Summary

Avanade is recruiting Business Development Managers who are deal hunters, deal makers, originators and self-starters who can develop and win new business in a complex consulting environment with sophisticated technology solutions.

In support of our continued growth journey, we need to capitalise on our capabilities and have identified the need to further expand our sales team as a priority area for growth. Our aim is to grow our net new customer acquisition and core business through increased sales focus, driving the growth strategy and delivering sales and revenue targets. As a Sales Manager, you will be instrumental in ensuring we achieve these objectives.

Within the Avanade Energy & Utilities business unit the Business Development Managers will be allocated sales territories in the following industry sub-sectors within the United Kingdom:

• Exploration and Production (Oil & Gas)
• Energy
• Energy Procurement & Construction (EPC) including renewables
• Refining & Processing (Bitumen, Lubes, Fuels & LNG)
• Storage (Gas & Carbon Capture)
• Fuels Retail
• Capital Project Construction (including storage and generation of energy including gas, wind, solar, hydro, biofuels and batteries)
• Chemicals (Production, Oil Refining, R&D, Storage & Transportation)
• Commodities & Energy Trading (selling derivatives of energy, industrial metals, agricultural products, and precious metals, exchanges, transport and ports)
• Mining and Mining Services
• Industry bodies & Regulators (IOGP, NESO, Energy Traders Europe, ect)
• Sustainability (NetZero, emission reporting & regulation)

Candidates with experience in selling technology and consultancy services to mid-market (Revenues $500m to $5bn) with Industry experience would be preferred along with experience selling digital business solutions on the Microsoft platform.

This is an important role with wide-ranging and often complex responsibilities, which call for a depth and breadth of business knowledge beyond the business development discipline. You will be capable of developing long-lasting customer relationships at a senior level and gaining referrals with new accounts. As a Sales Manager, you will have a deep understanding of the needs of the various sales channels and will leverage your experience to maximise return and drive value.

You will be responsible for working in our direct channel (working with Microsoft and direct to market) and have a demonstrable and proven track record in new business experience, in the acquisition of white space accounts for the industry. With previous, solid consulting services sales experience and a flair for closing deals, you will thrive working with colleagues in a wider team using innovation and exciting customers with your enthusiasm. Your strong connections and your tenacity to be an assertive partner, along with your background in high-value solutions across the full Microsoft stack services (from advisory services to system integration, to managed services) will attest to your credibility with senior partners and clients.

You will have the opportunity to be able to support, shape and grow our energy business within a global business; one that is also the Microsoft® #1 Partner globally.

Day to day, you will:

• Identify and engage with new clients to expand our client portfolio.
• Identify new sales opportunities across key channels to increase sales volume.
• Assist management in devising sales plans and strategies.
• Sell a portfolio of Avanade and/or third-party software products directly to end-user organizations.
• Specialise in the sale of one or more key technologies in the Microsoft stack including Applications, Cloud Services, Modern Workplace, Data, AI and Security.
• Generate sales and drive revenue, typically in low-to-medium risk and return sales activities.
• Lead customer relationships for new accounts.
• Prospect, acquire, develop and expand business leads.
• Support the wider Account Leadership team when required and Leadership on specific opportunities.
• Achieve short- and long-term sales growth by increasing cross-selling activities within existing and new accounts.
• Be accountable for an individual sales target.
• Be accountable and have solid experience managing the full sales life cycle from the origination of opportunities through to contracting and closure.

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You must have extensive experience in selling solutions and are experienced in selling large-scale multiyear solutions, working with customer teams to identify opportunities from lead generation to closing deals. You will have in-depth knowledge and experience of the Microsoft eco-system; its channels and how to optimise Avanade’s engagement and success. You will have experience and knowledge of the managed service landscape within the UK.

This role is 100% focused on acquiring net-new clients and logos, and you will need to have demonstrable experience and of:

• Identifying and completing market research on new client targets for the Energy, Chemicals and Natural Resources sector
• Creating and delivering a contact and origination plan against identified target customers
• Working partner channels to collaborate and jointly identify targets to partner with
• Creating 30, 60 and 90-day plans from onboarding, as well as tracking and reporting on progress to senior leadership

Proactive and practical, you will be adept at assessing customer requirements and selecting appropriate methods to fulfil them leveraging sales leadership and the Solution Area leads and specialists across the UKI business. You will be skilled at settling priorities, establishing a systematic plan to ensure successful completion, and allocating time and resources effectively. Inside and outside Avanade, your social skills will enable you to use your network to facilitate, develop and influence.

Strong customer interface and presentation skills are needed in this role, together with a mindset of customer service. A skilful negotiator, you will be confident acting as a trusted adviser when dealing with customers’ business needs. Experience selling digital solutions on the Microsoft Technology platform is a significant advantage.

Additionally:

• Experience working with and selling IT solutions to clients
• Experience working with average deal sizes in excess of £250k
• Experience successfully achieving sales targets of $4 to 7m+ in a year (depending on level).
• Superior knowledge and experience with sales pipeline management, and sales and revenue quotas.
• Able to skilfully navigate through negotiation phases at the c-suite level.
• Able to act as a trusted adviser in addressing our customer's business needs.
• Solid Account Planning skills (utilizing the global standard account plan document).
• Solid understanding of Avanade solutions, Microsoft products and technology services and of competitive offerings.

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