Key Account Manager - Americas

Informa PLC is a leading international events, intelligence and scholarly research group.

Our purpose is to champion the specialist. Through hundreds of powerful brands we work with businesses and professionals in specialist markets, providing the connections, intelligence and opportunities that help customers grow, do business, make breakthroughs and take better informed decisions. Informa is listed on London Stock Exchange and a member of FTSE 100, with over 11,000 colleagues working in more than 30 countries.

We have five operating divisions has a distinct focus: this role is for Informa Markets where we create global platforms for industries, specialist markets and customers to trade, innovate and grow, delivering over 550 events annually, specialist digital content and actionable data solutions.

Our Guiding Principles: our four guiding principles are a clear statement of what we believe in.

Taken together, they define our goals and provide a focus for all Informa’s activities. The principles give a perspective on our culture and way of working, making the company easier to understand, trust and do business with.

Think big. Act small.

We love ambitious thinking and taking bold options. At the same time, we recognise that success also comes from rolling up our sleeves, sweating the detail and taking personal ownership of the things that matter.

Trust must be earned.

We don’t just say we’re specialists, we live and breathe the subjects we work in and the communities we work with. By getting closer to our customers and partners, and offering support every step of the way, we build trust and the confidence to rely on us to do the right things, in the right way.

Success is a partnership.

We get to better answers by combining skills and talents, joining forces and embracing ideas, wherever they come from. This broadens perspectives, expands horizons, sparks innovation and keeps our thinking fresh.

More freedom. Fewer barriers.

We’re light on our feet. We do things swiftly, flexibly and with as few obstacles as possible. Our colleagues have the freedom and autonomy to think fast, act on opportunities and do what is best and most sustainable for us and our customers.

The Role: the Key Account Manager is responsible for generating revenue from a small number of our most valuable customers, which are of strategic importance to a business unit brand. The role will focus on the high touch account management of these customers, whilst targeted on retaining and growing these accounts through cross and up selling. 

The role will have deep industry or brand knowledge, and knowledge in the market, allowing them to credibly provide a tailored service to these accounts through high value relationship management, ROI advice and guidance and a deep understanding of their event goals. As part of the business unit Sales team there will be required to collaborate and support other Account or team members, with their industry expertise, to further develop and nurture key accounts of the future. They will stay abreast of all developments and interactions for their accounts, even when not responsible for the activity (e.g. customer service issues) to inform the sale and provide resolution advice and support where necessary.

PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
•    Sales to highest value customers (c.250 EMEA-wide), as defined as individual value or of strategic importance to the business unit brand
•    Management of Sales across all brands (events/products) and revenue streams for these key account customers within a business unit
•    Relationship management to become a trusted and valued partner, through building a deep understanding of their goals, needs and expectations in terms of ROI from an event
•    Ability to develop compelling tailored sales ROI propositions which meet the key account customers’ needs
•    Management of key account growth through cross and up selling and product bundling across the full suite of business unit products (Event and OMS)
•    Leading the re-booking and upselling of their existing key accounts at or before an event
•    Collaboration and support to the rest of Sales as a reference point for deep industry knowledge (particularly Business Development to support conversion of potential new key accounts)
•    Informal development of the business unit Sales team to build industry knowledge and expertise
•    To stay abreast of all interactions and services provided to the key accounts, operating a high touch model and coordinating all related account interactions across Marketing, Event Operations, Customer Service and Brand teams. Providing proactive issue resolution advice and support where necessary 
•    Collaboration with Brand Managers to manage the positioning of key accounts in relation to the Event floor plan and relative to other customers
•    Work collaboratively with Marketing to create tailored sponsorship packages to support new revenue growth
•    Adoption of Sales Excellence pipeline process through use of Salesforce (CRM system)
•    Maintain accurate and timely customer information and notes within Salesforce (CRM system) so that other Sales team members and business unit functions stay informed with the latest customer dialogue
•    Feedback customer feedback, insight and marketing information to the Head of Business Development
•    Support Finance credit control in resolving bad debtor customers as a final escalation point
•    Adhere and commit to the Informa Commitments and lead by example

ROLE METRICS:
•    Key Account revenue targets
o    Key account revenue growth (new customers) – shared metric with business dev
o    Key account revenue growth (existing customers)
•    Individual performance metrics
o    Key account customer retention %
o    Pipeline velocity
o    Deal size (average sales value for closed – won deals)
o    Number of open opportunities
o    Sales cycle time (average time it takes a to close a customer)
o    % of sales target attained
o    Key account Customer Satisfaction / NPS and Loyalty
•    Individual sales activity metrics
o    Number of calls (by sector / account size)
o    Number of new key account opportunities (pipeline)
o    Number of new leads generated into pipeline
o    Number of new f2f customer meetings
•    Sales process and technology adoption metrics
o    Key Salesforce system adoption metrics
o    Sales Excellence pipeline process adoption
 

Qualities needed for the role

•    Good communicator and team player
•    Multi-tasker
•    A self-starter with a high level of enthusiasm and accuracy
•    Excellent organizational skills
•    Working to short deadlines & under pressure
•    Flexible, creative, proactive
•    Ability to deliver quality output on time
•    Significant experience in a B2B sales team and proven ability to deliver or overachieve on revenue targets
•    Significant experience and eminence in relevant industry or brand knowledge
•    Proven ability to manage a number of customer accounts
•    Strong relationship management experience, maintaining customer contact and relevance
•    Ability to develop relationships at senior levels and manage customer needs
•    Ability to identify and pursue cross and up selling opportunities 
•    Ability to understand and articulate value proposition and customer ROI
•    Ability to negotiate effectively, and proactively handle and respond to customer objections
•    Willingness to informally coach and develop junior Account Executives
•    Strong interpersonal skills, confident personality, high level of enthusiasm
•    University Bachelor’s Degree qualification (2:2 or higher)

Desired 

•    Experience with Salesforce CRM
 

Qualities needed for culture fit: ability to interact professionally with people from different cultures and at all levels within the business and its clients.