Sales Executive - College Athletics

Description

Location: Nashville, TN (preferred)

Travel: Moderate

Company Overview

Advent is a nationally recognized experience design firm that creates immersive environments for universities, professional sports teams, corporations, and cultural institutions. For more than 25 years, Advent has helped organizations tell their stories through experiential spaces that inspire deeper connection.

As Advent enters a major growth phase, we are expanding our sales organization to match increasing demand and new market opportunities.

Core Values

Advent’s culture is built around five core values that shape how employees show up, collaborate, and serve clients:

• Clutch – Deliver excellence under pressure
• Relationally Intelligent – Build trust and collaborate e?ectively
• Upbeat – Show positivity and enthusiasm
• Selfless – Put the team and mission first
• Creative Problem Solver – Approach challenges with curiosity and innovation

Position Overview

The Sales Executive plays a crucial role in driving Advent’s next stage of growth. This role is responsible for generating new business through a combination of high-volume outbound prospecting and qualified inbound leads generated through Advent’s organic website tra?c, trade shows, and channel partners within the college athletics vertical.

While inbound lead flow contributes to the pipeline, the greatest earning potential comes from proactively creating new opportunities and opening new doors within the assigned vertical market. Sales Executives will balance disciplined outbound activity with thoughtful follow-up on inbound and partner-referred leads.

This Sales Executive owns a specific vertical—collegiate athletics —becoming a subject-matter expert ( specifically around revenue generation in the ever-changing college athletics market) and building long-term relationships that create future opportunity flow.

Success requires resilience, relationship intelligence, strategic communication, and comfort navigating complex, multi-stakeholder organizations. This role is ideal for someone energized by consultative selling, creative problem-solving, and helping organizations express their identity through impactful, experiential environments.

Key Responsibilities

Business Development & Pipeline Growth

• Generate the majority of pipeline through outbound outreach (calls, emails, LinkedIn, events, referrals, in-person visits).
• Leverage inbound leads generated through organic tra?c, trade shows, and channel partners.
• Prioritize new logo acquisition to support aggressive growth goals.
• Conduct vertical-specific research to identify ideal targets and decision-makers.
• Build and maintain a strong top-of-funnel pipeline.

Discovery & Solution Alignment

• Lead tailored discovery conversations to identify client needs and opportunities.
• Evaluate fit with Advent’s experiential design and fabrication capabilities.
• Collaborate with strategy, design, and production teams to shape proposals grounded in storytelling and insight.

Sales Cycle Ownership

• Manage the full sales cycle from cold outreach through close.
• Maintain accurate pipeline documentation and forecasting in Salesforce.
• Establish project clarity around budget, timeline, scope, and decision-making.
• Lead negotiations and manage alignment across internal and external stakeholders.

Relationship Building & Networking

• Build relationships with influencers, stakeholders, and champions within the assigned vertical.
• Attend key industry events, conferences, and trade shows to expand visibility.
• Serve as a trusted guide, helping clients build internal consensus.

Client Support & Handoff Alignment

• Ensure smooth hando? of new clients to project teams.
• Provide early-stage consultative support and identify future opportunities.
• Assist with A/R coordination when necessary.

Key Skills & Traits

• Strong outbound drive and proactive opportunity creation
• Resilience through long sales cycles and rejection
• Exceptional relationship intelligence
• Strong communication, storytelling, and presentation skills
• Business acumen and qualification discipline
• Ability to navigate complex organizations and multi-stakeholder environments
• High personal motivation, independence, and accountability

Why You’ll Love This Role

• You’ll sell highly creative, transformational environments that make a real impact
• You will own a vertical market and develop deep expertise
• Your ability to open doors directly fuels Advent’s growth trajectory
• You’ll be rewarded for proactive hunting and building long-term relationships
• You will join a talented, values-driven, collaborative team

Requirements

Required Qualifications

• 2–5 years of successful B2B sales experience
• Established network within college athletics
• Demonstrated success in outbound prospecting and new logo acquisition
• Experience with consultative, multi-step sales cycles
• Strong communication and presentation skills
• Comfort engaging senior decision-makers
• CRM proficiency (Salesforce preferred)
• Consistent history of achieving or exceeding sales targets

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience selling into the built environment (architecture, construction, fabrication, manufactured solutions)
• Experience selling to sports administrators
• Familiarity with environmental graphics, signage, experiential design, or related industries
• Experience in collegiate athletics, higher education, professional sports, or corporate markets
• Background in creative services, design, or design-build