Higher Ed - Inside Sales Specialist

Vista Higher Learning • Full-time • Hybrid in Boston, Massachusetts, United States • $60,000 - $70,000 / year • 5d ago

Fast Facts

We are seeking a goal-oriented Inside Sales Specialist to join our team and expand our customer base within higher education. Enjoy a dynamic role focused on driving sales growth while providing exceptional customer support for our language learning products.

Responsibilities: Key responsibilities include achieving sales goals, developing relationships with customers, providing pre- and post-sales support, and managing sales activities within assigned accounts.

Skills: Required skills include a Bachelor’s degree, 3+ years in sales, exceptional communication abilities, and experience with CRM tools. Consultative selling and strong organizational skills are also essential.

Qualifications: Preferred qualifications include experience with Salesforce and a strong background in educational publishing or ed-tech.

Location: This position is based in Boston, MA with a hybrid schedule requiring 3 in-office days and remote work on the remaining days.

Compensation: $60000 - $70000 / Annually

WHO ARE YOU? You are goal-oriented and self-motivated. Your strengths include building relationships, consultative selling and maintaining a customer centric mindset. And you enjoy serving as a product ambassador while driving organizational success.

WHO ARE WE? We are passionate, innovative, lifelong learners, and creative thinkers working to develop culturally authentic language learning products for K-12 schools and universities.

WHAT’S THE ROLE ABOUT? As one of our Inside Sales Specialists, you will be focused on expanding the customer base within the assigned higher education sales accounts. You will be responsible for driving sales growth, managing all related sales activities, and providing comprehensive pre- and post-sales support to ensure customer satisfaction and retention.

WHY IS THIS EXCITING? We are a growth-minded organization adding to our sales team in our continuous effort to have a positive impact on students, educators and administrators by providing language learning resources.

IN THIS ROLE YOU WILL:

Consistently achieve sales goals by winning new business/ adoptions and increasing sales within existing accounts (upselling and cross selling).
Develop and maintain comprehensive and accurate understanding of VHL digital and print product suite, assigned territory, market and the specific needs of customers.
Successfully use consultative selling and active listening skills to understand customer needs and align product offerings to support desired outcomes of the customer to win business.
Bridge communication gaps and create compelling value-added propositions to engage customers and help secure business.
Leverage comprehensive account and product knowledge to develop and present compelling presentations for diverse customer audiences.
Build strong relationships and use well-developed product, market and customer knowledge to establish and maintain long-term and impactful relationships with educators, current customers and potential clients.
Effectively and strategically manage and map territory, develop successful account penetration strategies and employ “smart selling” techniques.
Prepare and present persuasive and targeted sales and training presentations for both print and digital programs.
Prepares presentations and demonstrations for products to conduct via webinar to customers.
Demonstrates skill and discipline around managing presentation time, leaving time for questions and creating a compelling value proposition.
Proactively identifies and follows up on new business opportunities as well as routinely follows up with customers to ensure that issues are satisfactorily resolved.
Proactively and consistently update CRM and effectively navigate sales tool dashboards to understand and track account activity.
Collaborate with internal team members and stakeholders such as Marketing, Tech Support and Editorial to recommend and maintain product list
Build and maintain custom bookstore sites for customers in coordination with the sales team.
Assist in coordinating training, professional development, and sales presentations for private school clients.

YOU MUST HAVE (MINIMUM REQUIRED SKILLS & EXPERIENCE):

Bachelor’s degree minimum
3+ years of experience in a revenue generating sales role within educational publishing, ed-tech or similar field
Demonstrated track record of consistently achieving and/or exceeding sales goal(s).
Exceptional communication skills with an ability to adapt approach to fit a variety of scenarios and audiences.
Experience using video-conferencing tools to conduct virtual product demos or sales presentations.
Well-developed prospecting, consultative-selling, negotiation, territory management and active listening skills.
Strong attention to detail with strong organizational, project management and time management skills.
Experience using CRM tools to track sales activities and manage accounts.
Willingness to travel 10% for team meetings and key events.

IDEAL IF YOU HAVE or ARE (PREFERRED SKILLS & EXPERIENCE):

Experience using Salesforce

LOCATION: Boston-Hybrid

Candidates must either be located within reasonable proximity to our Boston, MA office location. Position requires working a Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday in-office, Monday/Friday remote schedule. Relocation assistance is not available.

SALARY: $60k-$70k annual base salary range

This position is salaried and is eligible for incentives based on employee and organizational performance.