Sales Consultant - Inside

Inside Sales Consultant

Department : Inside Sales

Reports To : Director, Inside Sales

FLSA Status : Non-Exempt, Hourly

Position Summary :

As an Inside Sales Consultant for Highlights Education Group (Zaner-Bloser), you will identify new prospects and interact with existing customers to increase sales and market penetration.

You will represent our company's educational products and services, starting with a deep and comprehensive understanding coupled with target market research to reinforce how our solutions meet stakeholder needs.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities :

• Achieve annual revenue goals.
• Ability to manage complex sales cycles (3-9+ months) and multiple buying personas across an account.
• Manage all aspects of the new business sales cycle (lead generation, presentation, commitment, etc.)
• Utilize all forms of lead-generating practices (cold-calls, referrals, networking, etc.) and effectively qualify viable new business opportunities.
• Develop a strong knowledge of Zaner-Bloser products and their capabilities along with an understanding of competitive products.
• Uncover prospect needs and goals to deliver a solution that aligns with their needs.
• Create strong relationships with all stakeholders throughout strategic accounts.
• Collaborate frequently with colleagues throughout the organization.
• Develop and manage a sales pipeline that leads to closed revenue and quota attainment.
• Demonstrate a hunter-mentality while building strategic partnerships.
• Ability to travel 65% of the time.

What you should show up ready to teach anyone on your first day :

• Knowledge about, and passion for, PK-5 needs in the marketplace.
• Ability to nurture long-term relationships in strategic accounts, understanding needs and continuing to build business partnerships and having strong communication skills with both customers and colleagues.
• Develop and execute a strategic territory plan to achieve new business revenue targets (drive to win mentality)
• Demonstrate business acumen including lead generation, pipeline management, and forecasting.
• Lead with positive intent and curiosity.
• Superior presentation skills

Within your three months, you'll :

• Ensure you have a Territory Action Plan
• Learn how Zaner-Bloser's suite of supplemental solutions enables impactful, joyful learning.
• Build understanding of our sales cycle and pipeline accuracy using Salesforce
• Identify educational market conditions, including competitive intelligence, and apply this knowledge to your territory sales strategy and tactics.
• Establish a cadence of communication with your sales and professional learning team members.
• Meet colleagues in cross-functional departments to build relationships.
• Begin prospecting and lead follow-up

Within your first year, you'll :

• Proactively assess customer needs to recommend items or alternatives to improve transaction profitability and increase customer satisfaction.
• Actively work towards achieving your territory new business revenue target
• Deepen your product knowledge to uncover customer need and deliver customer-centric presentations to win new business.
• Meet with current customers to establish relationships in strategic accounts.
• Gain referrals to strategic prospects.
• Develop and execute strategic and effective territory planning based on data and market conditions that bridge to financial goals.
• Foster alignment by working collaboratively and cross-functionally to meet revenue and leadership goals.
• Work within a territory budget for samples, customer events, conferences, marketing requests, and travel for maximum effectiveness.

Supervisory Responsibilities : None

Education and Experience :

• Bachelors' Degree or equivalent experience in sales.
• Minimum 5 years' experience selling educational solutions to K-12 schools and districts.

Qualifications :

• Demonstrated knowledge of K-12 sales cycle and market trends
• Proven track record of consistently achieving new business revenue targets.
• A customer-centric, solution-selling mindset with demonstrated success in driving the highest levels of customer experience.
• Entrepreneurial spirit : Drive, Initiative, persistence, flexibility, and resilience
• Excellent collaboration and communication skills
• Experience with Customer Relationship Management Tools (Salesforce preferred)
• Experience with strategic territory planning
• Excellent time-management and organizational skills
• Preference for candidates with well established relationships

Physical Requirements :

• Prolonged periods sitting at a desk and working on a computer.
• Must be able to lift including up to 15 pounds at times.

Highlights for Children provides reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities. Please tell us if you require a reasonable accommodation to apply for a job or to perform your job.

Examples of reasonable accommodation include making a change to the application process or work procedures, providing documents in an alternate format, using a sign language interpreter, or using specialized equipment.