Sales Manager
CommonLit is a nonprofit education technology organization dedicated to ensuring that all students, especially students in Title I schools, graduate with the reading, writing, communication, and problem-solving skills they need to be successful in college and beyond. We envision a world where all students get the opportunity to have a world class education. We operate an online reading program for grades 3-12, www.CommonLit.org, that is used by teachers in over 90,000 American schools.
The Opportunity
Within the Sales Team, the Sales Manager role is positioned to execute front-line sales in order to help achieve CommonLit’s double-bottom line: increasing earned revenue of the department and deepening school usage by increasing the number of schools participating in partnerships. Sales Managers own a full sales cycle as an individual contributor - from first outreach to a closed deal - working directly with both teachers and administrators to guide them to the right fit for their classroom or district. Sales Managers have clear, individual annual bookings goals. As such, the primary functions and responsibilities of this role include managing your own pipeline end to end - from outreach, calls and consulting, to closing and handoff - plus additional projects to contribute to the overall success of the organization.
Apply by: Wednesday, August 12 at 5 pm ET
The primary function of the Sales Manager is to own the full sales cycle for individual school and district inbound lead. This includes meeting monthly and yearly sales targets, while tracking and reporting on the status of all current leads in both Salesforce and monthly pipeline reviews. Strong execution of this role requires:
Data & Records Management: maintain clean and organized records of all opportunities in Salesforce
Email Nurturing: create effective email copy that nurtures schools through the buying process
Effective Salespersonship: Lead effective sales calls with teachers and administrators interested in a CommonLit partnership. This may include live, virtual sales calls and in-person vendor presentations and pitches. We expect effective salespeople to:
Own pre-call research and preparation to identify when to involve senior salespeople
Create tailored slide deck presentations, email copy, usage reports, and other materials to meet the needs of complex leads
Uncover customer needs and build relationships with potential customers
Leverage instructional knowledge to consult and guide customers toward a solution that's a strong fit for their needs
Secure an advance or clear next step from a lead
Facilitate Partner Handoffs: work with the District Success and Professional Learning teams to ensure all new partners are successfully transitioned to District Success for implementation and support
Direct Lead Outreach & Sourcing: when appropriate, contribute to team-wide strategy for direct sourcing of leads
Additional Projects as determined by the team
Education
Bachelor’s degree required
Years of experience
3+ years of experience as a K-12 classroom teacher required
demonstrated success as an 6-12 ELA teacher highly preferred
1-2 years of experience in a sales or account management role required
experience with K-12 curriculum or edtech resources, selling to administrators and teachers, highly preferred
Required hard skills (software, platform, language proficiency, etc.)
Exceptional speaking, listening, and written communication skills
Comfortable using or learning how to use Salesforce, Hubspot, Notion, Google Suite, Slack, Zoom, etc., for collaboration
Experience with LLMs preferred, experience using Claude highly preferred
Soft skills
Alignment with CommonLit’s mission
Strong knowledge of education landscape and school/district procurement processes in order to bring CommonLit’s innovative program to Title I schools across the United States
Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment
Positive attitude and willingness to learn and assist with other projects as needed
Eager to problem-solve and find creative solutions both internally and externally with schools and districts
Strong attention to detail and desire for feedback
Ability to work independently and collaboratively within a team
Strategic thinker, self-starter, with strong time management and organizational skills
Strong interpersonal and problem-solving skills, experience supporting change management at schools highly preferred
Strong communication and collaboration skills
This role involves prolonged periods in a stationary position at a desk and working on a computer
Must be US-based
Must be available to work from 9-5 PM Eastern
This role requires U.S.-based travel approximately 8–10 times annually