Inside Sales Manager (ISM) – Outbound (Institution)

India Market Entry; India; Remote; INR 600,000 - 900,000; Full time

Job summary

India Market Entry (IME) is a boutique market-entry consultancy helping international education brands establish and scale their presence in India. The Inside Sales Manager – Outbound (Institutional) will proactively identify prospects, build a dedicated pipeline, and connect with senior decision-makers across international schools, colleges, and universities.

The role emphasizes high activity, 100+ outbound calls per day, and strong incentives tied to meeting targets.

Qualifications

• 2–5 years in B2B Inside/Outbound Sales or EdTech sales.
• Experience selling to or prospecting schools, colleges, universities, educational institutions.

Responsibilities

• Identify institutional prospects via cold calling, LinkedIn, directory research and referrals.
• Schedule meetings for sales leadership team and ensure qualified opportunities.
• Maintain and qualify the outbound pipeline and update CRM with activity.

Skills

English fluency

Hindi fluency

Cold calling

Prospect qualification

Consultative selling

CRM experience

High outbound activity

Follow-up discipline

Ownership of lead gen

Tools

Zoho CRM

Salesforce

HubSpot

LeadSquared

Job description

Inside Sales Manager (ISM) – Outbound (Institution)

India Market Entry (IME) is a boutique market-entry consultancy helping international education companies establish and scale their presence in India. We represent 35+ global education brands across K-12, Higher Education, Publishing, Teacher Training, Assessment, and EdTech.

About the Role

As an ISM – Outbound (Institutional), you will be responsible for proactively identifying and

You will build your own prospect pipeline through cold calling, database outreach, LinkedIn, email, WhatsApp and other outbound channels, connect with relevant decision-makers, understand their requirements, qualify opportunities and schedule sales meetings for the Institutional Area Sales Manager (ASM) / GTM Marketing / Co-Founder / GTM Sales Enablement team.

This is a high-activity, target-driven sales role with strong performance-linked incentives.

You will own the outbound lead-generation funnel from prospect identification to qualified meeting.

Key Responsibilities

• Proactively identify potential institutional customers through:
  • Cold calling
  • LinkedIn and other professional networks
  • WhatsApp outreach
  • Industry directories
  • Referrals and networking
  • Market research
• Build and maintain a targeted database of schools and other education institutions.
• Make 100+ quality outbound calls per day to institutional prospects.
• Identify relevant institutions based on product, geography, curriculum and customer profile.
• Consistently generate new institutional opportunities for the sales team.

Engage with:

• International Schools
• Colleges & Universities
• Educational Institutions
• Teachers and Academic Professionals

Build conversations with key decision-makers such as:

• Academic Heads
• University/College Decision-Makers
• Understand the institution's current requirements, challenges and potential need.
• Identify the appropriate decision-maker and buying authority.
• Qualify prospects based on need, authority, potential, timeline and fit.
• Understand current solutions/products being used by the institution.
• Identify potential opportunities across relevant IME products.
• Convert cold prospects into sales-qualified opportunities.
• Schedule qualified meetings for the relevant sales/leadership team.

Meeting Generation

• Achieve defined qualified meeting/demo targets every month.
• Schedule meetings with decision-makers rather than merely generating contact lists.
• Ensure the prospect understands the purpose and value of the meeting before
• Confirm meetings and follow up to minimise no-shows.
• Maintain a healthy pipeline of upcoming qualified institutional meetings.

CRM Management

• Record 100% of outbound activities and outcomes in the CRM.
• Maintain accurate prospect information, contact details, lead status and follow-up dates.
• Update call outcomes, qualification notes and meeting details.
• Ensure timely follow-up on prospects who require additional engagement.
• Maintain 100% CRM hygiene and timely reporting.

Follow-Up & Conversion Support

• Follow up systematically with interested prospects.
• Nurture prospects who are not immediately ready to meet.
• Coordinate with the sales team to ensure smooth handover of qualified opportunities.
• Track meeting outcomes and ensure feedback is captured in the CRM.
• Identify emerging institutional opportunities and new markets.
• Gather information on institutional requirements, competitors and existing solutions.
• Share relevant market insights with the GTM Marketing and Sales teams.
• Continuously improve prospecting lists and outbound messaging based on market response.

Requirements

Candidate Profile

Experience

• 2–5 years of experience in B2B Inside Sales, Outbound Sales, Institutional Sales, Lead Generation or EdTech Sales.
• Experience in outbound prospecting and cold calling is mandatory.
• Experience selling to or prospecting schools, colleges, universities, educational institutions, distributors or retailers will be preferred.
• Candidates from EdTech, Educational Publishing, School ERP/LMS, Assessment, Teacher Training or Education Services will be preferred.

Preferred Industry

• Educational Publishing
• Teacher Training
• Higher Education

Skills Required

• Excellent communication skills in English and Hindi.
• Strong cold-calling and telephone-based prospecting skills.
• Ability to initiate conversations with senior institutional decision-makers.
• Strong qualification and consultative selling skills.
• CRM experience – Zoho CRM, Salesforce, HubSpot, LeadSquared or equivalent.
• Ability to make 100+ outbound calls per day while maintaining call quality.
• Strong follow-up discipline and time management.
• Ability to handle rejection and maintain high outbound activity.
• Comfortable working in a target-driven and incentive-oriented environment.
• Strong ownership of lead generation and meeting targets.

Preferred Market Exposure

Preference will be given to candidates with experience prospecting institutions in:

Candidates with an existing network or database of institutional contacts will have an