Inside Sales Manager (ISM) – Outbound Partnerships & Institutional Outreach

This is a remote position. About India Market Entry (IME): India Market Entry (IME) is a leader in market entry strategy and business expansion in the Education Sector in India. We excel in assisting international clients to establish themselves in the Indian market. Our mission is to build lasting relationships with customers through intelligent sales engagement, value-based selling, and deep market understanding. About the Role As an ISM – Outbound Partnerships & Institutional Outreach, you will be responsible for identifying and engaging potential strategic partners, Higher Education institutions, publishers and other relevant organisations through structured, targeted outreach. The role will primarily involve email-led prospecting, supported by calls, LinkedIn and other appropriate channels, to identify the right organisations and decision-makers, initiate meaningful conversations, understand their requirements and create opportunities for strategic partnerships and business development. You will engage with stakeholders such as Deans, Directors, Vice Chancellors, Heads of Departments, Publisher Heads, Business Heads, HR/L&D Leaders and other senior decision-makers. This is a target-driven, research and outreach-focused role that requires strong communication, persistence, follow-up and the ability to convert cold/warm outreach into meaningful business conversations. Key Responsibilities 1. Target Account Identification - Research and identify potential Higher Education institutions, publishers, strategic partners and corporate organisations. - Build and maintain a targeted database of organisations and relevant decision-makers. - Identify the right stakeholder within each organisation based on the nature of the opportunity. - Prioritise accounts based on relevance, potential and business opportunity. 2. Email Outreach - Plan and execute targeted email outreach campaigns to prospective organisations and decision-makers. - Develop personalised and relevant email communication based on the organisation and potential opportunity. - Manage structured follow-up sequences to improve response and meeting rates. - Experiment with messaging, subject lines and outreach approaches to improve effectiveness. - Coordinate with Marketing/GTM teams on campaigns and communication assets where required. 3. Strategic Partnership Outreach - Identify potential partners for institutional tie-ups, content partnerships, distribution, learning programmes, technology partnerships and other strategic opportunities. - Initiate conversations with potential partners and understand their business requirements. - Qualify the opportunity and assess strategic fit. - Coordinate with senior team members for discussions involving high-value or strategic accounts. 4. Higher Education Outreach - Reach out to universities, colleges, business schools and other Higher Education institutions. - Identify relevant decision-makers and initiate conversations around potential collaboration and business opportunities. - Understand institutional priorities, requirements and decision-making processes. - Generate qualified meetings for the relevant GTM/Sales team. 5. Publisher & Content Partner Outreach - Identify relevant educational publishers and content organisations. - Approach publishing, business development and senior leadership teams regarding potential partnerships. - Understand their portfolio, market presence and potential areas of collaboration. - Develop and maintain a pipeline of potential publisher partnerships. 6. Prospect Qualification & Meeting Generation - Conduct initial conversations to understand the prospect's requirements, interest and potential fit. - Qualify organisations before passing opportunities to the relevant senior stakeholder. - Schedule meetings with GTM Sales, GTM Marketing, Co-Founder, Sales Enablement or other relevant team members. - Ensure the meeting handover includes sufficient background, stakeholder details and context. 7. Follow-up & Relationship Nurturing - Follow up consistently with prospects across email, calls and LinkedIn. - Maintain relationships with interested prospects who may not have an immediate requirement. - Develop long-term engagement with strategic accounts. - Ensure no potential opportunity is lost due to inadequate or delayed follow-up. 8. CRM & Pipeline Management - Maintain accurate records of all organisations, contacts, outreach and interactions in the CRM. - Track the complete outbound funnel: Target Account → Contact Identified → Outreach → Response → Meeting → Opportunity → Partnership / Sale - Maintain clear next actions and follow-up dates. - Ensure 100% CRM hygiene and timely reporting. 9. Market Research & Intelligence - Research target organisations, market developments, competitor activity and potential partnership opportunities. - Capture insights from conversations with prospects. - Identify new sectors, account types and channels for expanding outreach. - Share market feedback with Marketing, Sales and Product teams. 10. Continuous Improvement - Track outreach performance and analyse response and meeting-generation rates. - Identify what messaging, industries and stakeholder profiles generate better results. - Suggest improvements to targeting, outreach and follow-up processes. - Continuously build and refine the target account database. Requirements Candidate Profile Experience - 2–5 years of experience in Inside Sales, B2B Business Development, Lead Generation, Institutional Sales, Partnerships or Outbound Sales. - Experience in email-led prospecting and account-based outreach is strongly preferred. - Experience engaging with Higher Education institutions, publishers, EdTech companies or corporate organisations would be an advantage. Preferred Industry Exposure - EdTech - Higher Education - Educational Publishing - Corporate Learning & Development - Education Services - LMS / Learning Technology - Professional Education - Content / Publishing Partnerships Skills Required - Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English. - Strong business email writing skills. - Good research and prospect identification ability. - Comfortable initiating conversations with senior stakeholders. - Strong B2B sales and business development orientation. - Persistent and disciplined in follow-ups. - Strong CRM knowledge and data-management discipline. - Good understanding of email outreach and prospecting. - Comfortable working with activity and outcome-based targets. - Strong ownership and ability to work independently. Preferred Market Exposure Preference will be given to candidates with experience working with institutions in: - Mumbai - Delhi - Noida - Gurugram - Bengaluru - Hyderabad Originally posted on Himalayas