Account Executive-SLED

The Account Executive is the catalyst behind FirstLight’s success as an organization. As a consultative sales professional, the Account Executive is responsible for driving revenue growth and bringing in net-new business from prospects and existing customers. Account Executive’s own all opportunities for their assigned, named prospect accounts and are responsible for coordinating resources and managing the sales campaign across the entire opportunity pipeline.

Job requirements include (but are not limited to):

• Negotiate and close as many sales opportunities as possible.
• Identify the needs of prospects, provide guidance and solution recommendations to meet those needs, and effectively understand and respond to prospect objections.
• Develop a mastery of all FirstLight’s broad portfolio of products and services and connect client’s business objectives with FirstLight offerings and solutions.
• Be proactive in all aspects of opportunity development, including conducting outreach to prospects to establish relationships and identify new sales opportunities.
• Build and expand relationships with Economic Buyer in prospect accounts.
• Assist the prospect in maximizing the return of their investment with FirstLight
• Establish yourself as a ‘Trusted Advisor’ to the prospect
• Support in retaining newly acquired customers and expanding footprint through cross/up sell opportunities.
• Stay abreast of competition, competitive issues and products.
• Provide regular reporting of pipeline and forecast through the CRM system.
• Collaborate with peers and management around ways to continually improve the sales organization.
• Provide expertise around areas of interest to discuss industry best practices and development of high-level strategies.
• Bring net new and innovative ideas to both the internal team and the customer.
• Assist in creating an environment of teamwork and continuous improvement.
• Demonstrate a commitment to excellence (i.e. strong business acumen)
• Partner with sales and additional pre-sales engagement members to align goals and ensure ongoing refinement.

Job Qualifications & Preferences:

• 5 years of B2B sales experience, preferably in a telecom or ISP environment
• Experience in the SLED vertical required
• Knowledge of Erate, RFP/Q/B, government contracting and higher education market required
• Proven track record of exceeding new logo sales quotas
• Strong knowledge of telecommunications industry and terminology
• Experience selling to Mid-Market to Large Enterprise, Healthcare and Financial services, with an emphasis on new logo growth, prospecting, and cold calling.
• BA/BS Degree or equivalent

Personal Attributes:

• Customer Focused: Approaching all opportunities through the lenses of the prospect or customer
• Strategic: Able to prioritize and manage multiple accounts within territory
• Persuasive: Achieves ‘win-win’ positioning, guiding others to change status quo
• Resourceful: Able to overcome obstacles and barriers to find appropriate sales solutions

About FirstLight:

FirstLight, headquartered in Albany, New York, provides fiber-optic data, Internet, data center, cloud and voice services to enterprise and carrier customers throughout the Northeast connecting more than 13,000 locations in service with more than 125,000 locations serviceable by our more than 25,000-route mile network. FirstLight offers a robust suite of advanced telecommunications products featuring a comprehensive portfolio of high bandwidth connectivity solutions including Ethernet, wavelength, and dark fiber services as well as dedicated Internet access solutions, data center, cloud and voice services. FirstLight’s clientele includes national cellular providers and wireline carriers and many leading enterprises, spanning high tech manufacturing and research, hospitals and healthcare, banking and financial, secondary education, colleges and universities, and local and state governments.

FirstLight Fiber is an equal opportunity employer. In accordance with state and federal laws, FirstLight’s equal opportunity policy is that all applicants and employees are treated equally by the company with respect to employment opportunities, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability, or veteran status or veteran disability.