Director, Business Development - Montreal

The Director, Business Development is responsible to identify, grow and manage a portfolio of strategic accounts and new clients to ensure the growth and the success of the organization. This position will oversee and conduct client relationship management, solutions selling to growth opportunities, developing process, presenting proposals, and ensuring the successful delivery of Encore’s services. The Director, Business Development performs a lead role in client interactions prior to sale with support from the Operations and Venue teams. Following the sale, they perform the lead role in client interactions and generate future opportunities. This position reports to the VP, Industry Relations & Business Development, Canada.

Key Job Responsibilities

Business Development

· Know the market well to find, qualify, and convert prospects into confirmed business.

· Identify key strategic accounts for long-term development.

· Act as the lead in-market representative in business community associations through memberships, leadership roles, thought leadership and attendance of functions for networking purposes.

· Seek and achieve full knowledge of competitor set organizations and customers.

· Identify areas from competitor knowledge to propose for action.

· Develop creative solutions to drive business growth.

· Actively build and maintain a pipeline of ongoing opportunities & leads.

· Mine existing customers for other opportunities and revenue.

· Explore partnership opportunities with a variety of event industry suppliers and groups.

· Partner with clients to have an absolute understanding of their event goals.

· Build rapport/relationship with clients to understand their event pain points.

· Advance the sales of our Strategic Services (Décor, Scenic, Creative, etc.)

· Determine whether any emergent solutions can be leveraged to drive incremental value and impact for client event.

· Develop and propose solutions that achieve client goals.

· Qualify leads from sources including websites, RFP sites, marketing campaigns and team members.

· Engage team members across sales, marketing, project management and leadership to incorporate and draw from their expertise.

· Establish solid relationships and trust with existing clientele.

· Monitor industry social channels to report any findings of interest to our organization.

· Achieve a revenue target through business development activities.

· Participate in a minimum of four key business and/or industry committees throughout the year.

Client Management

· Operate as a key point of contact for any matters specific to their customers (in conjunction with support team).

· Build & foster customer loyalty by finding opportunities to wow the client.

· Understand and document customer business strategies, priorities, and goals.

· Resolve customer issues and ensure their high levels of satisfaction through prompt responsiveness and focus on detail.

Project Oversight

· Engage with production/operations for technical assistance, design, and tailored customer solutions.

· Provide routine quality control oversight of the project as required, ensuring client expectations for budget management, creative services solutions and technical logistics coordination are being met and kept on schedule.

· Remain current and educated on all new and emerging event technology products and solutions.

· Develop and actively track a business pipeline in CRM, listing all activities and relevant timelines.

· Establish and maintain close relationships with other Encore team members as well as with external partners.

· Lead and attend all designated individual and team calls.

Job Qualifications

· Technical College or University Degree preferred

· 10+ years of experience in business development and within the events industry

· Excellent presentation and communication skills

· Proven ability to manage multiple projects at a time while paying strict attention to detail

· Understanding of social media, digital marketing strategies, search optimization and e-marketing

· Passion for networking and what we do

· Stellar personal network and direct contacts

· Valid driver’s license and access to a private vehicle

· Estimated travel between 20 – 40%

Competency Group

Deliver World Class Service

· Hospitality

· Ownership

Do The Right Thing

· Demonstrates Self-Awareness

Drive Results

· Optimizes & Aligns Work

· Ensures Accountability

See The Big Picture

· Strategic Mindset

· Decision Quality

· Manages Complexity

Value People

· Organizational Savvy

· Values Diversity

· Collaborates