Sales and Business Development Manager (SOURCING at MAGIC)

The Business Development Manager is responsible for outside sales, revenue generation from existing/retention customers, and primarily pursues new customers and new business for our SOURCING at MAGIC and SOURCING at MAGIC Online events. The person in this role maintains strong relationships with retention accounts and actively pursues new customers and new business. They will identify, establish, and pursue opportunities to help these relationships grow and thrive.  This role services and manages all retention accounts for assigned categories and/or communities, sells the overall concept of our physical and digital offerings, creates strategies for pursuing targets, and offers high-touch customer service.  Maintaining and strengthening the relationship throughout the year is an important focus, to develop an understanding of the customers’ needs and expectations from their participation at the event. The ideal candidate is driven to achieve sales goals as assigned for retention business customers and is consistently tracking self-performance. The Business Development Manager role involves internal sales activity, engaging with customers via email, phone and face-to-face meetings.  The person in this role will have the opportunity to develop awareness of the fashion industry, building greater insight over time. Further show brand and industry expertise will be developed by collaborating with the Vice President and Sales Managers.

Role Accountability and Duties:

• Conducts calls, emails, virtual and in-person meetings with assigned categories of retention accounts in order to sell them into our events, working to penetrate sales campaigns in order to hit revenue goals
• Supports all accounts through the contract process along with addressing concerns and issues, and prepares customers for events and manages customer expectations
• Responsible for customer service for the entire show cycle, including guiding brands through contracting, preparing them for the event, offering on-site support, customer service and conducting post-show follow up
• Responsible for maintaining retention customers and establishes solutions to retain retention customers that are planning not to return
• Sells the overall concept of our events and offerings and responsible for hitting both individual and team sales targets
• Routinely identifies and actively pursues new leads and targets within categories of oversight
• Works with Sales Managers and Vice President to properly merchandise the exhibitor floorplan to ensure maximum compliance with internal merchandising strategies and customer’s specific needs and requests
• Penetrates all retention and new business campaigns to hit revenue goals
• Prepares customers for events and manages customer expectations
• Offers a consultative approach to clients:  works to actively understand brand goals and strategies
• Maintains strong industry credibility through visible attendance at trade shows and other industry events, staying up to date on new developments and technologies and communicating this information to both key existing accounts and potential new accounts
• Actively maintains sales pipeline opportunity stages so that the pipeline is a true and accurate indicator of prospects statuses; utilizes pipeline reports to provide sales forecasts to management
• Anticipates and responds to potential opportunities and threats for the business relevant to the conditions of the market and industry
• Maintains customer database for accuracy and exceptional notes; conducts data clean-up each show cycle and on-going maintenance per policies
• Support Finance/Billers in resolving bad debt customers as a final escalation point as well as helping to collect deposits or balances
• Performs additional show-site duties, including: helps ensure freight is accurately delivered, works with Operations to resolve set-up issues, reviews aisle signage, banners and booth locations for accuracy, collects unpaid balances from exhibitors, meets with all assigned exhibitors to ensure outstanding customer service, ensures all event rules are being adhered to by exhibitors
• Develop industry-specific and product knowledge, reading industry research

As a Business Development Manager, you will be evaluated on:

• Sales performance against targets
• Sales performance of new and top target brands
• Individual performance metrics such as productivity including volume and quality of calls, emails, and virtual and in-person meetings
• Penetration of sales campaign and follow-through
• Quality of customer service offered
• Sales process and technology adoption metrics In-market activity
• Continued growth of industry and market knowledge

Qualifications

What you bring to the team:

• Bachelor’s Degree in related field 3+ years in B2B fashion brand, sourcing, or event sales - or a combination of education and experience
• Advanced knowledge of the sourcing supply chain and experience in the fashion industry 
• Experience in sponsorships, digital, tradeshow or fashion sales
• Comfortable with hitting large sales revenue targets
• Knowledge of or deep interest in sourcing and the supply chain
• Experience managing multiple customers and maintaining high-energy sales
• Relationship management experience including maintaining customer connections and communications
• Ability to identify and pursue cross and up-selling opportunities
• Ability to ask probing questions to proactively handle and respond to customer objections
• Strong interpersonal skills, organizational skills, and a high level of enthusiasm for customer service
• Extreme detail-orientation and thoroughness, with top-notch follow-up skills
• Proficient with experience in MS Office: Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, Salesforce