Business Development Representative

Title: Business Development Representative Location: Chicago, IL

Description

Sprout Social is looking to hire a Business Development Representative to the Sales & Customer Experience team.

Why join Sprout’s Sales & Customer Experience team?

At Sprout Social, our Sales and Customer Experience team is the driving force behind how today’s most innovative brands use Sprout to power the future of customer connection. We sell and support the leading social intelligence platform for businesses, helping organizations unlock the full value of social data to drive strategic decisions.  Through powerful social intelligence and trusted partnership, we enable teams to build authentic relationships and drive meaningful business impact.

In this role, you will collaborate with the brightest minds in the industry to support global giants like Salesforce, Airbnb, and Equifax. Just as importantly, we believe in the power of our people. You’ll find a culture that honors your ambition, encourages you to explore new horizons, and provides the framework for you to build a career that matters. If you’re ready to champion innovation and accelerate your impact, this is where you can do your best work.

What you’ll do

• Generate new business by prospecting outbound leads through cold outreach
• Use outbound selling best practices to identify customer pain points while driving the value of our product
• Strategically partner with Account Executives to create new business opportunities
• Consistently learn and apply coaching related to sales strategy and processes
• Leverage AI-powered tools and insights to research accounts, personalize outreach at scale, and prioritize prospects while maintaining a high-quality buyer experience

What you’ll bring

We’re looking for a customer-focused, highly motivated, and driven individual with a desire to grow and advance a career in sales. If you have a proactive, customer-first mentality with the passion to demonstrate Sprout’s commitment to being a joy to do business with, we’d love to talk to you!

The minimum qualifications for this role include:

• 1+ years of sales, marketing or customer service experience OR relevant experience 
• A consistent track record of meeting and exceeding goals
• Ability to work from Sprout’s Chicago office at least three days per week (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday) with the possibility of additional in-office days depending on business needs

Preferred qualifications for this role include:

• Exceptional organizational, presentation, and communication skills - phone, email, and webinar
• Technical expertise and ability to acquire knowledge of new products
• Driven to succeed and ability to work in a fast-paced environment

How you’ll grow

Within 1 months, you’ll plant your roots by:

• Complete Sprout Social’s new hire training & onboarding program alongside other new Sprout team members. You’ll gain a broader understanding of our products and how your role fits into the organization.
• Partner with the Manager of Sales Development to define key success metrics for your role and how you will measure against them.
• Begin developing familiarity with our business, platform, and applications, as well as our company’s key metrics.
• Acclimate yourself with the day to day responsibilities of Sprout’s Business Development team by shadowing team members, listening to recorded customer calls and working closely with your peer Mentor.

Within 3 months, you’ll start hitting your stride by:

• Identify and contact prospective clients to build the pipeline through a variety of methods including, but not limited to cold-calling, emailing, and mass email campaigns.
• Approximately 50% of time spent will be on the phones prospecting.
• Achieve department standards for activity that includes:
• Making a minimum number of quality outbound calls per day, of which at least 20% of those calls should result in quality conversations.
• Scheduling a minimum number of new quality discovery calls per week.
• Create a professional and engaging first impression with our prospects and customers.
• Create, maintain and update database of prospects with complete information and emails.
• Thoroughly qualify all outbound opportunities and collaborate with Account Executives for a smooth customer experience.
• Begin incorporating AI-driven insights into prospect research, discovery preparation, and follow-up to improve conversion and pipeline quality
• Generate new business through outbound prospecting.
• Prioritize leads, research prospects and position relevant product features to solve business needs.
• Run initial discovery calls to identify customer requirements and expectations in order to make tailored product recommendations.
• Manage follow-up with calls-to-action to consistently build a sales pipeline.
• Exceed activity and pipeline goals on a monthly basis.

Within 6 months, you’ll be making a clear impact through:

• Consistently achieve your opportunity and revenue targets.
• Become an expert in all things social media, including advanced listening and employee advocacy.
• Have mastered the uses cases of successful customers across different verticals and sophistication on social media.
• Consistently reflect on your own skill and development gaps along with your Manager to identify personal and professional coaching areas.
• Step up as a leader in the Sales Development organization by mentoring new hires.
• Have a clear understanding of the SMB Account Executive organization and how to position yourself as an ideal candidate.

Within 12 months, you’ll make this role your own by:

• Have mastered the necessary skills needed to work a consistent outbound process, including time management, sense of urgency, and account prioritization.
• Be a leader on the floor by sharing best practices and ways that you have been successful as an BDR.

Of course what is outlined above is the ideal timeline, but things may shift based on business needs and other projects and tasks could be added at the discretion of your manager.

Our Benefits Program

We’re proud to regularly be recognized for our team, product and culture. Our benefits program includes:

• Comprehensive Health & Wellness: Premium BCBSIL medical, dental (high/low plans), and vision (Eyemed) insurance for you and your eligible dependents.
• Premium Mental Health Support: Full, free access to Modern Health for you and your dependents, including coaching, therapy sessions, and digital wellness resources.
• Retirement Savings: 401(k) plan with a 50% company match on your first 6% of contributions (a 3% total match).
• Financial Security: 100% employer-paid Life and Disability insurance for your peace of mind.
• Flexible Paid Time Off: A flexible PTO policy, supplemented with additional company-wide Rest & Recharge days throughout the year.
• Paid Parental Leave: Up to 16 weeks of paid leave for new parents to support you in expanding your family.
• Annual Lifestyle Stipend: A $1,000 USD annual Lifestyle Spending Account to spend on your physical, mental, and financial well-being.
• Work From Home Support: A one-time $550 USD stipend to set up your home office, plus a monthly $50 USD stipend for internet.
• Giving Back: 16 hours of paid volunteer time annually, plus a $100 annual match for your charitable donations.
• Additional Financial Perks: Access to pre-tax commuter benefits, subsidized child/eldercare (Care.com), discounted pet insurance (Figo), and no-cost personalized financial wellness support through Your Money Line.
• Office Environment: Beautiful, convenient, and state-of-the-art office in Chicago’s Loop.

*This list is for informational purposes only. Benefit offerings are discretionary and subject to change and do not constitute a contract or guarantee of benefits.

Our compensation philosophy is rooted in transparency and equity. For this role, we have established a standardized national rate to ensure consistent earning potential for all team members. Our current annual On Target Earnings (OTE) for this role is $85,500. OTE is governed by an incentive plan and is the sum of a fixed base salary plus incentives at target performance. Incentive compensation will vary based on performance.

This rate was determined by a market-based compensation approach using data from trusted third-party compensation sources to set equitable and competitive pay. We also evaluate our compensation structure bi-annually, identifying market shifts and making adjustments to our rates and existing employee compensation as needed.

Sprout Social is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate based on identity- race, color, religion, national origin or ancestry, sex (including sexual identity), age, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, veteran or military status, unfavorable discharge from military service, genetic information, sexual orientation, marital status, order of protection status, citizenship status, arrest record or expunged or sealed convictions, or any other legally recognized protected basis under federal, state, or local law. Because Sprout Social is a federal contractor, we affirmatively recruit individuals with a disability and protected veterans. Learn more about our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in our latest DEI Report.

For more information about our commitment to equal employment opportunity, please click here (1) Equal Opportunity Employment Poster and (2) Sprout Social's Affirmative Action Statement. 

Additionally, Sprout Social participates in the E-Verify program in certain locations, as required by law.