Director of Sales

NASHVILLE SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION•Nashville, TN

12d•Onsite

About The Position

The Director of Sales leads the Nashville Symphony’s earned-revenue sales strategy, driving new patron acquisition and revenue growth across single tickets, subscriptions, group sales, and corporate and hospitality partnerships. This hands-on player-coach role supervises the Senior Account and Groups Manager and the Account Manager, sets sales quotas and goals, analyzes performance data, and develops targeted campaigns to improve results. The Director also maintains a personal book of business and is accountable for an individual sales goal established with the Chief Marketing Officer, with a primary emphasis on new-business acquisition. The Director develops sales pipelines, forecasts, reporting dashboards, budgets, offers, and incentive structures, and collaborates with marketing, customer service, and CRM and analytics colleagues. The role requires learning and effectively using Tessitura for lead generation, campaign setup, reporting, and data hygiene. The Director is also expected to develop fluency in Nashville Symphony programs and offerings and support the organization’s commitment to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging.

Requirements

3–5 years of proven sales experience, including setting and meeting sales quotas and supervising or mentoring sales staff.
Demonstrated ability to generate new business proactively and close sales, rather than only manage renewals or inbound requests.
Ability to learn and operate complex, non-intuitive database or CRM software; prior Tessitura experience is not required.
Working knowledge of data analysis principles and ability to interpret lead and campaign performance data to inform strategy and identify trends.
Ability to set and communicate sales quotas and performance goals and hold a team accountable to them.
Strong leadership, coaching, and team development skills.
Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook, including mail merge; ability to build reports and dashboards in Excel or similar tools.
Strong customer service, organizational, problem-solving, communication, and interpersonal skills, including the ability to interact with patrons and staff at all levels.
Ability to work collaboratively on timely projects, delegate and oversee project completion, and work independently while keeping others informed of progress and issues.
Bachelor’s degree preferred, or equivalent combination of education and experience.

Nice To Haves

Experience in the arts, entertainment, or a related industry is strongly preferred.
Passion for orchestral music or the performing arts is preferred.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute proactive sales campaigns for single tickets, subscriptions, groups, and corporate and hospitality revenue, aligned with marketing and revenue goals.
Use Tessitura to build targeted lead lists and audience segments, working with the Director of CRM & Analytics to identify prospects and lapsed patrons.
Supervise the Senior Account and Groups Manager and the Account Manager; set quotas and goals, hold regular one-on-ones and pipeline reviews, and ensure accountability to targets.
Recruit, hire, train, and onboard sales team members; coach and develop staff, manage performance, and take corrective action when necessary.
Analyze lead and campaign performance, including conversion rates, source attribution, sales cycle length, and revenue per lead, and refine campaigns and outreach accordingly.
Develop tactics to increase patron lifetime value, including upselling, cross-selling, renewal and retention campaigns, and patron journey mapping with marketing and CRM teams.
Maintain a personal book of business and individual sales goal, primarily focused on acquiring new patrons.
Cultivate, pitch, and close sales with prospective group, corporate, and hospitality accounts and other assigned high-value prospects.
Build and maintain sales pipelines, forecasts, and reporting dashboards; track performance against goals and report results to the Chief Marketing Officer.
Coordinate with Marketing and Communications to keep sales campaigns, offers, and messaging consistent with brand and marketing strategy.
Collaborate with the Director of Customer Service and the Director of CRM & Analytics to support seamless handoffs between sales and ticketing or box office fulfillment.
Develop and manage sales-related budgets, offers, and incentive structures in coordination with the Chief Marketing Officer.
Stay current on sales practices and trends in the performing arts and entertainment industry and bring new tactics and technologies to the department.
Learn to navigate and troubleshoot Tessitura and related ticketing and CRM systems for sales activities, including plan and campaign setup, reporting, and data hygiene.
Develop expertise in Nashville Symphony programs and offerings and fluency in orchestral music to communicate and sell effectively to a diverse audience.
Perform other duties as assigned to support departmental and institutional goals.
Embrace and actively support the Nashville Symphony’s commitment to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging and its mission to welcome and serve everyone in the community.
Carry out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with organizational policies and applicable laws, including interviewing, hiring, training, assigning and directing work, appraising performance, rewarding and disciplining employees, and resolving complaints and problems.