Sales Director - Exhibition

Key Details: Location: Riyadh, Saudi

Industry: Events & Exhibitions

Salary: 32K SAR per month tax free + KPI Bonus and other benefits

We are looking for a proven sales leader who can drive and accelerate revenue for this flagship event. In this senior role, the individual will be responsible for achieving revenue targets, whilst leading and developing the sales team to maximize effectiveness and efficiency.

Job Summary/Responsibilities

Exhibition Sales:

• Write, implement and oversee the execution of strategic sales plans for the event
• Plan sales targets for the event, and for individual members of the sales team
• Define sales objectives and activity to ensure maximum growth and profitability
• Demonstrate the ability to actively seek out impactful new business
• Manage all aspects of the sales team ensuring that targets are achieved personally, as a team and for each direct report
• Have full responsibility for exhibition sales revenue
• Hold weekly sales meetings with the team to monitor targets, productivity and performance
• Lead key account stands sales, and input into sponsorship and digital sales
• Build and maintain customer and association relationships
• Oversee, clean, maintain and segment a database of clients/prospects (using Salesforce.com)
• Support in the planning and execution of a full rebooking campaign for the exhibition
• Analyse the market and identify opportunities for potential new clients
• Analyse and canvass competitive shows

Management:

• Manage, motivate and coach staff effectively
• Hold regular training sessions with the team with key takeaways and KPIs
• Create staff development roadmaps for direct reports
• Create and encourage a teamwork culture
• Have regular one to ones with team and conduct annual meetings for objective setting and appraisals
• Identify team members for promotion / advancement to retain talent
• Work with direct reports to create a commercially and attendee driven floorplan

Communication:

• Communicate with all group functions within the portfolio on a regular basis to ensure optimal team working
• Liaise and work with the Sales Operations team to ensure timely processing of contracts, invoicing, floorplan updates, etc
• Managing Credit Control and Billings teams for debt management

Reporting:

• Demonstrate financial and numerical astuteness
• Ensure weekly exhibition figures and pipelines are presented to the Senior Management team
• Prepare reports detailing weekly sales performance and projections for upcoming weeks
• Effective and timely reporting to ensure potential result or resource problem areas are flagged early

Exhibition Operations:

• Continually liaise with Operations Department with respect to floorplans, special events and bespoke client requirements
• Assist and provide support to the Operations team onsite
• Oversee relevant sections of the online exhibitor manual or customer centre

Exhibition Marketing:

• Show clear understanding of the fundamentals of the marketing processes
• Contribute to the marketing direction and feed into marketing plans and schedules
• Work closely with the Marketing team to design/create and write copy for marketing materials and websites

Qualifications

Qualities needed for the role

• Passionate about sales and passionate about global events
• Excellent, authentic, persuasive communicator capable of constructively challenging and being challenged
• High flying, ambitious individual with proven leadership qualities
• Commercially driven with a track record of delivering revenue within an events business
• Proven ability to manage managers and to lead and develop a large team
• Track record of implementing change successfully
• Attention to detail
• Strategic thinker who is able to generate profitable ideas and deliver on them
• Able to be a role model for excellent sales practice and impart knowledge and learning of this across the company
• Ability to create roadmaps for staff development and retain talent

Qualities needed for culture fit

• Persuasive
• Experienced multitasker
• Tenacious with a strong initiative
• Flexible and easy going
• Willing to travel
• Strong personality with insightful people skills
• Tactical enforcer
• Creative, analytical thinker
• Inspirational, enthusiastic and motivational leader
• Able to manage change
• Resilient and focused
• Interesting, personable and lively individual
• Quick to learn/spot new opportunities

Additional Information

Skills required

• Over 5 years experience of managing a sales team and managers within an events business
• Full understanding of event sales cycles
• A demonstrated successful sales record of high value sales activity
• Commercial awareness
• Financial planning, budgeting, numerate
• Strategic sales planning
• Formal people management training
• Idea generator, initiative-taker and ability to think strategically
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability to work under pressure and to deadlines
• Displays energy and enthusiasm
• Spoken and written English
• Computer literate and proficient in the use of Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook

Desired

• Knowledge / proficiency of Salesforce
• Spoken Arabic
• Strong leadership skills

*** ONLY shortlisted candidates will be contacted ***