Business Development Executive

Overview

We are a dynamic and forward-thinking organization committed to fostering innovation and delivering exceptional value to our clients. Our collaborative environment thrives on expertise, dedication, and a shared vision for excellence. We empower our team members to make a significant impact, grow their careers, and contribute to meaningful outcomes that shape our industry. Join us in a journey where your contributions are valued, and your professional development is a priority.

We are seeking a highly experienced and strategic Business Development Executive to join our Commercial (Sales & Marketing) department. Based at our offices at 194 Bancor Ave, Waterkloof Glen, Pretoria, 0181, South Africa, this senior-level role is pivotal in driving our revenue growth. The successful candidate will be instrumental in identifying and securing new business opportunities, cultivating robust client relationships, and developing and executing strategic plans, with an initial focus on expanding into key growth markets. This position blends sales acumen, marketing strategy, and relationship management to ensure our continued success and market leadership.

Duties & Responsibilities

• Drive premium revenue growth in Africa by proactively sourcing, qualifying and closing new high-value, premium target institutional and corporate accounts while building scalable pipelines and achieving new sales and earned revenue targets as set by the business.
• Work within commercial parameters of pipelines (on sectors, timelines & products) and targets to support the goals of the organization.
• Drive retention, adoption and expansion across assigned clients by acting as the strategic commercial partner — maximizing lifetime value through proactive account planning, cross-sell/upsell, renewal management and client success.
• To develop a well-defined and actionable portfolio roadmap for each existing and new client by conducting a thorough SWOT analysis and determining action plans accordingly.
• To effectively act on each client roadmap according to the agreed plan thereby ensuring client growth and overall profitability.
• To constantly keep abreast of all media and industry trends to identify business opportunities to increase sales and profitability for the business on an ongoing basis.
• To identify potential clients and opportunities in the market and make contact in line with agreed targets and plans.
• To identify marketing opportunities at clients and provide feedback to the marketing team to action, in support of continuous growth and visibility of Ask Africa in the industry.
• To act as a brand ambassador for Ask Africa in all client engagements thereby enhancing the company’s reputation and being “top of mind” for all future cross selling opportunities.
• To build and manage working relationships with various stakeholders at Key Accounts (new & existing) to extrapolate additional business through growth, retention or cross-selling initiatives thereby ensuring the achievement of sales targets and overall sustainability of the business partnership.
• To effectively understand and define the client’s business problem to identify opportunities and sell premium client solutions or products to achieve the set sales and profitability targets.
• Together with various internal stakeholders take accountability to conceptualize the most effective and value-added solution to solve the business problem thereby providing a premium service and ensuring overall profitability for each project.
• To take overall accountability for the accurate and timely delivery of client proposals by coordinating and collaborating with others in the business to ensure the proposal meets the client’s needs and achieves the required profitability margin.
• To effectively negotiate deals with prospective clients and achieve the agreed conversion rates as agreed with the leadership team on a quarterly basis.
• To ensure that all contracts and signed orders are received before any work takes place to minimize the risk and ensure overall legal compliance.
• To ensure that all admin, timesheets, and reports associated to the role are accurately captured, stored, and submitted within the agreed deadline.
• To take accountability for the Premium Client Experience through the effective and efficient handover of project briefs and final delivery of client outputs together with the delivery team.
• To effectively coordinate the internal and external briefing of clients, to ensure that the needs are well understood by the business for them to deliver a premium experience.
• To liaise and provide ongoing expert advice, information, and feedback to all stakeholders (internally & externally), thereby ensuring the effective flow of information to support the achievement of clients’ projects in line with budget and timeframes, resulting in project profitability and client growth. (e.g., statisticians, clients, field, and KAM)
• To take full accountability for achieving the clients’ objectives by reviewing and co-presenting the final research reports and outputs (i.e., Researcher and/or Statistician) to the client in a professional manner within the agreed deadline.
• receiving and reviewing the final report
• review recommendations and define next steps and cross selling opportunities.
• To manage any assigned team by coordinating and directing activities, monitoring performance, and developing staff to ensure that the objectives of the department are achieved on an ongoing basis.
• To drive the Ask Africa culture throughout the department to ensure that all employees and associated agencies/contractors live according to the Ask Africa values and uphold the professional reputation of the business at all times,
• Together with finance, compile an accurate budget to enable the department to achieve its strategic objectives.
• To manage the allocated budget by monitoring and evaluating expenditure to mitigate risk, minimize overspend and maximize profitability for the business.
• To identify and implement cost reduction opportunities within the department to improve the financial profitability of the business.

Additional Role Context

• This role involves building the reputation of our industry, as well as our company.
• This role requires understanding and defining the client’s business problem to identify opportunities and sell premium client solutions or products.
• This role is accountable for the Premium Client Experience through the effective and efficient handover of project briefs and final delivery of client outputs together with the delivery team.
• This includes effective coordination of the internal and external briefing of clients, to ensure that the needs are well understood by the business for them to deliver a premium experience.
• This also includes liaising and providing ongoing expert advice, information, and feedback to all stakeholders (internally & externally), thereby ensuring the effective flow of information to support the achievement of clients’ projects in line with budget and timeframes, resulting in project profitability and client growth. (e.g., statisticians, clients, field, and KAM)
• This role is accountable for achieving the clients’ objectives by reviewing and co-presenting the final research reports and outputs (i.e., Researcher and/or Statistician) to the client in a professional manner within the agreed deadline.
• This role is responsible for driving the company culture throughout the department to ensure that all employees and associated agencies/contractors live according to the company values and uphold the professional reputation of the business at all times.