Director of Business Development – Retail & Strategic Accounts Full Time NEW

Company Description

Willow Creek Press is one of the leading calendar publishers and distributors in North America, serving major retailers, e-commerce platforms, specialty stores, and wholesale partners across the United States. For decades, we have built a strong reputation for product quality, customer relationships, reliability, and execution.

Today, we are entering an exciting new phase of growth.

In addition to our established calendar business, we are investing aggressively in:

• E-commerce and drop-ship expansion
• New retail partnerships
• Evergreen product categories
• Product innovation and strategic growth initiatives

We are building a more proactive, growth-oriented sales organization focused on accountability, customer engagement, and long-term expansion.

This is an opportunity to join a company with a strong foundation that is actively evolving and investing in the future.

Compensation

• Base Salary: $100,000 – $140,000
• Uncapped Commission Structure
• Aggressive incentives tied directly to new business growth
• Top performers can earn $250,000–$300,000+

Benefits

• Medical benefits
• Paid Time Off (PTO)
• Bonus opportunities
• Laptop and remote work equipment provided
• Travel reimbursement

ABOUT THE ROLE

This is not a maintenance sales role.

We are looking for a highly driven, entrepreneurial sales professional who thrives on building relationships, creating opportunities, winning new business, and growing strategic accounts.

The ideal candidate is:

• Competitive
• Self-motivated
• Customer-focused
• Energetic
• Passionate about growth
• Comfortable operating with autonomy and accountability

This role combines:

• Approximately 70% new business development (“hunter”)
• Approximately 30% strategic account growth (“farming”)

You will inherit several strong existing accounts while also being expected to aggressively pursue new opportunities across retail, e-commerce, wholesale, and emerging channels.

This is a high-visibility role with direct exposure to executive leadership and significant opportunity for long-term growth.

WHAT YOU WILL DONew Business Development

• Prospect and develop new retail, e-commerce, and wholesale accounts
• Build a consistent and measurable sales pipeline
• Identify dormant account opportunities and competitive takeaways
• Develop strategic outreach plans to grow revenue and market share
• Conduct customer meetings, presentations, trade show meetings, and sales calls

Strategic Account Growth

• Grow assigned strategic accounts through relationship development and business planning
• Expand product placement and seasonal programs
• Identify cross-sell and upsell opportunities
• Strengthen long-term customer partnerships

Market Expansion

• Help drive expansion into evergreen and emerging product categories
• Participate in strategic growth initiatives and product innovation discussions
• Bring ideas, urgency, and energy to the organization

Internal Collaboration

• Work closely with operations, product development, customer support, and leadership
• Maintain strong follow-through and communication
• Operate with ownership and accountability

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FORRequired Experience

• 5–10+ years of B2B sales experience
• Proven success generating new business revenue
• Experience selling into retail, wholesale, or e-commerce channels
• Strong customer-facing and relationship-building skills
• Experience managing both new business development and account growth

Preferred Backgrounds

Experience in one or more of the following industries is strongly preferred:

• Consumer products
• Publishing
• Promotional products
• Wholesale distribution
• Apparel/imprintables
• Seasonal or gift categories
• Office products
• Retail merchandising

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES THAT MATTER MOST

We are intentionally building a high-performance sales culture.

The ideal candidate is:

• A quick self-starter
• Highly outgoing and relationship-oriented
• Comfortable operating independently
• Competitive and driven by growth
• Organized and accountable
• Passionate about customer engagement
• Entrepreneurial in mindset
• Resilient and persistent
• Positive, energetic, and solutions-oriented

This role is NOT ideal for someone who:

• Waits to be managed closely
• Prefers internal work over customer interaction
• Avoids accountability or performance measurement
• Is uncomfortable prospecting or building new relationships

WHY THIS OPPORTUNITY STANDS OUT

• Established and respected company with strong customer relationships
• Significant growth opportunity across existing and new channels
• Ability to directly impact company growth
• Executive-level visibility and influence
• Strong compensation upside for high performers
• Entrepreneurial culture without heavy corporate bureaucracy
• Opportunity to help shape the future direction of the business

HOW TO APPLY

Please submit:

• Resume
• Brief summary of your most impactful new business win
• Description of how you personally generated and closed the opportunity