Position Summary:
The Sales Consultant I is a member of the Zahner Sales team and works to evaluate inbound leads, contributing to the decision to convert leads into approved opportunities. Once assigned, the Sales Consultant I works with customer and project stakeholders and internal Zahner professionals to nurture qualifying opportunities to a completed contract. The role develops and present proposals on the path to closing sales. This is a customer-facing sales resource for Zahner project opportunities pertaining to existing pre-designed systems.
Essential Duties:
- Investigate and gather information to qualify prospective projects/opportunities.
- Daily sales/customer processes and tasks may entail answering client phone calls, responding to email submissions and form-fills, and coordinating with the product team on related customer inquiries, and sample requests.
- Proactively pursue progress on assigned leads and opportunities through external stakeholder communication, meeting coordination, follow-up, inquiry responses, problem solving, and other strategies to ensure timely movement of leads to opportunities to final contract.
- Follow the established sales process for personally recording CRM input and data maintenance to ensure accurate forecasting, reporting, tracking, and client information.
- Maintain and nurture relationships with Zahner repeat clients, key ecosystem partners, and other industry allies.
- Use available internal and external industry tools to proactively locate, pursue, and qualify leads and potential sales opportunities.
Minimum Qualifications:
- 2 years of combined customer-facing sales experience requiring technical competency and coordination of the sales process of a complex product or solution.
- Bachelor's degree in related field (art, architecture, construction, business, marketing, public relations, etc.)
- Efficient in standard office software (email, word processing, spreadsheets, etc.)
- Familiarity with CRM software as a tool to manage sales activity.
- Must be fully willing and able to regularly interact and communicate with clients using live communication techniques (calls/Zoom/in person).
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills required to build and preserve Zahner's relationship and reputation in the construction/fabrication industry.
Preferred Qualifications:
- 3+ years of complex selling experience.
- Experience reading and interpreting construction and/or specification documents.
- Specific experience with Microsoft Dynamics CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software for tracking customer information, leads, opportunities, follow-up, etc.
Work Environment, Physical Demands, Travel Requirements:
- The position requires working from Zahner's offices in Kansas City every day, with flexibility given for periodic work from home as approved by the position's supervisor.
- The physical demands represent requirements to perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodation to perform the essential functions may be available.
- Work is performed in an office environment with common office tools. Required to receive and make telephone calls, send and receive email, text, and instant messages, maintain documents/records, communicate with coworkers and business partners.
- Majority of time is spent performing essential functions around a desk/table arrangement while occasionally moving to other locations for meetings, discussions, or observation.
- Must enter and interpret computer data, read, and file documents with small letters/numbers/symbols on documents and electronic devices.
- Moves devices/tools, pushes, and pulls, weighing less than 25 pounds; Lifting or raising small objects from the ground to a tabletop, occasionally lifting overhead.
- Travel by airplane and/or personal vehicle to and from client locations and other office locations is less than 25%.