About Sopheon
Sopheon empowers organizations to change the world while achieving exceptional long-term revenue growth and profitability. By operationalizing the entire innovation life cycle, Accolade® and Acclaim™ and Scout software and expertise enable innovation, product and project professionals to accomplish the full range of InnovationOps tasks to drive innovation at scale. Sopheon’s industry leadership was highlighted in the comprehensive MarketsandMarkets™ report on the Innovation Management market, in which Sopheon was listed in the “Stars” category, the highest recognition.
Sopheon’s solutions have been implemented by hundreds of blue-chip customers with over 137,000 users in 50 countries, in a variety of industries have implemented Sopheon’s Accolade solution with highly successful business results. Examples include industry leaders such as BASF, Covestro, Merck, Mondelēz, Hershey, Electrolux, Honeywell, Northrop Grumman, Parker Hannifin, and Evonik. Our consulting team has accumulated significant experience and best practices from these companies that is included in our solution and consulting services.
Sopheon has operating bases in the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Germany, with distribution, implementation and support channels worldwide. For more information on Sopheon and its software and service offerings, please visit www.sopheon.com
Sopheon’s Mission
Why: Empower organizations to change the world
How: Provide organizations the capability to innovate faster, predictably, with alignment of strategy and tactics
What: Deliver a full range of SaaS InnovationOps offerings and services that empower executives, leaders and team members to execute the jobs needed to drive innovation in their organizations.
Responsibilities and Duties
The Sopheon team is seeking a “hunter” hybrid Sales Director with a passion for understanding and diagnosing customer business needs and articulating a solution, and a proven track record of closing business with new customers in the territory by the Sales Director, as well as leading a Team of Account Executives reporting to Sales Director. This role will be focused on organizations headquartered in the Americas in all targeted industry verticals except Government. Sopheon has had success in the global marketplace with its Accolade software solutions and has recently added Acclaim and Scout offerings to its portfolio through a combination of acquisition and own development. For more information, see: www.sopheon.com
Accolade®, Acclaim Ideas, Acclaim Projects, Scout are trademarks of Sopheon and Wellspring.
Are you the ideal candidate? Can you demonstrate the following?
- Business-to-business software sales to larger complex global firms in the territory (min $250m turnover).
- Expertise in securing access through your own efforts to senior executives for compelling sales conversations.
- Comfort with C-level relationships in companies regardless of size.
- Ability to identify undisclosed customer needs.
- Team selling and use of all company resources to aid sales process.
- Interpreting public information on a prospect account such as annual reports and stockholder information for account qualification, and to identify strategic entry message and positioning.
- Understanding strategic selling or MEDDIC and the roles of various buying influencers.
- Developing and maintaining a quality pipeline of potential opportunities.
- Driving complex enterprise deals for businesses end to end from personal lead generation and qualification, to solution development and presentation, to contract negotiations, to deal closing and to making sure the deal is property transitioned to support teams. Some coaching and support will be available from other members of the Sopheon/Wellspring global team.
- Developing partnerships with relevant players in the Territory, in order to be able to address the major organizations in the territory.
- Building compelling business cases to support proposals and identify return on investment
- Successfully converting opportunities into license sales and consulting services engagements.
- Developing strong relationships with potential clients at SVP, Director and C-levels particularly with prospect R&D, Marketing and Innovation Management functional areas.
- Managing and reporting opportunities pipeline using mainly Salesforce.com.
- Adapting to existing team dynamics and supporting an organization to reach its objectives.
- Experience in selling to vertical markets including but not limited to consumer packaged goods, industrial manufacturing, chemical, high technology, medical devices, automotive. Understanding of the enterprise SaaS industry, including market trends, competitors, and customer needs.
- Has an existing network of contacts for shortening the sales cycle, particularly within research and development, innovation, marketing and/or general management.
Skills and Expertise:
- 3-5 years’ experience in a consultative sales process with complex “business centric” enterprise deals with organization in the territory. At least 2 years’ experience managing a team of Individual Sales Executives.
- Experience selling entire innovation management and new product development (NPD) lifecycle solutions. Preferably experienced in business planning, engineering and other product development / product management related areas.
- Understanding of and familiarity with the governance models for innovation management, such as agile, waterfall and phase gate.
- Consistently averaging or exceeding a sales quota per individual in the team of $2,5m per team member.
- Degree (or equivalent) in Management, Business, Economics, MBA a plus.
- Use of social selling techniques to gain access to appropriate executives.
- Willingness and ability to travel as necessary, but also able to work virtual as appropriate.
- Native English speaker. Knowledge of additional languages is an advantage, but not a requirement.
- Understanding and diagnosing customer business needs and articulating a solution.
- Ability to utilize PowerPoint or other media to synthesize and present a compelling business case/rationale.
Skills and competencies to effectively lead the Net New team and contribute to their success:
- Sales Strategy Development: Ability to develop and implement effective sales strategies aligned with company goals and market conditions.
- Team Leadership: Strong leadership skills to motivate, coach, and manage a sales team effectively.
- Communication Skills: Excellent verbal and written communication skills to articulate value propositions, negotiate contracts, and communicate with team members and clients.
- Sales Process Management: Proficiency in managing the sales process, including lead generation, qualification, pipeline management, and closing deals.
- Analytical Skills: Ability to analyze sales data and metrics to identify trends, evaluate performance, and make data-driven decisions.
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM): Experience with CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot) to track sales activities, manage customer relationships, and forecast revenue accurately.
- Technical Aptitude: Understanding of the technical aspects of SaaS software products to effectively communicate features and benefits to potential customers.
- Negotiation Skills: Strong negotiation skills to navigate complex sales cycles, handle objections, and close deals.
- Problem-solving Skills: Ability to identify challenges, develop creative solutions, and overcome obstacles to achieve sales targets.
- Time Management: Efficient time management skills to prioritize tasks, meet deadlines, and maximize productivity.
- Networking Abilities: Strong networking skills to build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders, including customers, partners, and industry influencers.
- Adaptability: Flexibility to adapt to evolving market conditions, customer needs, and company priorities.
- Results Orientation: A results-driven mindset with a focus on achieving and exceeding sales targets.
- Collaboration Skills: Ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams, including marketing, product development, and customer success, to drive overall business success.
- Continuous Learning: Willingness to stay updated on industry trends, sales techniques, and product knowledge through ongoing learning and professional development.
- Ethical Conduct: Commitment to ethical conduct and compliance with company policies and industry regulations in all sales activities.