Focus: Business development for product and tech consulting, client relationship management, portfolio management, lead and pipeline development
Supervisor: Business Development Manager
Location: Cape Town
About Vera
Vera Solutions is a social enterprise and certified B Corporation building cloud and mobile applications for social impact organizations worldwide. Our clients — more than 300 organizations in over 55 countries — include major iNGOs and grant-making organizations, social enterprises, and community-based organizations. Our solutions help organizations working in health, education, and development to collect, analyze, and utilize real-time, high-quality programmatic data, automate processes, and work more efficiently and effectively. Vera’s work is centered on the Force.com platform, the world’s leading cloud application development platform. Vera is a growing organization, with more than 65 full-time staff based in offices in Cape Town, Geneva, London, Mumbai, São Paulo, and Washington DC. We have been honored with Echoing Green, Rainer Arnhold, Dasra Social Impact, and Bluhm/Helfand Social Innovation Fellowships and have been featured in Forbes Magazine’s 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneur Magazine’s 30 Startups to Watch.
Position Overview
The Business Development Representative (BDR) is responsible for helping grow Vera’s product and consulting business by proactively driving sales and lead generation activities. The BDR will help identify potential clients; assist with the preparation of demos, presentations, and sales meetings; maintain accurate records on the status of opportunities; manage inbound leads, and successfully hand-off qualified leads to consultants for scoping projects. Though the primary responsibilities include client relationship management, opportunity identification and development, and data management, the BDR will be flexible in conducting activities that contribute to the fulfillment of a dynamic business strategy with clients of various regions, sizes, and areas of work. Successful candidates will demonstrate excellent attention to detail, communication and customer service skills, problem-solving capabilities, and eagerness to learn. They will have a demonstrated ability to handle accounts and opportunities with finesse, professionalism, and enthusiasm.
Primary Responsibilities
Source and qualify leads by:
Receiving inbound leads, following up with a first call, and directing to relevant channels as appropriate
Proactively sourcing new leads in alignment with Vera’s 2020 strategy by conducting research and outbound prospecting
Managing leads and opportunities through the sales pipeline, identifying internal resources needed to strengthen opportunities
Supporting the Marketing team in developing email campaigns, content, presentations, and other sales collateral, and in distributing sales collateral to potential clients
Supporting consulting units with projects to drive sales, such as presentation preparation or demo development
Conducting market research in both the Consulting and Product spaces
Engaging prospects in product demos, in person meetings, and calls
Nurturing top-of-funnel leads through content and ongoing touchpoints
Educating and networking with key prospect and customer contacts
Cultivate partnerships by:
Developing and maintaining connections with new and existing partners
Delivering exceptional customer service at all times
Understanding the Amp Impact value proposition and ideal customer profile, and identifying new partnerships in alignment
Support business intelligence by:
Keeping up-to-date records on leads and account contacts in internal Salesforce system
Identifying key metrics, helping define KPIs, and report to partner teams
Preparing regular reports on sales leads, opportunities, etc.; analyze sales and growth trends
Aligning with and supporting the Marketing team to enhance content in alignment with our SQL criteria
Helping the team continuously improve and optimize our process, training, use of technology, and other applicable aspects of our business.
This is a new entry level role within the organization that is great for someone looking to get into a sales role.
Qualifications and Experience
Essential
- 2-4 years professional experience, ideally in a business development, fundraising, or sales account representative role
- BA/BS or other undergraduate degree
- Excellent written and verbal communication and relational skills
- Top-notch customer service skills
- Attention to detail and commitment to quality
- Excellent time management and organizational skills with an ability to balance conflicting priorities effectively
- Ability to work independently and in a dynamic team
- Self-starter with highly developed interpersonal skills, decisive, and result oriented
- Comfort working with teams across time zones
- Demonstrated adaptability; commitment to learning and growth
- Fluency in English (written and verbal)
- The right to work in South Africa
Desirable
- Experience with Salesforce
- Graduate degree in business or other related technical, analytical, or financial subjects
- Experience working in a social impact organization
- Experience deriving business insights from market research, internal data, and other sources
- Fluency/proficiency in additional language(s)
Compensation and Benefits
Vera Solutions offers fair compensation (including benefits), commensurate with experience and cost of living.
Complete an online application (attaching CV and cover letter).
Applications are rolling, but the deadline for submission is July 15, 2020 at 11:59pm SAST. For additional information, please contact jobs@verasolutions.org.
Diversity and Inclusion Statement
At Vera we celebrate diversity; not only do we value the diversity of our workforce, we rely on it. Employees with different backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences inform our approach to our work, driving us to ask questions and challenge assumptions, solve problems creatively, and foster strong relationships with each other and our clients. We are committed to a culture of diversity and inclusion in the workplace, in which all of our staff feel safe and thrive.