Account Manager, Retention

A bit about the role Spring & Autumn Fair are the UK’s most vibrant marketplaces for wholesale home, gift and fashion. It’s where retailers, large and small, come together to make the connections that could change everything. Getting stocked by a major retailer, hearing from the industry’s leaders, and finding the next bestseller – these are just some of the game‑changing possibilities we deliver to our customers. Now we’re looking for an Account Manager to join the team.

We are looking for someone who can marry both the strategic consultancy mindset in terms of future opportunity with the fast‑paced needs of the business in terms of hitting set targets on time. We are looking for a sales professional that can engage with leaders on all levels to understand their objectives and challenges and deliver high value solutions for their customers.

• Sales and complex deals
• Grow revenue from existing customers by upselling and cross‑selling other products including digital/sponsorship.
• Win new business from marketing qualified leads, competitor shows and self‑sourcing.
• Drive stand and sponsorship international direct sales and achieve/exceed specified revenue targets as agreed with your manager.
• Ensure accurate CRM and pipeline management as well as reporting as requested.
• Clear, transparent and timely execution of contracts.
• Attend international competitor events to meet new prospects, non‑rebooks and lapsed customers.
• Attend the event you support to rebook your customers for the next year’s event and collect feedback on the current year’s event.

• Credibility, relationships and account strategy
• Manage the relationship with all your customers by maintaining regular contact (via face‑to‑face meetings, video calls, phone calls, or emails), acting as their first point of contact, responding to their requests and queries directly, and keeping them informed of developments on the event.
• Manage and keep up to date the list of contacts at all your customers, as many customers have more than one person with whom we interact.
• Continually strengthen the reputation of our brand and our company.
• Develop strong business relationships with a plethora of client stakeholders and across business functions.
• Identify and build new client relationships and win‑back damaged/lapsed relationships.
• Ensure an excellent understanding of the client’s needs and how they are nuanced at a personal, divisional or regional level.
• Achieve/exceed soft targets and non‑revenue KPIs relating to client engagement and satisfaction, as agreed with your manager.

Here’s what we’re looking for from you:

• Experience in a similar sales or relationship‑management role or telesales role.
• Ability to work to targets and KPI’s.
• A good understanding of client care and customer service.
• Ability to thrive in a fast paced, dynamic environment, and make decisions on the go.
• Ability to travel, without restriction, throughout most countries, especially the EU.
• Excellent customer relationship skills – you will be expected to manage and build strong relationships with accounts assigned.
• Comfortable challenging customers and explaining benefits of partnering.
• Commercially minded being able to implement initiatives identified.
• Ability to demonstrate working with businesses of all sizes from small independents to large multi‑national corporations.
• Experience managing senior stakeholders: including collaborating with, influencing, presenting to C‑suite clients and internal stakeholders.
• Proven track record growing account revenues and margins.
• Outstanding self‑awareness, high levels of empathy and strong influencing skill.
• Relationship building skills that help build trust and rapport.
• Good at building effective working relationships and networks at all levels and able to deal with senior stakeholders (client side and internal).
• Ability to assimilate knowledge rapidly.
• Able to understand customer needs (implied and explicit) and adapt our portfolio of events and services to build a tailored solution for them.
• Excellent communication skills – persuasive, confident and good listening skills.
• Strong presentation skills – face to face and by phone or conference call.
• Up‑to‑date with trends and current issues within your business sector and the event industry as a whole.
• Strong commercial outlook and growth mindset.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to effectively and diplomatically balance conflicting needs and priorities.
• Excellent attention to detail and project management skills and ability to multi‑task, especially when working fast and to tight timelines.
• Analytical approach.
• Strong desire to succeed and a positive ‘can‑do attitude’.
• Resourceful, good at problem solving and able to cope under pressure.
• Flexible and adaptable to the needs of the client and the business.