Job Description

Advanced Specialist, Sales

Our mission is to partner with schools to deliver learner progression. All students
from the age of 5 through to 18+, have their own individual learner journeys. Alongside their teachers, Pearson can help them make the progression most appropriate to them, whether onto Further or Higher Education onto Apprenticeships or directly into work. Through a consultative, collaborative sales approach we support our school customers with the right choice of products and services for their learners.

Reporting to the Manager, Sales, the Advanced Specialist, Sales role is to build and maintain relationships with a defined group of customer accounts to deliver year on year business growth. These accounts will be based on largest and most influential Multi Academy Trusts, Chains, Dioceses, Federations, Teaching Alliances and other large, organised consortia of schools across 11-19 targeting Senior Leaders in those organisations to influence curriculum decisions.

Working with colleagues across the matrix sales teams the Advanced Specialist, Sales will collaborate on sales plans, deliver customer value, learner progression and target areas for growth across the region. This role aligns with industry level titles such as National Trusts Partnerships Lead.

Accountabilities:
Managing a retain and grow strategy with SLT within key Multi-Academy Trusts. Leading on:

• Driving revenue growth in MAT customer base or revenue growth in defined independent school group
• Managing longer term, strategic partnership within key Multi-Academy Trusts
• Lead generation across GQ & VQ for CDMs at subject level
• Multi -functional collaboration to support customers in acquisition and retention

Key Performance Indicators:
• Annual revenue in customer base for courseware and qualifications vs target
• YoY revenue growth in customer base for courseware and qualifications
• Meetings virtual and in-person
• Customer and prospect coverage
• Lead generation
• Pipeline health & Lead conversion

RESULTS
• Generating profitable sales through new business growth and senior leadership relationship, driving sales effectiveness and efficiency
• Exceed annual revenue goals by building and maintaining a pipeline of opportunities across qualifications and learning services that follow clearly defined strategies for accounts.
• Working closely with key accounts and stakeholders to deliver a retain and grow strategy leading to overall growth year on year.
• Taking accountability for driving qualifications and learning services revenue within a broad product portfolio across your region
• The ability to drive results and outcomes as a result of professional, well planned and executed strategies
• Develop strategy to ensure the highest chance of success in your region
• Working productively across your matrix team, including developing and implementing national strategies to increase revenue
• Demonstrating foresight and flexibility to adapt your strategy to maximise opportunity and minimise risk
• Ability to use and interpret market information which capitalise on strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for promoting revenue growth
• Use One CRM (Salesforce) effectively to capture interactions and pipeline, but also drive the most effective outputs

CUSTOMER
• Creating, maintaining and managing relationships with future customers at key stakeholder level.
• Managing the complex nature of secondary schools and their stakeholders.
• Regularly responsible for uncovering and developing new customer relationships
• Use sales experience and technique to develop customer relationships into growth opportunities
• Delivering breadth of product expertise in the 11-19 education market; providing expertise to various stakeholders.
• Apply appropriate sales tools and skills to drive productive outcomes at each stage
• Demonstrate an in depth understanding of the customers learning and growth strategies, values, challenges, internal policies and apply that to growth plans.
• Articulating the value of what you are selling in ways that are relevant to the customer, overcome competition and engage key stakeholders
• Deliver powerful sales presentations, communicate effectively and with gravitas to relevant stakeholders and decision makers

PERSONAL
• Think and work independently – forming and implementing your strategy for the region
• Take responsibility for solving complex customer and market challenges
• Makes understanding changes in the market a key focus and uses that information effectively with customer and the business
• Uses strong communication skills to not only influence customers, but also to develop a successful internal network
• Take ownership for personal development of skills, knowledge and experience
• Growth mindset
• A proactive decision-maker who considers commercial implications alongside customer need

REQUIRED SKILLS/EXPERIENCE:
Essential Experience and competencies:
• The ability to leverage communication in order to change attitudes or behaviour by using written or spoken words to convey information to gain specific advantage, impact or outcome.
• Demonstrate collaborative attitude and behaviour consistent with team and organisational values as the matrix account structure will deliver the complete customer experience.
• Strong selling skills with a particular focus on managing senior level relationships in secondary schools/trusts and driving revenue growth.
• Strong product knowledge across resources and qualifications in the secondary market
• Objection handing, negotiation and presentation skills
• Demonstrate, share and inform best practice.
• Provide key market insight to other areas of the business and to inform national activity

Personal competencies:
• Highly motivated and results driven – shows initiative to achieve and generate opportunity
• Customer growth focused
• Strong organisational and planning skills
• Commercially minded and able to effectively define and deliver sales strategy
• Committed and flexible
• Aptitude for learning new technologies and skills. Competent with digital media

ROLE QUALIFICATIONS:
• Excellent knowledge of the UK education market
• Demonstrative experience in a business to business sales environment, selling complex solutions at a senior level (growth and acquisition)
• Field based and willingness to travel (80%)
• Full UK driving licence

This role is home-based with access to our London office if needed and term-time only.

Your rewards & benefits
We know you’ll do great work, so we give a lot back with some of the best benefits in the business. We know one size doesn’t fit all, so our workplace programs meet the different needs of our diverse teams, and their families too.
Please see our attractive UK benefits here: Pearson Jobs – Benefits