Director of Sales - Education and Healthcare

Job Title: Director of Sales

Location: Raleigh, NC

Reports to: VP Sales

About the Position

Storr Office Environment is seeking a people focused and results-oriented Director of Sales to lead our Education and Healthcare verticals sales team. This leadership role focuses on driving growth in the K-12, higher education, and healthcare vertical segments, while maintaining exceptional client relationships and delivering outstanding sales results.

The Director of Sales will be responsible for developing and executing quarterly and annual business plans, fostering a high-performance sales culture, and guiding a team of sales professionals to exceed revenue targets in these critical vertical markets. The Director of Sales will collaborate heavily with the Vice President of Sales to achieve furniture sales targets and be responsible for creating and implementing an annual business plan. The Director will also be directly involved in leading the daily sales activity of the team.

The core requirement of the role revolves around creating a team that will operate as a force multiplier for market engagement. Through selecting hiring, deliberate coaching, and clear communication, the Director of Sales will be expected to develop a world-class team capable of executing a clear go-to-market strategy. Passion for leadership and a commitment to serving both clients and team members will be critical in the success of this sales director.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Coach and Develop Talent

• Recruit, onboard, and develop the sales team, fostering a high-performance culture exhibiting a continuous improvement mindset!
• Holds consistent one-on-one meetings with team members to evaluate performance, provide coaching, and address potential roadblocks.
• Identify gaps in skill sets and establish developmental plans to drive high performance.
• Promote ongoing training and professional development for the sales team to stay up to date with new trends, tools, and techniques in sales.
• Establish Smart Goals and conduct regular performance evaluations, providing constructive feedback and support to ensure continuous professional growth.

Build Trusting Relationships

• Establish and nurture strong, collaborative relationships with key internal departments including design, order fulfillment, project management and field operations.
• Cultivate and maintain strong relationships with key decision-makers and influencers in the K-12, higher education, and healthcare segments.
• Drive customer satisfaction by understanding client needs, offering tailored solutions, and ensuring the delivery of exceptional service.
• Participate in external business development activities such as networking events, sales calls on target accounts and influencers and relationship building with clients and vendors.

Establish and Execute Strategic Direction

• Develop sales strategies that are focused on solving customer problems through a consultative approach while demonstrating the value of the furniture solutions, applications and services.
• Understands competitor offerings, pricing strategies, and market positioning, and uses this information to differentiate the company's offerings.
• Negotiate contracts where applicable and close high-value deals, ensuring long-term partnerships with clients.
• Seeks innovative ways to differentiate the company's products and services from competitors, whether through new product offerings, improved customer service, or technological advancements

Deliver Effective Communication

• Provides written feedback following meetings and client interactions outlining a summary of key topics discussed, assignment of action item owners and due dates.
• Clearly articulates goals, desired performance and sales behaviors.
• An active listener clarifying understanding and alignment on direction and initiatives.

• Seeks input from others and values diverse perspectives.
• Offers praise for accomplishments and gives constructive suggestions for improvement.
• Receives feedback positively and uses it for self-improvement.

Drive Results

• Develop and nurture a winning mindset of meeting or exceeding booking's goal on a quarterly and annual basis.
• Meet or exceed targets in new opportunity creation and sales funnel.
• Achieve annual cross selling targets.
• Consistently achieve performance and financial targets of the annual business plan including booking's goal, top line revenue, GP%, GP dollars, selling expenses and Net Income
• Drive outbound client surveys striving for 30% or greater return rates and NPS scores at 72 or higher.

Functional Experience & Requirements

The successful Sales Director must have proven sales training and management experience that operates effectively in a value-driven culture. She/he will be a "roll your sleeves up" servant leader who can build, enhance and support a capable, experienced and energetic team. The candidate must demonstrate the following:

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, or a related field from an accredited university is required.
• 7-10 years progressive work and or management leadership experience at an office furniture dealership preferred. Other commercial interiors experience, including manufacturing, or distribution, will be considered.
• Proven sales and target marketing experience. Must have a validated track record of exceeding expectations.
• Experience in calling on general contractors, commercial real estate and A&D firms preferred.
• Strong profit & loss experience with proven record of controlling and driving costs out of the company.
• Deep knowledge of the Steelcase product suite, furniture solutions, and workspace design principles is highly preferred.
• Strong understanding of the buying cycles and decision-making processes in K-12, higher education, and/or healthcare sectors.

Leadership and Cultural Requirements

• Excellent leadership and people management skills with the ability to motivate, mentor, and inspire a diverse team.
• Strong negotiation and closing skills, with a proven ability to manage and close large-scale deals.
• Exceptional communication skills, both verbal and written, with the ability to influence and build relationships with key stakeholders at all levels.
• Navigates stakeholder engagement and applies a consultative approach to sales.
• Ability to analyze market trends and data to make informed strategic decisions.
• Proficient in CRM software (Salesforce, Dynamix, or similar), Microsoft Office Suite, and other sales tools.

• Ability to create, present, implement and course correct annual business plans.
• A strong work ethic and the ability to manage a high volume of work is required.
• Proven experience and ability to hire, train and develop team members.
• Strong customer service focus and mentality.
• Proven experience and ability to work through challenging customer issues effectively.
• A strong understanding of continuous improvement principles and KPIs.
• Proven organizational and follow-through skills.

Cultural Leadership Characteristics

To be a cultural and leadership fit for this role, the candidate should be described as a proven, decisive and focused leader, who is confident and credible, with a strong presence, commanding stature, and patiently persistent in his/her pursuit of company goals. Some other ways this person could be described are as follows:

• A player-coach, demonstrating patience and mentorship capacity; passionate about developing others.
• A strategic executor, they can spell out the steps needed to address a challenge, delegate responsibility, and complete complex tasks leveraging the resources and time available. Think beyond "the next big project" towards a holistic approach to a sales vertical.
• A team player, preferring a consultative and collaborative approach to sales with external partners, and a dynamic cross-functional teammate engaging with internal partners.
• A go-getter, proactively and creatively tackling business challenges, rather than reacting and adjusting course moment to moment.
• A networker, instinctively building trusting, authentic relationships both within and outside of the organization and leveraging connections to enhance business results.