Key Account Executive Commercial

Staples•Chicago, IL

23h•Hybrid

About The Position

Responsible for driving account growth and profitability strategy, primarily by securing incremental and renewal contractual commitments from Economic Buying Influences (EBIs) and Technical Buying Influences (TBIs) across all categories of products, as well as driving sales at sites and with Power users. This is a strategic selling position, expected to engage contacts remotely by phone, video, face to face, and utilizing digital tools.

Requirements

High school diploma or GED
4-6 years successful sales experience
4-6 years experience in Office Supplies including facility and breakroom, technology products, business furniture, print and promotional products
3+ years experience in Microsoft Office and other basic software tools
4-6 years experience in consultative selling, solutions selling, insight selling, negotiation and advanced client management skills
Strong drive and a desire to win
Strong aversion to complacency
Proven ability to view rejection as a learning opportunity and double down on next best actions
Experience and proven track record of managing programs or business development
Ability to interface at customer’s most senior levels
Strong ability to develop and deliver presentations
Consultative selling, solutions selling, insight selling, negotiation and advanced client management skills
Ability to set targets, design customer growth plans and work with product category sales team members
Strong business, financial, operations and technology acumen
Ability to analyze customer data, business, and industry trends to create tailored solutions for customers based upon Staples value proposition
Ability to function independently with minimal daily supervision
Strong ability to develop and deliver presentations face to face and virtually
Ability design strategic customer growth plans and work with product category sales team members
Ability to analyze customer data, business, and industry trends to create tailored solutions for customers based upon Staples value proposition
Ability to function independently with minimal daily supervision

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree
Proficient in Microsoft Office and other basic software tools
Worked cross-functionally in a large, complex company
Prior account management and prospecting experience with Fortune 1000 accounts
Had responsibility for a sales budget and track record of exceeding quota
Managed a complex deal shaping from start to finish
Experience with business-to-business sales process
Had responsibility to retain and grow accounts

Responsibilities

Utilize prescribed selling tools to prioritize activities and drive efficiency, as well as to document customer engagement and information (ex: Prioritized Insights and SFDC).
Lead Key Account selling team (i.e. category experts, site development, CSM, sales engineers, etc.) to execute account growth plan.
Collaborates with Revenue Management Team on specific opportunities to make discretionary pricing decisions based on knowledge of the account and assessment of future spend potential, as well as pass BPIs based on contract language.
Exhibit high level of business acumen and sales methodologies to discover incremental opportunities and align with the customers vision and initiatives (ex: I&D, sustainability, HR), as well as understand competitive landscape.
Expertise of customer industry buying process’ and ability to support product selection and standardization of SA.com products assortments.
Engage CSM to manage customer experience and complete customer maintenance requests.
Profitably grow book of business by hunting programmatic and transactional opportunities at the master account level across all categories. Also drive sales through program compliance at all account sites.
Establishes and maintains business management relationships with the senior executive team members within customer base.
Drives incremental sales and profitability.
Ability to create growth strategy based on customer needs.
Executing strategies defined by Senior Leadership Team.
Integrates feedback from customers into their sales approach.
Works to provide Staples solutions and value to customer challenges and situations.
Provides critical feedback from customers to leadership and support teams.
Growth strategy across customers/sites.
Account assortment and pricing.
Internal Teaming: Individual will need to communicate and work closely with many internal partners such as Revenue Management, Category Specialists, and Support teams.
Customer Communications: Individual is responsible to communicate with prospects and customer daily in a professional manner, displaying high level of business acumen.
Negotiating: Individual will oversee pricing negotiations for specific sales opportunities.
Lead Team selling: Individual will be responsible for coordinating and executing account planning processes in conjunction with category experts and customer experience teams.