Sales Manager

About to celebrate its 40th year, ECE is one of the most well-known and respected names in comparative international education. Our main product, an educational credential evaluation, is a report used by counselors, recruiters, registrars, and admissions officers in the U.S. and elsewhere to determine how the academic history of a foreign-educated individual matches up to American grading scales and standards. As the demand for talented professionals has increased around the world, hiring managers have increasingly relied on the expertise of ECE to review the credentials of employees. ECE is a medium-sized nonprofit organization with just under 100 employees.

**Sales Manager**

**Department:** Marketing **Location:** Milwaukee, WI

Celebrating its 40th year, ECE is one of the most well-known and respected names in comparative international education. Our main product, an educational credential evaluation, is a report used by counselors, recruiters, registrars, and admissions officers in the U.S. and elsewhere to determine how the academic history of a foreign-educated individual matches up to American grading scales and standards. As the demand for talented professionals has increased around the world, hiring managers have increasingly relied on the expertise of ECE to review the credentials of employees. ECE is a medium-sized nonprofit organization with just under 100 employees.

**Job Title:** Sales Manager

**Summary:** Manages a sales territory as a trusted representative for one of the most-trusted organizations supporting international education today. Cultivates business opportunities and generates relationships with ECEs primary and secondary markets: institutions (U.S. and Canadian colleges and universities), healthcare organizations, employers (corporations, staffing companies, background check organizations), professional associations, and international educational consultants/agents. Collaborates on a creative, dynamic marketing team supporting a mission-driven, service-obsessed, tech-powered nonprofit organization.

**Essential Duties and Responsibilities** include the following.

This position entails an 80/20 split between time spent on direct sales, marketing, and outward-facing communication (80%) and more internal-facing support, including research and special projects as assigned (20%).

Sales

Reporting to the Director of Sales & Market Development, this position is responsible for generating leads through various channels and transitioning them into customers. Including the Director, the Sales team consists of three individuals who are part of the larger Marketing team, led by a Senior Director.

Identifies appropriate contacts at prospective clients and initiates outreach with warm sales calls in a thoughtful, organized way. Tracks follow-up and adjusts outreach as needed. Responds to rejection with poise, consistent with ECEs brand as a trusted, collegial partner.

Drives revenue initiatives. Demonstrates an outstanding knowledge of all ECE products and services. Identifies prospects needs and explains ECE's value propositions relevant to those needs.

Contributes to continuous improvement efforts to optimize the sales function. Works with team members to develop new sales tools and makes recommendations for ongoing enhancements.

Client Relations

Primary: Nurtures relationships within a sales territory, consisting of one or more regions as defined by NAFSA: Association of International Educators. Works to become a recognized, trusted figure within that territory.

Secondary: Works with marketing leaders to grow new clients and explore untapped submarkets through research and relationship building. Leverages comparative advantages in products and processes as well as recent advancements in technology to open doors.

Creates a positive working relationship for both newly acquired and established clients by anticipating and responding to client needs with immediacy.

Asks insightful questions of clients to determine their unique needs relative to their industry. Based on a detailed understanding of ECE products and capabilities, suggests creative solutions to those needs.

Brand Promotion

Supports the established company image and reputation in the field. Represents ECE at conferences for business development purposes.

Research

Collects and develops market intelligence (*primary and secondary)* and identifies new business opportunities and targets.

Provides feedback to ECE about market trends, competitive threats, unmet needs, and opportunities to deliver greater value to customers by extending company offerings.

As a Manager, participates in other projects and initiatives of the Marketing team.

Technology

Works with customer relations management (CRM) system to manage sales activities by maintaining an active record of client touch points and follow-ups to ensure continued development of relationships.

Measures customer retention and tracks customer satisfaction in addition to acquisition.

Other duties may be assigned.

**C****ompetencies** To perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following competencies:

Business Acumen - Understands business implications of decisions, demonstrates knowledge of market and competition, aligns work with strategic goals, presents numerical data effectively, collects and researches data, uses intuition and experience to complement data.

Commitment & Responsibility - Keeps commitments, arrives at meeting and appointments on time, ensures work responsibilities are covered when absent, works independently or collaboratively depending on the situation, manages competing priorities.

Communication - Writes clearly, informatively, without error, and ensures ECEs style is represented in all communication, speaks clearly and persuasively, listens and gets clarification, responds well to questions, demonstrates presentation skills, demonstrates attention to detail and ensures that all communication adheres to ECE brand standards.

Customer Focus - Approaches others in a tactful manner, builds strong relationships, is flexible/adaptable, solicits and applies feedback, responds promptly to customer needs, shows respect and sensitivity for cultural differences, responds to requests within one business day.

Delivers Results - Demonstrates accuracy and thoroughness, meets productivity standards, completes work on time and within budget, develops, prioritizes, and plans work activities, demonstrates organization and project management skills.

Functional Expertise - Assesses own strengths and weaknesses, pursues training and development opportunities, strives to continuously build knowledge and skills through professional development opportunities, and shares expertise with others.

Organizational Focus- Follows policies and procedures, supports organization's goals and values, identifies external threats and opportunities to the company.

**Qualifications** To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Required Qualifications

Education and/or Experience

A bachelors degree and a minimum of 3-5 years of experience in sales or a related field, preferably in the higher education or credential evaluation industry.

Professional Experience

Experience with B2B sales is required. 3-5 years of experience in ECEs key market of college admissions or similar experience is a plus. 3+ years with one of the many third parties (vendors) who support education, healthcare or similar institutions (nonprofit, study abroad, software, compliance, staffing) is a bonus.

Experience in (or strong knowledge of) one of ECEs secondary markets (healthcare compliance, human res