Account Executive

Job Description

Turnitin is seeking an Account Executive (Higher Education Vertical) who is a driven and self-motivated rock star to qualify and close potential customer prospects throughout designated territory. This person will report to the Director of Sales for the North America Higher Ed - Western Region and will have a proven track record of success in closing complex sales.

The Account Executive role will be essential to building and developing prospect relations and will focus primarily on developing enterprise level relationships in academic institutions and the professional certification marketplace within designated territories and verticals.

Responsibilities:

• Show “Will to Win” by regularly meeting or exceeding quarterly and annual sales goals. 
• Own and architect new business pipeline strategy for assigned territory, with focus on penetrating new markets, geographies, industries, etc.
• Conduct research and ongoing strategic sales outreach to add qualified pipeline opportunities.
• Own pipeline and client outreach strategy, partnering with Sales Development Representative to set meetings.
• Execute a strategic plan to achieve sales targets and expand the customer base in your territory. Own and hit/exceed annual sales targets.
• Build both short- and long- term forecasts.
• Build strong and long-lasting customer relationships.
• Partner with departments in customer institutions to understand their plans, business needs and objectives.
• Effectively communicate the value proposition through proposals, demonstrations and presentations.
• Navigate educational institutions to understand stakeholder needs, roles and institutional buying processes.
• Be the voice of the customer and collect feedback to drive continuous improvement of all product and product marketing areas.
• Participate in network building opportunities within territory including, but not limited to, conferences, trade shows, on-site campus visits, group presentations and industry functions, when travel is safe and permitted.
• Collaborate with different members of the regional team (Training and Implementation, Product Specialists or Sales Engineers, Customer Engagement, Regional Marketing and Leadership, etc.) to build strategic adoption plans for customers.
• Drive revenue and lead the full sales cycle process including new leads, navigating department heads, vice deans, deans and provosts, negotiating contracts and closing new business with higher education institutions and systems.
• Seek continuous learning opportunities to be a product, assessment and industry expert.
• Must be comfortable, and confident, with public speaking skills and conducting customized demonstrations of Turnitin’s product offerings to client prospects.
• Use Consultative Selling Skills and Challenger Sale techniques to understand unique needs of institutional stakeholders and articulate tailored value of Turnitin’s solutions.
• Leverage Salesforce as a tool to prioritize opportunities, deliver excellent new client experiences and deliver quarterly and annual sales quotas.
• Travel, as necessary, throughout assigned regions, when travel is safe and permitted.

Qualifications

Required Skills and Abilities:

• Strong sales hunter mentality focused on finding, qualifying, engaging and closing customer accounts.
• 5+ years proven track record of exceeding sales quotas and recognized success in negotiating and closing new business in the Higher Education market.
• 5+ years experience and success using a value-based, consultative sales approach.
• 5+ years managing large, complex sales with an extended sales cycle.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate and present credibly and effectively at all levels of the organization, including Superintendent, CAO, CIO and Director level.
• 5+ years experience with a CRM such as Salesforce.

Education and Experience:

• Minimum bachelor’s degree in education, business, or a related field preferred.
• 5-7 years SaaS sales or similar experience selling to the Higher Education market.