Regional Business Development Director (Central)

MarshBerry, a subsidiary of Lincoln International, is growing! We are seeking a Regional Business Development Director to join our team. We have a people-first, fast-paced, collaborative culture with plenty of opportunity for growth. MarshBerry has been successful in achieving growth objectives because of the trust our clients place in our talented team of professionals, and all MarshBerry colleagues play a critical role in directly or indirectly cultivating those trusted relationships. MarshBerry provides an environment where employees can learn, improve, and realize their career goals. We offer competitive benefits, hybrid work schedules, new challenges, and learning experiences.

Job Details

Position Summary:

FirstChoice is currently seeking a Regional Business Development Director to join our growing team. The Regional Business Development Director will focus on developing new business for FirstChoice. The Business Development Director is responsible for recruiting, prospecting, relationship development, and will be the opportunity creator for the region. This individual will be naturally curious learning about agency owners and their businesses, comfortable initiating new relationships, disciplined about follow-up, and persistent in developing opportunities over time. They are responsible for developing and executing the new member growth strategy of the assigned territory/Region. Business Development Director serves as the region’s primary new-business development leader, with accountability for expanding FirstChoice’s membership by recruiting quality independent agencies, growing regional membership, assisting with developing carrier and strategic partnerships, and aggregating premium.

This is a remote-based position. The ideal candidate will live in either OH, MI, IN, IL, WI, MN, KY, TN, or WV.

Success in this role requires a highly proactive, relationship-driven approach to business development with the ability to identify and develop opportunities while building trusted relationships. The Business Development Director will develop and maintain a strong pipeline of prospective members in Salesforce through direct prospecting, email campaigns, referrals, carrier and strategic partner relationships, industry events, conferences, and other market-development activities. The Business Development Director is expected to create opportunities and be the first point of contact for all FirstChoice Web lead inquiries in the Region. They will continually expand FirstChoice’s network by initiating conversations with agency owners and other key industry stakeholders.

This individual will work in close partnership with the Regional Vice President and Regional Relationship Directors to ensure the region has a coordinated team selling strategy for approval and onboarding of all new members. The Business Development Director will introduce and actively transition the relationship to the appropriate Regional Relationship Director throughout the relationship building process.

Responsibilities:

• Develops and executes a comprehensive business plan and development strategy for the assigned region.
• Maintains responsibility for all new member aggregation.
• Builds a deep understanding of the regional insurance marketplace, including agency dynamics, carrier appetites, competitive networks and aggregators, and opportunities for FirstChoice expansion.
• Proactively identifies, targets, and recruits independent insurance agencies that align with FirstChoice's membership strategy.
• Increases membership, revenue, and aggregated premium volume within the assigned territory.
• Collaborates with carrier representatives to identify joint growth opportunities, enhance member value, and generate qualified prospective member referrals.
• Leverages strategic partnerships to expand market reach and generate qualified prospective member referrals.
• Builds and maintains a consistent Salesforce opportunity pipeline of prospective members through prospecting, networking, referrals, and market intelligence.
• Collaborates with the Regional Vice President and Regional Relationship Director to initiate new prospective members.
• Utilizes Salesforce to plan, log, and execute sales strategies.
• Participates in team-selling environment with colleagues.
• Attends conferences, association meetings, and industry events to build brand awareness and develop relationships to generate leads and identify new partnership opportunities.
• Reports sales data & activities weekly to the Regional Vice President during 1:1’s.
• Attends monthly meetings to collaborate with the other Region’s Business Development Director.
• Stays abreast of industry trends and changes incorporating “proven practices” in the development of processes, services, and quality standards.
• Supports MarshBerry and individual branding with an active LinkedIn presence & contributing to MarshBerry and industry presentations.
• Other special projects, tasks or duties as assigned by Management.

Selection Criteria

Education & Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in Business Management, Risk Management, Finance, Marketing, Sales or another related field. MBA or master’s preferred.
• Insurance designations or licenses are a plus such as P&C license, CIC, CPCU.
• 7-10+ years of sales experience. A minimum of 5 years within the insurance industry.

• Proficient with technology including CRM, PowerBI, Word, Excel, Power Point. Salesforce experience is a plus.
• Demonstrated success growing a geographic territory through consultative sales, territory management, strategic planning, relationship management, recruiting, and business development.
• Existing relationships within the independent agency and carrier community are strongly preferred.
• Experience working with associations and carrier partners with an in-depth knowledge of insurance carrier reporting.
• Self-motivated with excellent organization and time management skills.
• Strong networking, negotiation, presentation, & communication skills with demonstrated ability to develop executive-level relationships & influence decision makers.

• Self-directed, disciplined, and comfortable operating with significant autonomy and accountability for results.
• Experience presenting and writing content to be published is a plus.
• Ability to travel 30-40% of the time; includes overnight and weekend travel.
• Ability to work flexible and/or extended hours as needed.

Other:

• Confidentiality: Always maintains confidentiality with proprietary information as well as all internal and external communications.
• Team-oriented: Positive and professional, able to show consideration for and maintain good working relations with coworkers; remains opens to others’ ideas and exhibits a willingness to try new things.
• Ability to multitask: Able to complete projects and responsibilities accurately according to required timelines and deadlines; possesses the capacity to work under pressure; demonstrates accuracy and thoroughness and monitors work to ensure quality.
• Self-motivated: Innovative self-starter with the ability to prioritize and make appropriate decisions with little guidance or instruction.
• Confident: Poised and acts in a confident manner to facilitate completion of a work assignment or to defend a position or idea.
• Open to feedback: Follows instructions, responds to management directions, and solicits feedback to improve performance.
• High ethics: Displays strong moral and ethical fortitude, prescribing to the values, standards, and policies of MarshBerry.

Working at MarshBerry

Who We Are:

MarshBerry is a global leader in investment banking and strategic consulting for the financial services industry. With over 40 years of experience, MarshBerry empowers firms in insurance brokerage & distribution, wealth advisory & retirement planning and accounting & tax practices to achieve long-term growth, maximize value, and navigate every stage of ownership. Core offerings include Investment Banking services such as Merger & Acquisition Advisory and Capital Raising, as well as Financial Consulting in Strategic Planning, Valuations, and Perpetuation Planning. MarshBerry also provides specialized support in Organic Growth Consulting, Executive Peer Exchange, Agency Network and Market Intelligence & Performance Benchmarking. For more information, visit www.MarshBerry.com.

What We Do:

MarshBerry provides consulting services in the financial services industry primarily to independent insurance agents, brokers and carriers, as well as wealth and retirement plan advisors. Our services include but are not limited to financial, operational, sales management, merger and acquisition advisory, an agency network, peer-to-peer exchange and information services. We are recognized in the financial services industry for providing innovative and customized solutions to our clients, with whom we build trusted advisor relationships. At MarshBerry, our mission is to help our clients learn, improve and realize their value. Our clients credit us for providing the vision, tools, and discipline to help them reach their strategic goals.

It’s one thing to be recognized as experts in our field, it is another to be noteworthy based on the sentiment and feedback of our team. MarshBerry has recently been awarded the following:

• North Coast 99
• Top Work Places – The Plain Dealer
• Best Companies Group - Inclusive Workplace
• Crain's Fast 50
• Healthy Business Council of Ohio Healthy Worksite

To learn more about MarshBerry, visit www.marshberry.com.

We appreciate your interest in MarshBerry. As an equal opportunity employer, your application will be considered with regard to all laws which prohibit discrimination because of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, military status, and genetic information, and requirements to take affirmative action in the hiring of minorities, including women, veterans, and those individuals with disabilities.