Regional Vice President, K-12 Sales

Balfour & Co. is one of the world's largest Collegiate and High School commencement services companies, leading the industry in digital product innovation by helping students and their families celebrate the most meaningful moments in their lives. Operating under Balfour®, GradImages®, University Photo®, Gaspard®, ArtCarved®, KeepSake® and Taylor Publishing Company®, the Company provides personalized products such as class jewelry and apparel, yearbooks and commercial printing, graduation cap and gowns, announcement products and photography through digital marketing technology, personal in-school deliveries, and customized school assortments. To learn more visit Balfour.com, the destination for Graduation products, and GradImages.com, the industry’s largest commencement photography platform. The Company operates throughout North America with around 5,000 team members. From our start in 1913 to today, the Company has grown and evolved in many ways but the quality of our products and our commitment to our people have been at the highest standards throughout this long history.

The Regional Vice President, K-12 Sales provides leadership, direction, and resources to a geographical region serviced by a network of independent sales reps. This role will oversee the scholastic, yearbook and dual line reps with a vision to team development and unity. The RVP will work with each rep office to evaluate strengths and challenges and suggest opportunities and develop programs for success. The RVP will be responsible for aligning sales objectives with company strategy while being held accountable for the profitable achievement of regionals sales goals.

Leadership:

• Leads sales organization change initiatives by continuously assessing the needs of sales and partnering with senior sales leaders to raise concerns and provide solutions, best practices, and offer improvements while simultaneously removing obstacles, in line with company established guidelines, which impede sales teams from achieving their goals.
• Provides leadership to the sales team, while fostering a culture of accountability, trust, adaptability, professional development, high-performance, and ethical behavior. Develops and models right behaviors for the sales team through on the job training, coaching, and managing to standard.
• Prepare and deliver sales presentations to close large opportunities. Act as a sales leader and company representative to customers, assess the need for senior sales or executive leadership to participate in or be present for customer meetings and next steps.
• Meets assigned targets for profitable sales volume, market share, and other key financial performance objectives. Lead and manage the sales organization within assigned region with respect to sales action plans, expense budgets, competitively valued proposals, and highly targeted sales campaigns, while operating within established budgetary and business guidelines.
• Partners with other RVPs, functional shared services such as Finance, HR, and IT to support key initiatives, budget planning cycles.
• Leadership responsibilities include interviewing, hiring, and training employees; planning, assigning, and directing work of sales leaders and teams appraising performance; rewarding and disciplining employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems.
• Leads learning and development initiatives impacting the sales organization and provides stewardship of sales and sales management talent. Through active productive partnerships with Training and Deployment, the RVP oversees the effective delivery of training and development programs to their teams, actively monitors learning and development outcomes to ensure active engagement and implementation in daily activities.
• Handles escalated sales issues and assists in providing customer facing representation to resolve any concerns on behalf of the company.
• Aligns the region to company, sales, and area objectives with firm business strategy through active participation in regional strategic planning, gap strategy development, forecasting, sales resource planning, and budgeting. While making decisions that best meet the needs of the business.

Market Functions and Responsibilities:

• Study and communicate market trends and manage expert consulting while fostering relationships with district administrators and key contacts to heighten awareness of the company, the mission, and the products and services.
• Maintain communication with key customers by developing close business relationships to monitor market conditions while remaining alert to new business opportunities and to ensure on-going account servicing in a manner that maximizes customer satisfaction.
• Monitors and analyzes competitive trends across the region to actively assist sales teams in developing territory sales strategies. Work independently and in close cooperation with sales to foster and secure opportunities, including developing and refining presentations, RFP responses, panel discussions etc.
• Establishes and maintains productive peer-to-peer relationships with customers and prospects.

Education/Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in business, marketing, or a related discipline is required.
• A total professional experience base of at least 10 years, with prior experience as a Sales leader of a high growth organization.
• A proven track record of performance, where timelines are achieved, and deadlines are consistently met – detail oriented and driven to succeed.
• Experience with Microsoft Office is required.
• Specific experience in related industry models, functional organizations, and working with independent sales representatives needed.

TRAVEL: Must be willing to travel