Business Development Manager - Communications, Media and Technology

Avanade; Greater London; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid training and certifications

Dedicated career advisor

Inclusive culture

Job summary

Avanade, a leading Microsoft partner in the UK, seeks a Business Development Manager focused on acquiring new clients in the Communications, Media, and Technology sector. In this role, you will leverage your extensive experience in selling solutions and managing customer relationships to drive growth and sales.

Key responsibilities include identifying new sales opportunities, managing the full sales life cycle, and achieving significant sales growth. The ideal candidate will have robust networking skills and a proven background in successfully driving sales for multi-year engagements.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in selling large-scale multi-year engagements.
• In-depth knowledge of the Microsoft ecosystem and managed services.
• Proven track record in acquiring new clients and logos.

Responsibilities

• Identify and engage with new clients to expand the client portfolio.
• Assist management in devising sales plans and strategies.
• Lead customer relationships for new accounts.

Skills

Selling solutions

Customer relationship management

Sales leadership

Negotiation skills

Knowledge of Microsoft stack

Job description

Overview

Business Development Manager – Communications, Media and Technology (CMT). In support of our growth journey, we are expanding our sales team as a priority area for growth. Our aim is to grow net new customer acquisition and core business through increased sales focus, driving the growth strategy and delivering sales and revenue targets. As a Sales Lead, you will be instrumental in ensuring we achieve these objectives. Within CMT the role focuses on origination of new logos across sectors. This is an important role with wide-ranging and often complex responsibilities that require a depth and breadth of business knowledge beyond the business development discipline. You will develop long-lasting customer relationships at a senior level and gain referrals with new accounts. As a Sales Lead, you will understand the needs of the various sales channels and leverage your experience to maximize return and drive value.

You will be responsible for working in our direct-to-market channel (working with Microsoft and our other partners) and will have a demonstrable track record in new business, including acquisition of white-space accounts for the industry. With prior consulting services sales experience and a talent for closing deals, you will thrive working with colleagues in a broader team, using innovation and engaging customers with your enthusiasm. Your strong connections and tenacity as an assertive partner, along with your background in high-value solutions across the full Microsoft stack (from advisory services, system integration, to managed services), will attest to your credibility with senior partners and clients.

You will have the opportunity to support, shape and grow our CMT business within a global organization; Avanade is a Microsoft#1 Partner globally.

Day To Day

• Identify and engage with new clients to expand our client portfolio.
• Identify new sales opportunities across key channels to increase sales volume.
• Assist management in devising sales plans and strategies.
• Sell a portfolio of Avanade and/or third-party software products directly to end-user organizations.
• Specialize in the sale of one or more key technologies in the Microsoft stack including Apps & Infra; Modern Workplace; Data & AI and Security.
• Generate sales and drive revenue, typically in low-to-medium risk and return sales activities.
• Lead customer relationships for new accounts.
• Prospect, acquire, develop and expand business leads.
• Support the wider Account Leadership team when required, and provide leadership on specific opportunities.
• Achieve short- and long-term sales growth by increasing cross-selling activities within existing and new accounts.
• Be accountable for an individual sales target and manage the full sales life cycle from origination of opportunities through contracting and closure.

Qualifications

About You

You must have extensive experience in selling solutions and large-scale multiyear engagements; you will work with customer teams to identify opportunities from lead generation to closing deals. You will have in-depth knowledge of the Microsoft ecosystem, its channels and how to optimize Avanade’s engagement and success. You will have experience and knowledge of the managed service landscape within the UK.

Role

This role is 90% focused on acquiring net-new clients and logos, and you will need to have demonstrable experience in:

• Identifying and completing market research on new client targets for the CMT sector
• Creating and delivering a contact and origination plan against identified target customers

Proactive and practical, you will assess customer requirements and select appropriate methods to fulfill them, leveraging sales leadership and the Solution Area leads and specialists across the UKI business. You will be skilled at setting priorities, establishing a systematic plan to ensure successful completion, and allocating time and resources effectively. Inside and outside Avanade, your social skills will enable you to use your network to facilitate, develop and influence. Strong customer interface and presentation skills are needed, together with a customer-service mindset. A skilled negotiator, you will be confident acting as a trusted adviser when addressing customers’ business needs. Experience selling the Microsoft stack is a significant advantage.

Additionally

• Experience working with and selling IT solutions to clients
• Experience with average deal sizes in excess of $250k
• Previous experience working with Microsoft account executives and account teams to drive sales would be highly advantageous
• Experience achieving sales targets in excess of $3m+ in a year (level dependent)
• Strong knowledge with sales pipeline management and quotas
• Able to navigate negotiation phases at C-suite level
• Able to act as a trusted adviser in addressing customer needs
• Solid Account Planning skills (using the global standard account plan)
• Solid understanding of Avanade solutions, Microsoft products and technology services

Benefits and Culture

• Opportunity to work with Microsoft’s Global Alliance Partner of the Year (14 years in a row) with development and training (minimum 80 hours per year for training and paid certifications)
• Real-time access to technical and skilled resources globally
• Dedicated career advisor to encourage your growth
• Inclusive culture and collaboration across teams