Business Development Manager- Video Conferencing & Collaboration

Our client is an IT distributor operating across Africa and the Middle East, providing technology products, solutions, and support to businesses and partners.They are currently seeking a Business Development Manager – Unified Collaboration & Video Conferencing to drive the growth of our Unified Communications, Collaboration and Video Conferencing portfolio.

Job Summary

The ideal candidate must have a proven track record of selling Unified Communications, IP Telephony, Video Conferencing and Collaboration solutions, preferably with an existing customer and partner network around competitive technologies and brands. This is a business development and revenue-generating role. The successful candidate will be expected to identify opportunities, develop relationships with enterprise and mid-market customers, recruit and enable channel partners, manage sales pipelines, and position our collaboration solutions against competing platforms.

We are particularly interested in candidates who can demonstrate: "I already sell UC, IP telephony and video conferencing solutions, I already know the customers and partners, and I can bring those relationships and opportunities into our portfolio." JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Sales & Business Development

• Develop and execute a sales strategy for Unified Communications, Collaboration and Video Conferencing solutions.
• Identify, qualify and pursue new business opportunities across enterprise, commercial, government and SMB markets.
• Generate and manage a healthy pipeline of UC, IP telephony and video conferencing opportunities.
• Drive the complete sales cycle from prospecting and discovery through proposal, negotiation and closing.
• Achieve and exceed monthly, quarterly and annual sales targets.
• Develop new accounts while expanding existing customer relationships.
• Identify cross-selling and upselling opportunities.
• Develop strategic accounts and maintain strong customer engagement.

1. Competitive Selling Actively compete against established Unified Communications and collaboration vendors, including:

• Avaya, Grandstream, Yealink, Cisco, Poly / Polycom, Logitech, Jabra, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Mitel, NEC, Fanvil, Snom, Audio. Codes, Other relevant UC/VC brands The successful candidate will:
• Understand customers' existing communication and collaboration environments.
• Identify opportunities to replace, upgrade or expand existing solutions.
• Develop competitive positioning and objection-handling strategies.
• Demonstrate the commercial and technical advantages of our solutions.
• Convert customers from competing UC/VC solutions where appropriate.
• Monitor competitor products, pricing, promotions and market positioning.

1. Unified Communications & Collaboration Sales Develop opportunities around solutions including:

• IP PBX / IP Telephony
• Business Phones and IP Phones
• SIP / VoIP Solutions
• Unified Communications Platforms
• Contact Centre Solutions
• Audio Conferencing
• Video Conferencing
• Meeting Room Solutions
• Interactive Collaboration Systems
• Wireless Presentation
• Headsets and Collaboration Devices
• Microsoft Teams Integration
• Zoom Integration
• SIP Trunking
• Cloud PBX
• Hybrid Communication Solutions
• UCaaS and collaboration platforms The candidate should be able to understand customer requirements and translate them into appropriate UC and collaboration solutions.

1. Video Conferencing & Meeting Room Solutions

• Identify and develop video conferencing opportunities across enterprise and mid-market customers.
• Engage CIOs, IT Managers, Heads of Infrastructure, Facilities Managers and other relevant stakeholders.
• Conduct customer discovery sessions and solution presentations.
• Work with technical/pre-sales teams on demonstrations, proof-of-concepts and solution designs.
• Develop meeting-room and collaboration solutions based on customer requirements.
• Position video conferencing solutions against competing platforms.
• Identify opportunities for room upgrades, expansion and standardization.

1. Customer Relationship Management Build and maintain strong relationships with: CIOs, CTOs, IT Directors, IT Managers, Heads of Infrastructure, Network Managers, Unified Communications Managers, Procurement Managers, Facilities Managers, Contact Centre Managers, Business Owners, System Integrators and IT Decision-Makers. Maintain regular engagement with strategic accounts and develop long-term customer relationships.
2. Channel & Partner Development

• Identify, recruit and develop UC/IT resellers, system integrators, MSPs and technology partners.
• Build strong relationships with existing channel partners.
• Enable partners on UC, collaboration and video conferencing solutions.
• Drive partner-led opportunities.
• Develop joint go-to-market activities with partners.
• Develop partner sales plans and pipeline.
• Organize partner training, workshops, seminars and customer events.
• Identify new partners with existing relationships in the corporate and enterprise market.

1. Pipeline & Sales Management

• Maintain accurate and up-to-date sales forecasts and pipeline reports.
• Use CRM systems to track opportunities, activities, forecasts and customer engagements.
• Provide regular sales performance reports to management.
• Develop account plans for key customers and strategic opportunities.
• Ensure opportunities progress through the sales cycle in a timely manner.
• Maintain accurate sales forecasts and probability assessments.

1. Solution Selling

• Develop a strong understanding of the company's UC, collaboration and video conferencing portfolio.
• Work closely with technical/pre-sales teams to conduct product demonstrations and proof-of-concepts.
• Understand customer communication and collaboration requirements.
• Translate technical capabilities into clear business value and ROI.
• Present solutions to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Develop commercial proposals and solution presentations. REQUIRED EXPERIENCE
• 5+ years of proven B2B sales experience in Unified Communications, IP Telephony, Video Conferencing, Networking or IT Infrastructure.
• Demonstrable experience selling UC, IP telephony, collaboration or video conferencing solutions.
• Existing experience selling Avaya, Grandstream, Yealink, Cisco, Poly/Polycom, Logitech, Jabra, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Mitel or similar solutions.
• A proven track record of meeting or exceeding sales targets.
• An established network of IT decisionmakers, enterprises, resellers, system integrators and/or managed service providers.
• Experience managing the full sales cycle from lead generation to closing.
• Experience with channel/distributor/reseller sales models.
• Strong understanding of UC, VoIP, IP telephony and collaboration technologies.
• Experience working with vendors, distributors and technology partners. Existing relationships with organizations currently using competing UC/VC solutions will be a significant advantage. KEY SKILLS
• Excellent business development and prospecting skills
• Strong consultative selling ability
• Excellent negotiation and closing skills
• Competitive selling and objection handling
• Account management and relationship building
• Channel/partner management
• Pipeline development and forecasting
• Strong presentation and communication skills
• Commercial awareness
• Understanding of UC and collaboration technologies
• Ability to communicate technical solutions in business terms
• Target-driven and self-motivated
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (KPIs) Success in this role will be measured by:
• Achievement of monthly, quarterly and annual sales targets
• New customer acquisition
• Revenue growth
• New opportunities generated
• Pipeline value and pipeline conversion
• Number and quality of active channel partners
• Competitive account conversions
• Customer retention and account expansion
• Gross margin/profitability
• Forecast accuracy
• Partner-generated revenue
• Growth in strategic enterprise accounts