Position Overview:

As the Senior Director of Sales at Apollo.io, you will report directly to our CRO and play a pivotal role in leading our sales team through an exciting period of growth and innovation. As a sales leader at Apollo, you will lead and develop a team of Sales Managers (SMB & MM) as well as Account Executives within a fast-paced and high-growth product-led company. Your leadership will have a strategic impact on the revenue goals of the company and overall sales strategy.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Revenue Achievement: Consistently deliver against team revenue goals. Your strategic acumen and leadership will be pivotal in aligning the sales team's efforts with Apollo.io's overarching financial objectives. By meticulously analyzing market trends, customer needs, and product capabilities, you will devise targeted revenue strategies that ensure not just meeting but exceeding revenue targets.
• Lead Strategic Vision: In partnership with our CRO, develop and articulate a clear and compelling sales strategy, aligning it with the company’s overall goals and objectives. Drive the execution of this strategy through your team, ensuring a unified and focused approach towards revenue targets.
• Sales Training & Enablement: Assist your team throughout their strategic sales cycles by deeply understanding customers needs and mapping them to the value of Apollo in navigating, closing and expanding install base accounts. Provide resources, tools, and training sessions that empower sales professionals to excel in their roles.
• Team Leadership and Development: Mentor, coach, and inspire a team of high-performing Sales Managers (SMB & MM) and Account Executives. Foster a culture of continuous learning, encouraging professional development, and empowering team members to reach their full potential. Provide guidance, support, and constructive feedback to nurture a cohesive and motivated sales team.
• Sales Process Optimization: Work collaboratively with your leadership team to refine and optimize the sales process. Identify bottlenecks, streamline workflows, and implement best practices to enhance efficiency and productivity. Utilize sales analytics tools, performance dashboards, and predictive modeling to identify bottlenecks and areas of improvement. Implement continuous A/B testing methodologies to refine sales techniques, ensuring that the team's efforts are always optimized for maximum impact.
• Install base expansion: Collaborate closely with product and marketing teams to identify opportunities for upselling, cross-selling, and introducing new revenue streams.
• Customer Engagement: Understand the unique needs and challenges of our customers. Collaborate closely with your team to deepen client relationships, anticipate their requirements, and tailor Apollo's offerings to meet their specific demands. Ensure exceptional customer satisfaction by championing a customer-centric approach across all sales activities.
• Market Analysis and Insights: Stay on top of industry trends, market dynamics, and competitor activities. Utilize this knowledge to identify new opportunities, anticipate challenges, and make informed decisions that give Apollo a competitive edge. Provide valuable market insights to guide product development and marketing initiatives.
• Performance Monitoring and Reporting: In partnership with Sales Ops, implement robust systems for monitoring team performance, sales metrics, and key performance indicators (KPIs). Regularly analyze data to assess progress against targets, identify trends, and proactively address issues. Prepare comprehensive reports for senior leadership, highlighting achievements, challenges, and actionable insights.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Foster strong collaboration with other departments such as marketing, product development, and customer support. Work closely with these teams to ensure seamless communication, alignment of goals, and a unified approach in delivering exceptional value to customers.
• Sales Recruitment: Build a dynamic team of experienced Account Executives and Account Managers. This role will play a pivotal role in shaping the talent landscape at Apollo.io. Your responsibility extends beyond traditional recruitment; it involves identifying, attracting, and nurturing top-tier sales professionals.

Requirements:

• 8+ years of software sales experience, and 6-8+ years of sales leadership experience leading sales teams greater than 20 sales reps.
• Minimum of 2-4+ years experience managing 2nd line leadership
• Experience in building global teams, in both SMB and MM segments within a high-growth SaaS company.
• Successful track record of 100%+ of quota achievement as a manager and individual contributor in high velocity, transactional selling environment
• Passionate about enabling strong selling culture while fostering a collaborative, transparent, inclusive sales environment.
• Previous experience recruiting, retaining, and developing a team at scale
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• High level of business acumen and understanding of how revenue leaders think
• Previous experience selling into sales leadership (C and VP level)
• Strong executive presence - experience and comfort level working with C-level executives