Opportunities from Ascension Publishing Group Careers

Description

Full Job Description

SUMMARY

The Salesperson is responsible for developing relationships with Catholic schools and driving the adoption of Ascension's curriculum products among principals, religion teachers, curriculum coordinators, and school leadership. Working closely with the Sales Manager, Associate General Managers, Marketing and Sales Teams, and Product Managers, this role leads outreach to schools, manages a robust sales pipeline, conducts product demonstrations, and supports the implementation of Ascension's curriculum solutions.

While the Sales Manager focuses on diocesan strategy and institutional partnerships, the Salesperson serves as the primary point of contact for Catholic schools and homeschool families, cultivating long-term customer relationships and identifying opportunities for growth. This position collaborates closely with the Parish Team to ensure coordinated outreach and a unified customer experience across Ascension's curriculum and faith formation products.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Catholic School Outreach & Sales

• Lead proactive outreach to Catholic schools, building relationships with principals, religion teachers, curriculum coordinators, and school leadership.

• Develop and manage a sales pipeline focused on Catholic school adoption opportunities.

• Schedule and conduct discovery meetings, product demonstrations, and follow-up conversations with prospective schools.

• Identify customer needs and recommend cirriculum solutions that support each school's educational and catechetical goals.

• Manage assigned opportunities from initial outreach through adoption and implementation.

• Track common customer needs, objections, purchasing barriers, and decision criteria.

• School Relationship Management

• Serve as the primary relationship manager for Catholic schools.

• Build long-term relationships that encourage customer retention and future adoption opportunities.

• Coordinate customer onboarding and implementation support with product and marketing teams.

• Maintain regular communication with school leaders regarding new curriculum, resources, and professional development opportunities.

• Identify opportunities for cross-selling ancillary products and future curriculum offerings.

• Collaboration & Internal Alignment

• Partner with the Sales Manager on diocesan initiatives, strategic opportunities, and major customer accounts.

• Collaborate with the Parish Team to coordinate customer communication and ensure a consistent experience for schools and parishes served by Ascension.

• Work closely with Marketing to follow up on school leads generated through conferences, webinars, campaigns, and sample requests.

• Share customer insights with Product Managers, Curriculum Specialists, Editors, and Designers to inform future product development.

• CRM and Sales Operations

• Maintain accurate and timely records of prospects, customer interactions, opportunities, follow-up activities, and conversions in HubSpot or another approved CRM.

• Organize contacts and opportunities according to market segment, sales stage, adoption timeline, customer needs, and strategic priority.

• Prepare pipeline summaries, activity reports, forecasts, and other sales reports for the Sales Manager and team leadership.

• Monitor assigned opportunities and ensure required follow-up activities are completed on schedule.

• Track samples, proposals, pilots, curriculum reviews, approvals, and adoption decisions.

• Assist in maintaining sales templates, contact lists, call notes, email sequences, presentations, proposals, and other sales resources.

• Identify incomplete or outdated customer records and coordinate appropriate updates.

• Product Presentations and Demonstrations

• Develop a strong working knowledge of Ascension’s curriculum products, ancillary resources, digital tools, and related offerings.

• Conduct product demonstrations and sales presentations for schools, parishes, educators, and other prospective customers.

• Support the Sales Manager in preparing for diocesan and executive-level presentations.

• Customize presentations, proposals, and follow-up materials based on customer needs and market segment.

• Communicate the educational, theological, and practical distinctives of Ascension’s curriculum clearly and accurately.

• Coordinate with Product and Curriculum teams to ensure presentations reflect current product features, implementation plans, and customer benefits.

• Gather questions and feedback from prospective customers and coordinate accurate responses with internal subject matter experts.

• Conferences, Events, and Networking

• Represent Ascension at Catholic education conferences, diocesan events, catechetical gatherings, and professional meetings.

• Support pre-conference outreach, meeting scheduling, presentation preparation, lead capture, and post-event follow-up.

• Engage prospective customers in professional and mission-centered conversations about their curriculum and faith formation needs.

• Enter conference leads and relevant notes into HubSpot promptly and accurately.

• Follow up with assigned conference leads according to established timelines and processes.

• Assist in evaluating event results, including lead quality, opportunity development, customer engagement, and sales impact.

• Sales Process and Professional Development

• Follow established sales processes, qualification standards, customer communication guidelines, and reporting expectations.

• Recommend practical improvements to sales workflows, CRM use, follow-up processes, and customer resources.

• Participate in training related to Catholic curriculum, consultative selling, product demonstrations, negotiation, CRM systems, and account management.

• Develop the judgment and experience needed to manage increasingly complex sales opportunities independently.

• Support the onboarding or training of interns and other sales support personnel as assigned.

• Perform other duties as required.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Education, Theology, Communications, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• 2+ years of experience in sales, customer service, account management, education, publishing, ministry, business development, or a related field.
• Experience supporting a sales process, managing customer relationships, or conducting customer outreach.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to build trust with varied stakeholder groups.
• Strong presentation skills and the ability to learn how to demonstrate curriculum products to educators and Church leaders.
• Ability to listen to customer needs and recommend appropriate solutions.
• Strong organizational skills and consistent attention to follow-up and documentation.
• Ability to manage multiple prospects, accounts, deadlines, and priorities in a dynamic environment.
• Familiarity with HubSpot or another CRM and sales tracking platform preferred.
• Ability to interpret basic customer, pipeline, and sales data.
• Understanding of Catholic education, catechetical formation, parish ministry, or the Catholic market strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with educational publishing or curriculum sales is a plus.
• Self-motivated and comfortable taking ownership of assigned opportunities while seeking guidance when appropriate.
• Willingness to travel to conferences, customer meetings, and Ascension’s headquarters in Exton, Pennsylvania, as needed.
• Exemplify and live Ascension’s core values of humility, passion, and integrity.

Benefits

• Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
• Retirement Plan (401k, IRA)
• Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)
• Paid Time Off (Vacation, Sick & Public Holidays)
• Family Leave (Maternity, Paternity)
• Short Term & Long Term Disability
• Training & Development
• Work From Home
• Wellness Resources