified targets with the goal of taking market share, while retaining existing business to meet your annual sales goal.

Utilize sales technology tools within the course of daily selling. Be able to nimbly utilize technology and use the insights it provides to accelerate pipeline movement and market share growth.

Grow market share at the territory and key title level each selling season; strong internal collaboration is necessary to achieve success.

Successfully demonstrate Sage technology and utilize sales enablement tools to be competitive and win new business in sales calls.

Progress opportunities through the sales pipeline daily and ensure data meets quality standards.

Be curious, solutions-oriented, persuasive, and resilient as you meet the needs of prospects and customers in a timely manner.

During peak selling seasons, position demands 40+ hour work weeks.

Product and Market Knowledge

Communicate market feedback and product information to Product, Technology, and Sales Management Teams.

Development deep product knowledge through learning programs to be able to persuasively articulate value proposition of products in a competitive landscape. Address objections and answer questions of prospective customers effectively independently or via specialized team members.

Provide Product Teams with market development leads, faculty advocates, and potential textbook authors. Planning, Reporting, and Database Maintenance

Strategically execute and complete Lead Generation (identifying courses, decision makers, enrollments, and text-in-use information) for targeted course markets at accounts identified within assigned territory.

Track sales opportunities in the CRM to prioritize your pipeline, achieve sales success, and optimize revenue.

Strategically plan campus outreach via campus visits/video calls/phone calls, complete expense reports on a timely basis and manage annual travel and expense budget effectively.

Conference Attendance/Business Travel

Daily full day and overnight travel is required to key accounts during peak selling seasons.

Required to attend bi-annual sales meeting and other company-wide meetings as required by Management.

Customer/Author Relations

Provide excellent customer service when dealing with potential or existing customers by providing information, resources, and troubleshooting in a timely manner.

When communicating with customers and authors, take appropriate actions to ensure they have a positive experience and image of the company.

Effectively utilize current customers to upsell, cross-sell and referral sell when working with installed base of business.

Qualifications & Education Required:

Bachelor’s degree with evidence of high academic achievement.

Demonstrated record of success in academic and professional background.

2+ years outbound inside or field sales experience required.; creative, persuasive, competitive, strategic, and persistent sales demeanor.

Strong technology demonstration skills.

Dedicated work ethic (workload regularly exceeds 40 hours/week during peak selling seasons and must be willing to work hours needed and to travel based upon assigned geography).

Must be equally adept at working independently and within a team environment

Proficient in PC environment and must possess working knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, database applications and PowerPoint.

Excellent written, oral, and presentation skills.

Superior time management, decision-making and organizational skills with strong attention to detail.

Ability to be flexible and adapt quickly and creatively to changing business needs.

Pay Transparency & Benefits Package:

Sage Publishing is committed to being an inclusive employer where all individuals are treated with fairness and respect. Sage is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer.

Compensation at Sage is influenced by several factors, including but not limited to skill set, nature and level of experience, qualifications, and other relevant considerations. We anticipate the minimum full-time salary range for this position to be between $66,000.00 - $75,000.00. Please note that the compensation details listed in U.S. role postings reflect the base salary only and do not include bonuses or benefits. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range and additional aspects of the compensation/benefits package for this position during the hiring process. If your desired salary falls outside of this range, we hope you'll still apply as there may be other positions that better align.

In addition to compensation, Sage offers a highly competitive and comprehensive PPO medical, dental, and vision care benefits package with Sage covering most of the premium costs. Unique program benefits that support a healthy life, a company-sponsored anniversary trip every 5 years, a 401(k)-matching program of 100% up to 5% of pay, and other significant meaningful benefits. In alignment with our value for education, Sage offers financial support for bachelor's and graduate-level degree programs as well as learning for personal interest.

Sage offers freedom and autonomy in your day-to-day with hybrid or remote work, depending on the role. Join the nearly 2,000 Sage employees worldwide who deliver products and services that serve to fulfill our noble goal of education and dissemination of knowledge globally. We’d love to meet you!

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Sage Publishing is committed to being an inclusive employer where all individuals are treated with fairness and respect, regardless of age, disability, gender identity, marriage and partnership status, pregnancy and parental responsibilities, race, religion and belief, sex, or sexual orientation.

We believe that diversity is a cornerstone of a vibrant culture. We want Sage to be an organization where the most talented staff and high-potential staff are recruited, have the opportunity to grow, and want to work. We strive to achieve a better representation of diverse talent at all levels, including leadership, across our workforce.

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