Sales Development Manager

About Us

By combining our unparalleled domain expertise with leading-edge technology, Ad Astra is helping higher education in its mission to advance timely student completions. We are building a cloud-based software platform to provide the foundation for our next generation of industry-leading solutions and analytics. Simply put, we're helping students graduate faster.

Our Core Values

• We recognize talent. We recognize and appreciate the unique God-given talents that our people bring to Ad Astra. Aligning these individual gifts with our work sets team members up to succeed.

• We're unpretentious. There's no room for ego. We admit our imperfections and have the humility to know what we don't know.

• We're passionate. We aren't satisfied with the status quo. We're on a mission together to protect the value of degree completion and to transform the higher education industry.

• We're pioneering. We're pioneering and aren't afraid to fail-in fact, we celebrate it. We love it when our people boldly experiment with innovative solutions.

• We love fun. The health of our relationships is strengthened by working with people who stretch our thinking-and by enjoying the lighter side of life together. We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do take fun seriously.

• We have grit. Beyond talent and intelligence, our people have stick-to-itiveness. We push through challenges to make goals a reality.

Position Summary

The Sales Development Manager at Ad Astra is a pivotal part of our pipeline generation team. This role is responsible for achieving our pipeline growth objectives. As the Sales Development Team Manager, you will lead and manage our Business Development Consultants (BDC) team to achieve and exceed lead generation and qualification targets. Your responsibilities will encompass team leadership, strategy development, coaching, and performance optimization to contribute significantly to our company's goals.

Core Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor a team of passionate Business Development Consultants (BDCs) who are responsible for identifying and qualifying new business opportunities

• Accountable for motivating our sales development team to consistently achieve monthly and quarterly quotas

• Develop and execute strategic plans to generate and qualify new leads and opportunities for the sales team

• Collaborate with sales leadership to align BDC efforts with overall sales objectives, strategic territory account, and revenue goals

• Collaborate with the marketing team to ensure alignment on lead generation strategies, campaigns, and messaging

• Partner with marketing to improve lead scoring and BDC/demand generation processes by providing regular, actionable feedback

• Review marketing qualified leads and determine lead prioritization and distribution for BDCs

• Build, manage, and evolve cadences to optimize for performance with support from marketing

• Work closely with the sales team to ensure a smooth handoff of qualified leads and maintain a strong feedback loop on appointment quality

• Maintain daily activity goals and weekly, monthly, quarterly reporting for various business stakeholders

• Create and drive adherence to BDC playbooks while enforcing rules of engagement

• Implement best practices and processes for lead generation, qualification, and nurturing

• Create and manage dashboards & reports to enable appropriate oversight of individual & team performance

• Analyze key performance metrics, including calls, emails, meetings, sales qualified leads, conversion rates, and pipeline growth for individual BDC performance

• Regularly report on team progress and contribute insights to improve lead generation strategies

• Coach, mentor, and inspire your team to exceed their targets while also working closely with other sales leaders to drive overall revenue growth

• Listen to sales calls and monitor CRM activity to provide real-time feedback to BDCs

• Provide ongoing training and development to BDCs, ensuring they have the knowledge, skills, and tools necessary to excel in their roles

• Keep the team updated on industry trends, product updates, and competitive intelligence

• Help develop and mature the sales department processes, doubling down on tactics that have proven to be successful and iterating where opportunities for improvement are identified

• Conduct regular one-on-one meetings, coaching sessions, and performance reviews with team members

• Foster a positive and collaborative team culture that encourages accountability to individual and team metrics, a continuous desire to learn, and an ambition to be the best

• Regularly perform audits of CRM pipeline data to ensure activities are recorded accurately and in a timely manner

• Monitor SDR dashboards to make sure data is accurate, team is on pace to achieve goals and take action when and where needed

• Use a data-driven approach to improving and optimizing individual and team results

• Develop and manage commission tracking frameworks and reports in conjunction with accounting to ensure timely commission payouts

• Onboard and ramp BDCs effectively to drive early success in role

Position Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in business, sales, or equivalent training in Sales management

• Success in the role requires excellent interpersonal and communication skills, cross-functional alignment and a focus on innovation and testing

• 2-3+ years of Sales Development management experience with a consistent record of quota attainment as Manager and sales performer

• Strong expertise in outbound sales, primarily through email, phone, and social selling

• Expert at partnering with marketing to plan and execute multi-touch, multi-channel campaigns

• Expert at using LinkedIn, Salesloft, Salesforce, Marketo, and other sales tools

• Excellent coaching and sales management skills including skill development, goal setting, and continuous feedback to drive results

• Process-focused working style that values accuracy, efficiency, and repeatability to drive growth

• A team player who is collaborative, coachable, and approachable

• High emotional intelligence, including curiosity, empathy, self-awareness, and integrity

• Strong prioritization skills with the ability to be proactive

• Excellent attention to detail and a commitment to both accuracy and quality

• Desire to improve processes and work through ambiguity

• Demonstrated ability to work independently as well as in a team environment

• Ability to report on success metrics

• Experience in Higher-Ed preferred

Essential Competencies

• Salesforce CRM

• Salesloft SEP

• LinkedIn

• Office 365

• Learns new systems quickly

Benefit Highlights

• Competitive Compensation and Benefits Package

• 401(k) with profit sharing

• Flexible Time Off

• Office dog!

This position is located in Overland Park, Kansas. Ad Astra does not pay for relocation expenses.

Ad Astra Information Systems, LLC. is an equal-opportunity employer and values diversity. All employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit, and business need.