Location
Chicago, IL 

Job Function 

The Senior Account Executive position at Equilar is responsible for generating interest in Equilar’s products and services and bringing in new business. Senior Account Executives are expected to have strong sales skills, a minimum 3 years of entire sales cycle experience, and a strong history of meeting and exceeding quotas. 

Duties and Responsibilities  

• Leverage incoming leads to generate demos at an approximate 25% conversion ratio. 
• Manage complete sales cycle for territory of approximately 100-150 accounts with guidance from manager. 
• Receive and promptly (within a few hours) respond to warm business leads by phone and email. 
• Utilize existing call/email scripts and generate new call/email scripts to generate leads and schedule product demos on a daily basis. 
• Thoroughly prepare for and conduct product demos with C-Suite executives individually. 
• Effectively articulate and differentiate Equilar product features/value propositions. 
• Provide accurate and realistic sales forecasts for individual territory in real time. 
• Attend, participate in, and contribute to strategic sales training and meetings. 
• Sit in and assist new/junior members of the team with product demos. 
• Close business within first 90 days of starting the position. 
• Meet daily/weekly phone and email activity quotas. 
• Meet or exceed quarterly and yearly sales quotas.  

Success in this role will depend greatly on:  

• Coachability. Excellent ability to learn, take and apply feedback, and adapt to new techniques. 
• Strong knowledge of selling to general counsel, corporate secretaries, and compensation executives. 
• Consistent history of being proactive, self-driven, and taking initiative. 
• Good ability to quickly learn and apply new information, perform database research, and effectively use software products. 
• Strong ability to trial close, qualify objections, and negotiate next steps. 
• Strong ability to drive urgency and close business. 
• Strong ability to use consultative sales techniques and anticipate relevant questions. 
• Creative. Demonstrated ability to present the same information in new and innovative ways.  

Typical Day for a Senior Account Executive  

• Read WSJ and other financial news that pertains to activities in one’s territory that triggers communication. 
• Outreach to warm leads from the marketing team. 
• Cold call to targeted executives using a “custom” outreach methodology that is vetted and planned days in advance. 
• Practice product usage and understand how to show depth and value in the shortest amount of time. 
• Conduct two sales demos a day – schedule ideally 2 demos a day and use the last part of the day to plan for the next day. 
• Detailed demo preparation – connect client needs with our product offerings – strategic of course. 
• Attend internal sales trainings every Friday to sharpen selling skills. 
• Update contacts in your territory; update forecast for the month and quarter.  

Education and Experience  

• BS/BA degree from an accredited university. 
• Experience with SaaS sales. 
• Experience with SalesForce CRM and GoToMeeting or WebEx.  

WHO IS EQUILAR? 

Equilar is dedicated to the idea that better leaders make better companies. We help leaders and companies improve by providing information and tools that strengthen corporate governance, enable broader and deeper board searches and build bridges between people at the top.  

Based in Redwood City, California, Equilar’s award-winning suite of online databases is the first choice of companies seeking corporate governance and executive networking solutions. Equilar’s clients include leading human-capital consulting firms, over 1,000 publicly traded corporations (including over half of the Fortune 500), law firms, private-equity investors, search firms executive associations and individual executives. These clients all rely on Equilar to provide insight into the top leadership of corporate America. Equilar’s work is featured regularly in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, on CNBC, and in other leading media outlets. 

WHY JOIN THE EQUILAR TEAM? 

Financial Strength. Our business is built on a profitable, subscription-based model with high client retention rates. We take pride in our disciplined fiscal approach and have consciously avoided the financial irresponsibility that has taken down many startups in Silicon Valley.  

Performance-Driven Culture. We come from diverse backgrounds and top universities with proven track records of success. We seek top-quartile performers who strive to be the best at everything that they do. We are employee-owned and reward our top performers with a unique profit sharing program. 

Great Career Opportunities. We offer plenty of opportunities for those passionate about career advancement and developing a broad skill set. Our comprehensive training and development program provides all employees with an annual allowance and paid time off for training and development. 

In Summary. We offer the energy and ambition of a startup and the stability and benefits of a publicly traded company. We are growing rapidly and looking for exceptional talent who share our values to join our team and help take our business to the next level.