The Opportunity

We are looking for a customer facing Sales Leader who has proven ability to execute against ambitious sales targets as well as supporting the development of the programme and outreach to the investment community. They must be able to work independently as they will be our sole representative based in the African market, be willing to travel across different markets, be a strong organiser as well as exceptional communicator both internally and externally.

The right candidate will be inspired by growth and have already a proven track record of developing a small event to the next level. They will be happy to work as an essential cog of a team that will feed in new investor/developer delegates/speakers, new topics and ideas into our event for customers as well as securing new sponsors. They will also be abel to demonstrate that they have experience in dealing with Government bodies such as Ministries and Investment Promotion Agencies.

‘Creating an impact’ is at the heart of everything we do. We enable growth by facilitating deal opportunities. As industry curators and change agents, we deliver high-level networking and thought leadership for hospitality investment and aviation.

If you are an exceptional, ambitious, creative, conscientious sales individual and want to have a flexible and rewarding long-term career in an organisation that puts its customers first above the shareholder then we welcome you.

Location

• Africa based (preferably South Africa/Kenya) – working from home.

Key Responsibilities

Overall Objectives

Reporting directly to the Commercial Director and indirectly to the Event Director, the Head of Customer Relations will be responsible for leading and managing the sales campaign for AHIF and be directly responsible for developing (and growing if needs be) the sales team to achieve sales targets and drive revenue growth on Africa Hospitality Investment Forum. They will also promote, help market and sell the Africa stream of Future Hospitality Summit the World.

This role will involve developing and implementing strategic sales plans, building and maintaining customer relationships, work alongside our Investor Relations team to develop new relationships with African owners/developers/investors/financiers and oversee “local” (African) sales operations. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in sales leadership, a strong understanding of African market dynamics, and the ability to engage high level decision makers, inspiring their trust and motivate them in working with us. In time, the development of a local team is a possibility so experience of managing a high performing team is a benefit.

Strategic Planning and Execution

• Develop and implement comprehensive sales strategies to achieve company objectives.
• Analyse market trends and competitors to identify opportunities and threats.
• Set and track sales targets, KPIs, and performance metrics.

Campaign & Product Development

• Develop the annual go-to-market sales campaign for the flagship Africa event.
• Work with local stakeholders and partners to ensure “African” involvement throughout the event.
• Support any “Market Day” events by help support any organisation of day events/fam trips and local invitations to the event.
• Work with any African Government bodies supporting our events.
• Conduct market research to identify trends, opportunities, and competitive landscape.
• Represent the company at industry events and networking opportunities.
• Work collaboratively with production, marketing, operations and Investor Relations teams to drive and manage the event campaign.
• Develop, in collaboration with the event team members, new products (including digital where applicable) to sell to our clients.
• By working closely with the Client Success team to ensure excellent client outcomes (goal of NPS of 50), customer satisfaction metrics and 90%+ client retention levels.
• Design and implement an onsite rebook strategy for AHIF (target 80% onsite rebook year on year).

Reporting

• Provide timely and accurate forecasts to the Commercial Director and other relevant stakeholders.
• Be able to demonstrate an ability to leverage and interpret analytics and data to control the sales campaign.
• Monitor and discuss key analytics throughout the sales campaign, with a view to using data to help maximise the value of long-term client relationships, increase retention and identify optimum strategies and market segments for generating new business.

Sales Team Management

• Initially working with internal team members you’ll be working collaboratively to hit challenging sales targets.
• The potential, subject to robust business plans, would be to grow the sales team, recruit and onboard Sales Managers and Execs where needed who would report directly to you.
• Run weekly forecasting sessions with Sales Team to provide accurate weekly and monthly forecasts/reviews of ongoing sales campaigns.
• Run any annual appraisals for sales team members and identify and implement delivery of any training or development needs they have.
• Identify and implement sales productivity improvement initiatives & processes.

Key Account / Personal Sales

• Be the key Sponsorship lead for AHIF, closing major big-ticket deals to contribute to the achievement of the targets set by the Commercial Director.
• A key role will be to increase our relationship with our core audiences of investors/developers/owners – you will work with our Investor Relations team (and where needed programming) to support introduction of new customers.
• Work with the FHS World team on developing sponsorship and attendance for the Dubai event.
• Work collaboratively with other Sales Directors to coordinate the sales of key accounts and to upsell across the Bench portfolio.
• Develop your own personal brand within the industry – leading industry podcasts and being present through social media.
• Build and update client contacts within the company CRM system (HubSpot).

Experience and skills

You will

• Have at least 5 years experience of leading sales campaigns and preferably have evidence of leading a team - clearly demonstrating success in achieving targets and growth of products.
• Have dealt with complex sales with multiple stakeholders to bring in big ticket deals.
• Be motivated by stretch targets.
• Be able to demonstrate experience of developing clear strategies to deliver above target outcomes.
• Be able to communicate above, across and down the business to give accurate appraisals of where the sales campaign is and provide accurate forecasts of pipelines and progress towards goals.
• Have recruited, trained and managed a sales team – allocating and managing staff and territories to achieve sales goals.
• Have demonstrated that you are an independent worker but also a team player with sharp business acumen able to inspire a team and drive the results the business is aiming to achieve.
• Multiple languages (English, French) are preferred.

Values we share ...

• Delighting our Customers
• Innovating and facilitating connections
• Nurturing Relationships
• Being Curious
• Creating Valuable Experiences
• Caring about our communities and the environment