Institutional Sales Manager

Born from a tradition of journalism and deeply engaged in innovative digital ventures, The Chronicle is powered by an essential mission: to inform, empower, and connect the people and institutions that work to improve society. Today, The Chronicle serves the higher-education community through the industry-leading news and information resource: The Chronicle of Higher Education.
     

Join The Chronicle Team!

The Chronicle of Higher Education is powered by an essential mission: to inform, empower, and connect the people and institutions that work to improve society. Today, The Chronicle serves the higher-education community through its industry-leading news and information resource: The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The Chronicle is seeking a Institutional Sales Manager, to join its Content Revenue team.

The Institutional Sales Manager is responsible for generating new business and growing The Chronicle of Higher Education’s site license business. This position owns the prospecting and new-business sales process from market identification and lead generation through outreach, qualification, proposal development, negotiation and close.

The Institutional Sales Manager will develop and manage a robust pipeline of prospective institutional clients, identify opportunities in both traditional and non-traditional markets, and build relationships with decision makers who can benefit from institutional access to The Chronicle’s journalism, research, and resources.

The position is responsible for acquiring new site license clients and expanding The Chronicle’s reach within its addressable institutional market; it is not responsible for managing or renewing existing site license accounts. 

What you’ll do:

• Identify potential institutional clients for The Chronicle of Higher Education through ongoing market research, account identification, and proactive prospecting.
• Develop and maintain targeted prospect lists using internal data, external research, industry resources, and other available sources.
• Conduct high-volume, personalized outbound prospecting through telephone calls, email, and other appropriate channels to generate qualified sales opportunities.
• Respond promptly to inbound inquiries and convert appropriate inquiries into qualified sales opportunities.
• Research prospective institutions to identify key resource procurement decision makers, organizational needs, buying cycles, business challenges, and potential opportunities for institutional access.
• Establish relationships with prospective clients and develop opportunities through the full new-business sales cycle, from initial contact through close.
• Educate prospects on the value and benefits of The Chronicle’s site license offering and demonstrate how institutional access can support the needs of their faculty, staff, administrators and other users.
• Qualify prospects, identify needs and pain points, overcome objections, and determine appropriate next steps toward purchase.
• Develop customized sales approaches and proposals based on the needs and characteristics of individual prospective institutions.
• Build, manage, and continuously refresh a robust pipeline of qualified new-business opportunities.
• Consistently meet or exceed monthly, quarterly, and annual prospecting, pipeline and new-business revenue goals.
• Analyze the market to identify new segments, institutions, and opportunities for site license growth.
• Develop creative and proactive strategies to increase qualified leads, sales opportunities, and new site license revenue.
• Maintain accurate account, contact, and opportunity information in the CRM and ensure all prospect activity and next steps are documented.
• Track and communicate pipeline activity, sales progress, anticipated closes and barriers to achieving goals.
• Gather and communicate market intelligence, including prospect needs, objections, competitive considerations and buying patterns, to inform sales and marketing strategies.
• Participate in relevant conferences, industry events, networking opportunities and other activities that support lead generation and new-business development.
• Collaborate with Marketing, Content Revenue, and other Chronicle sales teams on campaigns and initiatives designed to generate institutional leads and new business.
• Contribute to the development and refinement of prospecting strategies, sales messaging, and approaches based on marketplace feedback and results.

Qualifications:

• Bachelors degree and three to five years of experience in business development or related new business.
• Proven success in business development, prospecting, and new-business sales. Experience selling to higher education institutions, non-profits, associations or other complex organizations is a plus.
• Demonstrated ability to meet and exceed revenue and sales activity goals.
• Superior sales, objection-handling, and relationship-building skills.
• Strong ability to prospect, qualify leads, and develop opportunities from initial contact through close.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong research, organizational, and time-management skills.
• Persistence, initiative, and an entrepreneurial mindset.
• Ability to take ownership of a territory, pipeline, and revenue goal and work independently.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to manage multiple prospects and opportunities simultaneously.
• Ability to analyze markets and identify new business opportunities.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with colleagues across departments.
• Proficiency with CRM systems; experience with NetSuite or a comparable CRM preferred.

Work Environment & Physical Demands:

• Ability to perform work indoors in climate-controlled private work area with minimal noise, performing primarily sedentary work with limited physical exertion and lifting of up to 10 lbs.
• Ability to routinely perform work on computer for an average of 4-6 hours per day, when necessary.
• Ability to work extended hours whenever required or requested by management.
• Ability to travel on overnight and extended trips domestically and internationally. Ability to travel by commercial airlines, rental vehicles, and in public transportation. Ability to lodge in public facilities in foreign locations which may or may not have handicapped accommodations.

What’s in it for you? 

• Medical/Dental/Vision Plans
• 24 PTO Days + Company Holidays
• Paternal/Family/Adoption Leave
• 401K with Company Contribution & Profit Sharing
• Tuition Assistance
• And more!

The Chronicle is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and we are committed to creating a diverse work environment. We encourage members of underrepresented communities to apply.