Staples is business to business. You're what binds us together.
At Staples, our sales team helps organizations work smarter by delivering innovative solutions, trusted expertise, and exceptional customer experiences. As a Key Account Executive, SLED, you will play a critical role in driving growth within large State, Local Government, and Education accounts, managing a portfolio of customers with significant annual spend. This strategic sales role is responsible for expanding existing partnerships, securing new contractual commitments, and identifying opportunities across the full range of Staples products and solutions. You'll collaborate with internal specialists, category experts, and customer success partners to create value for customers while delivering revenue growth and profitability. If you are a driven sales professional who thrives on building executive relationships, influencing complex buying decisions, and achieving ambitious goals, we'd love to hear from you.
Work Location: This is a remote position with a regional focus. This position supports customers in Louisiana and Arkansas. While the role primarily supports working from home, the individual performing this role would live within or adjacent to this region.
What You’ll Be Doing:
- Drive growth and profitability across a book of large SLED accounts with revenue responsibility of approximately $20M
Secure incremental and renewal contractual commitments with executive and technical buying stakeholders
Develop and execute strategic account growth plans across the full customer hierarchy
Identify, pursue, and close programmatic and expansion opportunities to grow customer spend
Partner closely with Outside Development teams to drive program compliance and site-level engagement
Lead cross-functional account teams including category experts, customer success managers, sales engineers, and support partners
Collaborate with Revenue Management partners to support pricing strategies, contract negotiations, and growth opportunities
Build and maintain relationships with senior-level decision makers within customer organizations.
Leverage customer insights, industry trends, and competitive intelligence to develop customized solutions
Utilize CRM and sales tools, including SFDC and other prescribed systems, to prioritize activities and document customer engagement
What You Bring to the Table:
Strong drive to win and a passion for exceeding sales goals
Resilience and the ability to turn rejection into learning opportunities and future success
Demonstrated success managing strategic programs, business development efforts, or large customer relationships
Executive presence with the ability to engage and influence senior customer stakeholders
Exceptional presentation and communication skills in both virtual and face-to-face environments
Consultative, solution-based selling and advanced negotiation capabilities
Experience building and executing strategic customer growth plans
Strong business, financial, operational, and technology acumen
Analytical skills with the ability to use customer and market insights to create tailored solutions
Ability to work independently while effectively collaborating across multiple teams and stakeholders
What’s Needed- Basic Qualifications:
4+ years of successful sales experience supporting Government and/or Education clients
Proven experience managing programs, strategic accounts, or business development initiatives
Experience presenting to and influencing senior-level customer decision makers
Demonstrated consultative selling, solution selling, negotiation, and account management experience
Experience developing and executing strategic account growth plans
Strong understanding of business operations and financial concepts
Proficiency with Microsoft Office and standard business software applications
Experience analyzing customer data and market trends to support business decisions
Ability to independently manage priorities and deliver results with minimal supervision
Experience coordinating cross-functional teams to achieve customer and business objectives
What’s Needed - Preferred Qualifications:
Bachelor's degree
Experience working with Government and Education purchasing cooperatives
Experience working cross-functionally within a large, complex organization
Prior account management and prospecting experience with Fortune 1000 organizations
Proven track record of managing a sales budget and exceeding performance targets
Experience leading complex deal negotiations from opportunity identification through close
Business-to-business sales experience
Experience retaining, expanding, and growing strategic customer accounts
Experience within Education, State, or Local Government markets
We Offer:
- Inclusive culture with associate-led Business Resource Groups
- Flexible PTO (22 days) and Holiday Schedule (7 observed paid holidays)
- Online and Retail Discounts, Company Match 401(k), Physical and Mental Health Wellness programs, and more!
The salary range represents the expected compensation for this role at the time of posting. The specific base pay may be influenced by a variety of factors to include the candidate's experience, skill set, education, geography, business considerations, and internal equity. In addition to base pay, this role may be eligible for bonuses, or other forms of variable compensation.
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