Sales Manager – Promotional Products & Branded Merchandise

About the Role

SwagUp, a BDA company, is looking for an experienced Sales Manager who thrives on developing people, optimizing performance, and driving growth. In this role, you’ll lead a team of 8–10 seasoned Account Managers dedicated to securing new business from sales-qualified leads while strategically expanding relationships within our existing customer base. You’ll manage the day-to-day operations of the team—fielding questions, coaching your Account Managers, monitoring individual and team performance, and ensuring consistent execution across all sales activities. You will also be responsible for conducting recurring 1:1 meetings, quarterly performance assessments, and supporting the continued professional growth of each team member. This role reports directly to the Director of Sales and is ideal for someone who is both a strong people leader and deeply knowledgeable in the branded merchandise industry.

What You’ll Do

Team Leadership & Development:

• Lead, coach, and motivate a team of 8–10 experienced Account Managers to achieve revenue, activity, and pipeline targets.
• Conduct weekly 1:1s, quarterly performance reviews, and ongoing professional development coaching.
• Serve as the primary escalation point for day-to-day questions, client scenarios, and operational roadblocks.
• Foster a collaborative, high-performance environment that emphasizes accountability and continuous improvement.
• Conduct regular 1:1s, performance reviews, and performance improvement processes (PIPs) as needed.
• Recruit, interview, and onboard top talent to strengthen the account team.
• Recognize team achievements and foster a collaborative, high-performance culture.

Sales Performance & Strategy:

• Achieve and exceed annual sales targets while maintaining healthy margins.
• Monitor individual and team KPIs; identify trends, skill gaps, and opportunities that inform coaching and team priorities.
• Partner with the Director of Sales on forecasting, sales strategy, and long-term business planning.
• Ensure Account Managers are effectively managing pipelines, qualifying leads, and expanding revenue within existing customer relationships.
• Support strategic deals, client conversations, and complex opportunities when needed.
• Actively network through industry events, leadership forums, and client engagements to identify and develop new business opportunities.
• Maintain a “hunter” mentality, balancing new business development with growth of existing accounts.

Operational Excellence:

• Ensure consistent use of sales tools including Salesforce, Microsoft Suite, Gong, Apollo, Front, etc.
• Maintain team readiness and adherence to process standards, communication expectations, and CRM hygiene.
• Identify and implement improvements that enhance efficiency, customer experience, and team performance.
• Ensure data hygiene guideline compliance. Manage all opportunities, tasks, and key performance indicators to prescribed guidelines through insights from Salesforce CRM, promo and program performance analysis, and proactive recommendations.
• Partner cross-functionally with Marketing, Merchandising, Supplier Services, Technology, Sales Ops, Operations, and other departments to deliver seamless client experiences.
• Leverage client feedback (NPS and VOC insights) to continuously improve service delivery and product offerings.
• Ensure compliance with company policies, procedures, and brand standards.

Who You Are

• At least 3-5 years diversified experience in sales and sales operations.
• Minimum 1–2 years of management experience, preferably leading sales or account management teams.
• Demonstrated success in driving account growth, increasing sales, and meeting revenue/margin goals.
• Strong financial acumen with the ability to analyze budgets, margins, and profitability.
• Exceptional communication, negotiation, and presentation skills, including with C-suite executives.
• Strong coaching, communication, and leadership skills with a focus on developing talent.
• Highly organized, data-driven, and comfortable making decisions based on performance analytics.
• Proficient in Salesforce, Microsoft Suite, Gong, Front, Apollo, or similar sales-enablement tools.
• Able to thrive in an environment that values collaboration, ownership, and continuous improvement.
• Self-motivated, thrives in a startup-like environment, and is comfortable working with a lot of autonomy and control over their position, but is also comfortable collaborating and partnering cross-functionally with other teams.