Strategic Account Manager

Hirebridge; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 200,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

Applause is seeking a Strategic Account Manager to drive revenue growth by building and managing strategic accounts, with a strong emphasis on new business development, up-selling and renewals within Fortune 100 clients.

You will lead account planning, prospecting, and solution selling while coordinating with Client Services and Executive teams to expand opportunities, ensure client success, and deliver measurable business value.

Qualifications

• BA/BS Degree or equivalent business experience.
• 8+ years of Professional services, Managed services or solution sales experience.
• Proven track record of successful customer engagements across enterprise-class verticals.
• Demonstrated success selling to Fortune 100.
• Strong foundation for strategic and tactical selling of a solution sale.
• Excellent presentation and negotiation skills.
• Motivated to advance growth in an entrepreneurial, rapidly growing company environment.

Responsibilities

• Develops and executes sales plans and coordinates sales efforts to achieve new customer revenue and existing customer up-sell revenue targets for Fortune 100 accounts.
• Meets or exceeds defined sales quota through strategic account planning, networking and use of company resources.
• Strong preference for experience selling technology/ managed services.
• Actively participates in regional marketing events for lead generation.
• Focus on Account Management and Business Development to maximize revenue and profitability by up-selling, driving renewal revenue and ensuring client satisfaction.
• Involvement in kickoff meetings, major milestone meetings, and opportunities with senior client decision makers.
• Sales Leadership – Strategic sales approach, creates value for clients and adds to the company’s capabilities and reputation.
• Maintains an understanding of Applause’s product offerings and tailors its presentation to client needs.
• Assists clients in developing the business case and value proposition for proposed solutions.
• Collaborates with Client Services Team and Executive Leadership Team in executing the company’s sales process including proposal development.
• Tracks and maintains all prospect and client activity in Salesforce.com.
• People Development – Contributes to the growth, development and positive experience of the sales team.

Skills

Sales experience

Strategic account planning

Relationship building

Negotiation

Presentation skills

Cross-functional collaboration

Entrepreneurial mindset

Education

BA/BS Degree or equivalent business experience

Job description

Applause is raising the bar for digital quality and employee experience. Recognized as a Top Workplace, Applause provides award-winning software testing and UX research solutions to top brands. Our fully managed services leverage a global team and the world's largest independent testing community. We improve digital experiences for global innovators like Google, Microsoft, PayPal, Starbucks, Vodafone, and BMW.

As a Strategic Account Manager you will be responsible for driving revenue growth by building and managing strategic accounts, long-term client relationships, and developing key business relationships. The role requires a strong focus on new business development, in addition to, up-selling and cross-selling to existing clients and securing contract renewals within F100 accounts. This will be achieved through solution selling, account planning, prospecting to identify high-quality clients, qualifying and developing assigned accounts while understanding the client business environment, educating clients on Applause's product offerings, and identifying ways the company can assist clients in solving its application development testing challenges.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develops and executes sales plans and coordinates sales efforts to achieve new customer revenue and existing customer up-sell revenue targets for Fortune 100 accounts
• Meets or exceeds defined sales quota through strategic account planning, networking and use of company resources.
• Strong preference for experience selling technology/ managed services.
• Actively participates in regional marketing events for lead generation (industry trade shows, professional associations, etc…)
• Focus on Account Management and Business Development to maximizes Applause’s revenue and profitability potential by up-selling to existing clients, driving renewal revenue and ensuring client satisfaction;
• Involvement in kickoff meetings, major milestone meetings, and opportunistic participation where senior client decision makers are present.
• Sales Leadership – Strategic sales approach, creates value for clients and adds to the company’s capabilities and reputation;
• Maintains a thorough understanding of Applause’s product offerings and tailoring its presentation to meet the needs of different types of organizations.
• Assists clients in developing the business case and value proposition for proposed solutions when necessary
• Collaborates with Client Services Team and Executive Leadership Team in executing the company’s sales process including proposal development.
• Tracks and maintains all prospect and client activity in Salesforce.com.
• People Development – Contributes to the growth, development and positive experience of the sales team.

Job Requirements and Preferred Skills:

• BA/BS Degree or equivalent business experience.
• 8+years of Professional services, Managed services or solution sales experience
• Proven track record of successful customer engagements across a spectrum of enterprise-class verticals.
• Demonstrated success selling to Fortune 100
• A strong foundation for strategic and tactical selling of a solution sale.
• Excellent presentation and negotiation skills.
• Motivated to advance growth in an entrepreneurial, rapidly growing company environment.

Why Applause?

We’re proud to cultivate an inspiring, engaging employee culture that’s consistently reflected in high employee retention rates and satisfaction. Our talented team – known as Applause Nation – is set up for success with the latest collaboration and learning tools, opportunities for career advancement, and more.

• We have a flexible work environment with top talent from across the globe
• Collaborate with an international team of 450+ passionate, talented co-workers
• Expand your portfolio with exciting, hands-on projects providing exposure to well-known, global brands
• Learn and grow through structured onboarding, in-house knowledge sessions and access to thousands of virtual courses available on demand
• Incorporate AI and other exciting technologies into your work, to help you prioritize and boost productivity
• Experience a supportive culture that emphasizes teamwork, innovation and transparency
• Share your voice! Contribute and integrate creative and innovative ideas across roles and departments

Applause Core Values:

As a global employee community, we strive to uphold the following core values, which are critical to business success and how we measure individual and team performance. Do you share our core values?

• Be Accountable: You love to take ownership, and hold yourself and others accountable to increase empowerment and success.
• Celebrate Authenticity: You love bringing your true self to work and creating genuine and trustful relationships within a diverse environment.
• In It Together: You have a team-first mindset and love collaborating with your peers.
• Create Value for Our Customers: You love delivering meaningful business impact and being a release partner for all aspects of digital quality.
• Crush Your Goals: You always strive for excellence and constantly seek ways to be better, more effective and more efficient.

Compensation:

Beyond Applause’s award-winning culture, our employee-centric benefits and competitive compensation strategy are designed to support your physical and mental well-being, promote work-life balance, and fuel your professional growth.

The salary range for this position is $200,000.00-$300,000.00 Total Compensation.

Accommodations:

Applause is a place where everyone belongs and where we believe everyone deserves the exceptional. We continue to celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive, equitable environment for our employees. If you believe you require a reasonable accommodation under any of the legally protected characteristics, please click here to complete an accommodation request. Please note, Applause will only review requests for applications that have been submitted. We will review your qualifications and follow up with you regarding your request if your qualifications meet our current needs.