Wanted: A Trail-blazing Ambassador for Sales Expeditions

(also known as a Business Development Executive)

WHO WE ARE

Entara is a new kind of IT Managed Services Company. We’re built from the ground up to provide the strategic vision, platforms, processes and people to travel with our clients on the path to their best IT future. We partner with mid-sized Chicago organizations to make technology work brilliantly for our clients.

We launched in 2001, as the niche firm YJT Solutions (You Just Trade) helping to solve some of the IT challenges of Chicago’s most intense trading environments. Because of our success working in the financial industry, we branched out to serve other industries over a decade ago.

In 2018, we rebranded to Entara because our company has grown and evolved far beyond its original roots. We are doubling down on making investments in our future to better serve our clients. We are evaluating new toolsets, selecting and integrating the best ones for our future-facing IT Service Management platform, EntaraWorks. We are hiring tomorrow’s leaders, giving them the opportunity to grow beyond what they ever imagined.

We’ve been formally recognized as one of Chicago’s Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in both 2017 and 2018. Although we’re ranked among MSPmentor’s Top 200 global IT managed services providers, our customers are generally local to the Chicagoland area. Our sole focus is excellence. If you are fond of the phrase “close enough,” please don’t apply for this job. Our success is built on developing exceptional relationships with fellow co-workers and clients alike, as we collaboratively chart our best paths forward to the future.

WHAT YOU’LL BE DOING

(Otherwise known as the fine print, the list of job tasks and responsibilities.)

The Business Development Executive is primarily responsible for closing new business relationships with key decision makers at mid-sized organizations in Chicago, and for following up on new prospect opportunities generated by sales and marketing activity. The Business Development Executive will aim to meet or exceed set sales goals while leveraging a variety of approaches and tools. This position will report to the Sales Operations Manager.  

Identify and Cultivate Opportunities

• Gather and generate new leads to meet weekly activity goals through the use of database contacts, personal contacts, marketing leads, and client referrals.
• Pursue, research, and attend industry events, training opportunities, and networking socials to organically grow relationships with stakeholders in your assigned industries.
• Utilize online resources including LinkedIn and industry news sources to identify and connect with individual prospects and key stakeholders.
• Conduct targeted outreach to new groups or contacts that could benefit from Entara’s services. Adjust outreach strategies based on the reception of your efforts.
• Record the outcome of your calls, emails, in-mails, and event activity in the CRM and set follow-up tasks.
• Cultivate relationships with prospects by inviting them to Entara organized events, coordinating with our marketing specialist.
• Deepen prospect’s knowledge of Entara offerings and services through utilizing existing collateral and creative content.

Develop Industry Expertise

• Perform various research tasks aimed at helping you and the sales team better understand the concerns and challenges of specific companies and industries in relation to their technology needs.
• Explore and propose new channels or forums that present additional sales opportunities for Entara.
• Assist in the development and improvement of Entara’s prospect outreach methods enabling expansion into new industries.
• Work with the sales team and marketing specialist to develop current messaging standards, sales tactics, and communications templates for your assigned industries.
• Identify and communicate the need for additional collateral that might aide in your outreach and sales efforts to the Marketing Coordinator. 

Drive Sales Process

• Raise awareness of Entara in target industries and build rapport with executives, so that Entara is top-of-mind when technology challenges arise.
• Set and manage your own calendar of appointments, events and networking opportunities aimed at expanding your current prospects list and generating your own leads.
• Perform and respond to life-cycle sales functions for your prospects:
  • Schedule and conduct Introductory Meetings with prospects
  • Coordinate preparedness assessment completion with pre-sales engineer, and review outcome and recommendations with the prospect
  • Develop services and project proposal(s) and present to the prospect
  • Coordinate contract signatures and contract revisions
  • Deliver signed contracts to Entara and conduct a knowledge transfer with the Professional Services team for new client on-boarding
• Ensure your assigned prospects are correctly categorized with updated close date and closure probability in the CRM at each point in the sales process.

WHO YOU ARE: REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• Simply put, you can close a deal with the C-suite. In terms of experience, you’ve spent at least five years (or up to thirty years) selling services to the C-suite, while working in an outside sales position in a B2B market. The most ideal candidate flawlessly integrates technical terminology into business discussions and has a background in proposing IT service based solutions to resolve operational pain points.
• Your track record demonstrates a proven ability to consistently meet and exceed sales quotas. Your hours of research, attentive listening skills, and ability to translate needs into viable solutions keep you well ahead of deadlines, and help ensure all your tasks make it over the finish line.
• You are much more than a “one trick pony,” and you cringe at the thought of being labeled the greasy salesman.  You are people-focused, and remain consistently motivated by the opportunity to transform businesses and empower their employees though the services you sell.
• You have an innate ability to conduct independent research on companies and industries, and then synthesize that information into tangible sales strategies. You appreciate the fact that you can’t truly connect with a prospect until you make the effort to get to know them and can fluently “speak their language.”
• You have a proven process for maintaining business relationships and a personal organizational system in place that ensures you let nothing fall through the cracks, and get quality work done in less time. 
• You are familiar with recent technology trends that have rewritten the rules of traditional sales. You have mastered the use of CRM platforms (SalesForce is a major plus) to record and manage opportunities, and you can navigate numerous social media platforms—including LinkedIn—to maximize your outreach efforts and supplement your industry knowledge.
• You possess a winning combination of superb writing skills and highly-refined verbal communication skills. You can convey energy, confidence, and genuine interest over the phone just as easily as you convey competence, professionalism, and trustworthiness in person. Your emails are professionally worded, (generally) free of errors, and have just the right pinch of personality. In any medium, communicating clearly, effectively, and persuasively is a natural ability you are proud of.

WHO YOU ARE: PERSONALITY-WISE

• Thrilled by the chase. Your spirit animal is Jack Donaghy and your drive to succeed matches his quest to become CEO of GE. You are motivated by the opportunity to compete against yourself, generate your own leads, and overcome obstacles as you build and expand upon new territory. You thrive on exceeding goals and crossing tasks off your to-do list. The challenge of each task keeps you driven and focused as you enhance your skills and cultivate new relationships in Chicago, all while looking your best, because after all, “your hair is your head-suit”…you’re not a farmer.

• Social Dynamo. There is a magnetic quality to your personality, which means that you rarely leave an event without making a new connection or acquaintance. You have a remarkable ability to light up a room and keep any number of prospects entertained with your enthusiasm and charisma. You are known for your ability to keep people engaged, whether over the phone or in person, no matter the topic at hand.

• Reactive Listener. Your mastery at building the base for long-term business relationships is what sets you apart as a sales professional. You are assertive without being pushy, and have mastered the art of reading your audience. You have a keen ability to actively listen to the needs of a prospect, and can strategically identify opportunities to provide a solution that uniquely alleviates their pain points. 

• Promise Keeper. Hearkening back to your days on the playground and the “super pinky promise”-- when you make a commitment, you keep it. You religiously follow through on your commitments and understand the importance of time management and prioritization, knowing how critical every detail is when closing a deal. From first call to last handshake, you seek to continuously present yourself to prospects as a trustworthy resource, answering their questions and leading them to the best solution for their season of business.

• A+ Top Performer. You are a multitasking champion who is well versed in the ABC’s of sales: Always Be Closing. With the end of a quarter approaching, you are able to stay cool, calm and collected, in order to close deals and secure signatures. You can manage multiple screens, back-to back-conversations, and high-volume activities without falling to pieces or losing track of prospects. Plus, your competitive spirit keeps you motivated as you continue to expand into new territory, conquer a difficult sale, and take home that 1983 Cadillac El Dorado!  

WHAT YOU GET IN RETURN

You’ll have a direct impact on our operations, our clients, and our fellow EntaraCorps members. Because of that impact, you’ll get our respect and gratitude for the role you play in making Entara the best it can be.

We’ll provide you with skills, training, responsibility and opportunities to grow, both at Entara and wherever your career takes you in the future. (However, we hope you’ll be successful here for a good, long time.)

We consider mentoring and participating in the continual learning of others to be absolutely essential for both you and your co-workers. You’ll benefit by developing your leadership skills—and by having a replacement ready when you’re ready to move up to another position.

We know that’s not enough.

Here are some of the employee benefits we currently offer:

• BCBS Gold-level PPO Medical Insurance, premiums paid 100% by us
• Generous and flexible Paid Time Off policy
• 401k Corporate Matching Program
• Reimbursement for approved certification tests and training, seminars, conferences and more
• Dental Insurance, premiums paid 100% by us
• Disability Insurance
• Life Insurance
• Healthcare Savings Account (HSA)
• Dependent Care FSA
• Tax-advantaged Commuter Benefit Plans
• Company-wide outings every three months. Recent examples include Ravinia concerts, rooftop barbecues, floating the Chicago River, bowling & bocce, laser tag, and vintage gaming at Headquarters, among other things!

And there’s more…

Free snacks and drinks, weekly lunches, and “Fridays at Four.” Combine that with the chance to work with a variety of clients in some of the most interesting industries around, solve big problems, create new pathways in managed services, and help to lead our clients and ourselves deep into the future, and Entara becomes the one IT company that’s hard to beat.

And there’s even more...                                

Our spirit is what makes us different. We work hard. We play hard. We care about each other because we respect where each of us comes from and who we are. We have a more evolved notion of teamwork--solving client problems together and scouring the horizon for new ideas together. We recognize the journey we’re all on, from our clients to ourselves. We’re all at different places on that journey, and each stop requires support, knowledge and courage to move on. It’s why we bring the best tools and support to our clients. And why we treat and reward our EntaraCorps the way we do.