We are looking for a passionate, strategic and driven Regional Sales Manager with an affinity for educational-technology, coaching teams and relationship building to join our dynamic sales team. In this critical role, you will act as a strategic partner to our Sales Reps by developing targeted and nuanced action plans geared towards growing business and penetrating new accounts within the K-12 market. In addition, you will manage, build and mentor a team of inside and field based sales professionals and oversee all pre and post sales administrative processes (such as contracts, RFP’s and large bids and State-wide adoptions). Our ideal candidate has excellent sales leadership, consultative-selling, account mapping, territory management, presentation, relationship building and strategic thinking skills coupled with significant experience with education-technology products (k12) and is able to display a high level of creativity and agility to support a team in winning business. A passion for foreign languages and learning is a plus!
Duties and Responsibilities:
Develop plans and strategies for Reps in assigned region to meet and exceed sales goals; review and calibrate account/ territory/ regional strategies as needed to further ensure success
Successfully partner with Sales Reps to identify new opportunities, analyze territory activity and strategize tactics for growing/ winning business and achieving aggressive sales goals. This includes targeting, prospecting, conducting sales calls and coaching MLS team on how to support and service sales and deliver effective customer training.
Develop sales plans that are closely aligned with territory, department and company goals
Build relationships with internal stakeholders, educators as well as current and potential customers
Establish a strong understanding of our dynamic suite of foreign language products and the specific needs of schools within a variety of territories in the K-12 space
Build sales dashboards and other activity reports to present to senior leadership and analyze
Support Sales Reps in conducting sales presentations, client visits and calls for larger accounts when needed
Manage the follow-up activities on adoptions and contracts ensuring that all necessary steps are completed successfully
Research technology requirements for adoptions
Manage and coordinate external resources (scheduling freelancers and assigning tasks)
Effectively leverage and allocate Sales Support resources to bolster team success
Utilize Salesforce.com to build an effective territory database for analysis and planning; ensure all opportunities are properly created, tracked and updated in Saleforce.com by team
Manage, build, train and coach inside/ outside sales team and sales support specialists
Effectively partner with internal and external stakeholders as necessary
Required Skills, Knowledge & Experience:
BA/ BS degree from a 4 year accredited University or equivalent
Must be self-motivated and have 10+ years of sales experience in the publishing/ education (K-12) market coupled with a solid track record of leading a successful sales team (at least 3 years in a sales manager role)
Proven track record of exceeding aggressive sales goals
Experience with education-technology products and a good understanding of digital tools
Demonstrated ability to effectively manage and define sales roadmap for large accounts and to translate big picture goals to actionable objectives for reps at varying levels of experience
A strong ‘player – coach’ mentality
Experience with long sales cycles
Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills; ability to effectively communicate, motivate, present and build relationships with a variety of personality types, audiences and contexts
Ability to analyze business opportunities, territory and market activity and develop actionable strategic account acquisition and growth plans for Sales Reps to execute
Mastery of a variety of sales and presentation techniques
Excellent strategic thinking, territory management, prospecting, sales and analytical skills
Advanced knowledge of Salesforce.com
Some knowledge of education funding a plus
Ability to travel, up to 30%
A true team-player who is focused, strategic, and has a desire to support a team in achieving aggressive goals and is a “glass half full” thinker
Working knowledge of Spanish and or French (a strong plus)
Why Join Us:
Why join us? We at Vista Higher Learning are proud to say that we’re not just another publisher. We’re the leading specialized language publisher for U.S. and Canadian higher education and secondary school markets whose first-hand knowledge of languages and diverse cultures sets us apart from other publishers. We’re passionate about developing educational materials that incorporate authenticity and culture. We bring a fresh new approach to teaching languages by integrating technology, design, content, and pedagogy to make learning easier, more practical, and more rewarding. With current programs in Spanish, French, Italian and German Vista Higher Learning is committed to helping people communicate across languages and cultures.
Our Benefits:
Our benefits package includes life/health/dental/vision insurance, 401(k), educational assistance, PTO and paid holidays.
Vista Higher Learning is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.
