The Canadian Press is looking for an Account Executive to join our team immediately in a full-time position reporting to the Vice-President, Sales & Marketing and located in Toronto, Ottawa or Montreal. This is an exciting opportunity to make a major impact at a reputable and evolving company that offers a competitive salary, commissions, paid vacation, pension, health and dental benefits, and flexible hours in a hybrid/remote working environment.
OUR MISSION
The Canadian Press is Canada's bilingual national news agency, trusted by leading media brands to deliver fast, accurate and impartial reporting for more than 100 years. Our Sales & Marketing team is responsible for promoting, selling and providing customer service for a growing suite of solutions, including:
- Licensed news content (articles, photos, graphics, video, audio) used by clients such as The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, La Presse, CTV, CBC, Yahoo, MSN and many more;
- Branded content (blog posts, whitepapers, ebooks, photos, video, infographics), tailor made for each client's exclusive use in their content marketing program;
- CP style webinars, workshops and books on writing and editing.
For organizations looking to spot opportunities for coverage and anticipate potential crises, we also provide Canada's only media forecasting platform and Live Calendar, alerting them in real time to upcoming events, CP coverage plans and wire stories - The same stories that are often published "as is" by countless websites, or that are likely to appear in tonight's radio/TV newscasts and/or tomorrow's newspapers.
We are revolutionizing this flagship platform and looking for an experienced Account Executive to prospect and sign new clients for the next generation of our SaaS products focused on public relations, marketing and communications professionals.
Overview Of The Role
Are you a natural hunter, eager to represent a respected brand like The Canadian Press and join a dynamic team that is at the heart of CP's revenue generation, customer service and product development initiatives? Are you known to exceed your targets and excited to leverage your consultative sales approach to win business for CP's products as we embark on a new era of growth?
As an Account Executive, you will develop and close new business opportunities in Canada, targeting PR/communications professionals at enterprise accounts, small and medium-sized businesses, agencies, associations, government organizations and not-for-profits.
Responsibilities
- Achieve or exceed sales quotas and sales activity targets.
- Develop, maintain and convert a pipeline of qualified prospects into new revenue, including: researching and identifying the right contacts within the target markets; booking meetings via a consistent volume of quality outbound activity (emails, cold-calls, LinkedIn messages); and effectively using our Salesforce CRM to maintain an up-to-date pipeline with accurate customer and opportunity details, next steps and expected close dates.
- Prepare and deliver presentations and product demos that are tailored to each client, asking the right questions, actively listening and performing research that helps you show them the specific benefits that are important to them.
- Create proposal decks, respond to RFPs and negotiate contract terms.
- Manage and grow the client relationship from pitch to sale to upselling, staying top-of-mind via timely follow-ups and by gaining a thorough understanding of their business, objectives and pain points.
- Demonstrate knowledge and expertise in our products and develop a strong understanding of our target markets by staying abreast of the topics and trends relevant to PR professionals.
Skills And Experience
- Minimum three years of B2B SaaS sales experience is required, preferably in roles focused on outbound sales.
- Prior experience selling to PR, marketing and communications decision makers is strongly preferred. The ideal candidate has a well-developed contact network of managers, directors and VPs within the target audience to "hit the ground running".
- Experience working at companies that sell end-to-end PR platforms that include media relations tools is an asset.
- Self-motivated with a strong work ethic and passion for hunting new business, supported by a verifiable, consistent track record of meeting and exceeding quotas.
- Persuasive and a proven closer with excellent presentation, verbal and written communications skills in English. Verbal and written communication skills in French are an asset.
- Solutions-oriented with superior relationship-building skills and the ability to generate interest and urgency, uncover customer needs, present relevant products/services, overcome objections and motivate action throughout the sales cycle.
- Fast learner who takes initiative, is resourceful, organized, and able to effectively multi-task.
- A Bachelor's degree or equivalent, preferably a Bachelor of Commerce.
- Proficient in MS Office applications (e.g., Word, Excel, PowerPoint).
- Experience using Salesforce is an asset.
PLEASE APPLY BY APRIL 25, 2025
Committed to diversity, equity and inclusion
The Canadian Press is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to fostering an inclusive, barrier-free and accessible environment and support the goals of employment equity. We respect all diverse groups, including but not limited to women, Indigenous Peoples, members of visible minorities and people with disabilities.
Committed to a maintaining a safe and healthy work environment
Offers of employment are conditional upon the candidate providing proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 by the time of start date. We have a process in place to provide suitable accommodation to employees who are unable to obtain vaccines against COVID-19 for qualifying medical or religious exemptions.