Posted: August 11, 2011

Job Title: Sales Representative
Reports to: CEO & Founder
Position Type: Full-time
Location: New Orleans, LA
Website: http://www.kickboardforteachers.com

Kickboard is the world's most innovative data management application for classrooms.

Kickboard is experiencing rapid growth with a national customer base of schools and teacher training programs eager to use our web-based software to track and analyze student performance. Our talented team is growing – we are hiring Kickboard’s first sales representative.

Kickboard is built by Drop the Chalk, Inc. The company founder/CEO is a software engineer who spent several years as a teacher, where the need for Kickboard was discovered through first-hand experience. We are a venture-backed startup with investors and advisors who are veterans of the ed-tech industry.
We have been the recipient of numerous awards including the Tulane New Day Challenge, Idea Village Challenge, Echoing Green Finalist, and First Growth Venture Network.

Recent press:
Inc. 30 Under 30 – http://bit.ly/kickboardincmag
BusinessWeek – http://bit.ly/kickboardbizweek

Why Join This Incredible Team?
Kickboard gives you the opportunity to: – play a key role in getting our product into hundreds of schools across the country – join a tight-knit and nimble team on a mission to redefine the way teachers measure their impact in the classroom – design our sales and outreach approach to set Kickboard apart from other vendors – build strong relationships with the most innovative schools and organizations in the country – join a team that truly aligns social impact with financial upside – put New Orleans on the map as a hub for wildly successful startups at the intersection of education reform and technology

Responsibilities:
The Sales Representative takes ownership of the entire sales process – finding and prioritizing leads, making sales calls, building relationships, and, most importantly, closing deals.

Our target customers are charter schools, reform-minded K-12 public school districts, and teacher training programs (graduate schools of education, professional development providers, education associations, etc.)

Specifically, day-to-day activities would involve:
• Identify, develop, and maintain new prospect opportunities through cold calls/emails and customer referrals.
• Prioritize and filter prospects to determine highest potential, most attractive, etc.
• Develop proposals, conduct product demos and presentations, obtain commitment to purchase, and follow through to ensure the sale is closed.
• Create standardized templates, handouts and PowerPoint presentations.
• Streamline the process for closing contracts.
• Track, analyze, and report on business development activities and results.
• Complete RFPs if necessary.
• Maintain visible and regular presence within the national education reform community through public speaking engagements, participation in conferences and other education industry activities as appropriate.

Qualities/Qualifications:
The ideal candidate will possess the following:
• Formal sales or informal experience (recruiting, fundraising, etc.) with a record of success
• Familiarity with the K-12 education landscape, education reform trends, and/or education technology purchase decision-making process
• Outstanding oral and written communication, presentation and relationship-building skills; enjoys public speaking
• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited, four-year university
• Experience in K-12 education (teaching, school leadership, school operations, CMO/district leadership) a plus

This is a high-impact role – the Sales Representative will be working long hours to drive the success of the company. This involves a range of personal attributes:
• flexibility and adaptability
• a great work ethic and strong desire for success
• an ability to analyze and evaluate one’s own performance and to develop plans to improve performance
• willingness to take responsibility for both success and failure
• self-confidence, thick skin, and a positive attitude about self, company, and target market

Kickboard is located in the Central Business District of New Orleans in a vibrant, walkable section of town close to restaurants, coffee shops and bars. We offer a competitive salary, flexible work hours, a group health care plan, and generous time off including 3 weeks vacation and 9 company holidays. This being New Orleans and all, we also boast the best company-sponsored lunch and dinner outings in the country.

Compensation
Base salary and bonus competitive and commensurate with experience.

Application Procedure
Interested candidates should submit a customized cover letter and up to date resume. Please tell us WHY this job and WHY you – no form letters please, to jobs@dropthechalk.com

Drop the Chalk, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer.