Sales Director - Group, Meetings and Incentive Programs

Fox World Travel•Oshkosh, WI

About The Position

The Sales Director – Group, Meetings and Incentives Programs is responsible for achieving meeting, event, and incentive sales goals and growing Meetings and Incentives revenue through direct business-to-business selling. The role also develops, implements, and manages strategic sourcing and contracting strategies that improve efficiency and profitability while meeting client goals for group travel, strategic meeting management, incentive, and event programs. The position builds consultative relationships with client decision makers and executives, manages sales leads and presentations through contract close, and oversees proposal, sourcing, pricing, negotiation, and contracting activities. It collaborates with Sourcing Managers and internal program management and group air operations to deliver effective, high-quality client programs. The role uses Salesforce to manage sales activity and pipeline information, prepares sales and operational reports, and keeps current on industry practices, suppliers, technology, and venues. This role requires frequent business travel, including overnight stays, with travel of up to 35% of the time. It may involve flexible hours and occasional extended hours. The position can be performed in an on-site, hybrid, or work-at-home arrangement, depending on the associate’s work arrangement. The estimated base pay starts between $85,000 and $90,000 annually, with eligible positions potentially receiving additional incentive or commission.

Requirements

At least five years of B2B selling experience; group travel, event, or meeting services experience is ideal.
Knowledge of the meetings and incentives travel industry; prior industry experience is strongly preferred.
Strong creative, strategic, analytical, organizational, and personal sales skills.
Ability to initiate and build positive relationships with people at all organizational levels, internally and externally.
A successful track record interacting with multiple levels of account relationships.
Confident written and verbal communication skills and the ability to establish credibility with clients in one-on-one, small-group, and large-audience settings.
Ability to deliver clear, compelling presentations to all organizational levels and effectively manage group interaction during presentations.
Strong understanding of meetings and incentives procurement, technology, and group travel operations.
Thorough understanding of purchasing technologies, negotiation, and contracting processes and practices.
Effective time management and ability to work to deadlines, manage multiple tasks, and prioritize work.
Advanced working knowledge of Microsoft Office applications and strong technical skills.
Self-motivation, initiative, and commitment to personal goals, objectives, and work ethic.
Ability to work flexible hours to meet client needs.
Willingness and ability to travel to client locations throughout the United States; frequent overnight travel is required, with travel up to 35% of the time.
A passport for international travel, or the ability to obtain one.
Strategic selling, negotiation, and relationship management skills.
Personal effectiveness, credibility, and results orientation.
Organizational, planning, research, information-gathering, and monitoring skills.
Customer focus and service orientation.
Verbal and written communication proficiency, including appropriate grammar.
Change-management skills, adaptability, and ability to collaborate strategically.
Sound judgment, decision-making ability, attention to detail, and accuracy.
Ability to handle complex situations and work effectively with frequent interruptions.
Ability to meet the position’s physical demands, including regularly standing, walking, sitting, climbing, reaching above shoulders, and moving from place to place; frequently talking, listening, and handling or manipulating items; and occasionally lifting up to 50 pounds.

Nice To Haves

A bachelor’s degree in business, sales, marketing, or a related field is preferred.
Working knowledge of Cvent and Salesforce platforms is a plus.
Destination knowledge and experience applicable to group travel.

Responsibilities

Develop consultative relationships with client decision makers and executives and explain the Meetings and Incentives value proposition.
Establish and implement an effective sales process, including pursuing and following up on leads, making sales calls, and developing presentations and proposals to close contracts.
Manage proposals and contracting to ensure high-quality deliverables meet specifications and deadlines.
Negotiate service agreement terms and conditions to meet or exceed assigned annual revenue targets.
Obtain quality-control review and present personally negotiated contracts to a manager for final review and approval; review and approve similar contracts prepared by team members.
Collaborate with Sourcing Managers on sourcing and contracting strategies and process efficiencies that lower costs, increase profitability, strengthen vendor relationships, and maintain or improve client satisfaction and program results.
Direct sourcing, product and proposal development, pre-sale costing, negotiations, and contract and service agreement development during procurement.
Source requests for proposals to hotels, cruise lines, destination management companies, wholesalers, and other vendors, and initiate preliminary negotiations.
Evaluate vendor proposals for accuracy, clarify responses, and negotiate pricing and concessions.
Create proposal pricing and preliminary budgets according to established guidelines, and secure and document client cost savings.
Hold and block space and release unneeded space promptly.
Develop client contracts and pricing agreements and prepare initial deposit invoices.
Stay knowledgeable about Fox services and proficient in client-facing technology.
Use Salesforce to record and manage sales activity and maintain an updated pipeline of potential clients and contacts.
Prepare reports on client contacts and sales activity results.
Maintain regular involvement with program management and group air operations to support the quality of client programs.
Coordinate site inspections and prepare related materials for clients.
Maintain purchasing and proposal tracking reports, sales and revenue documentation, and workload activity reports.
Monitor competitors, industry changes, strategic sourcing practices, suppliers, services, and venues; propose creative solutions for emerging trends.
Participate in corporate travel sales and account management collaborations, meetings, and planning.
Maintain professional knowledge through educational opportunities, publications, and professional networks.
Build collaborative working relationships across departments and foster trust, mutual respect, engagement, and consistent standards and best practices.
Recommend innovative approaches, policies, and procedures to continually improve operational efficiency and services.
Handle other duties, projects, and assignments as determined by business needs.