Sales Representative

Sherwin-Williams - Altoona, PA

Full-time - Entry Level

Altoona, PA

Chemical Manufacturing

About the position

The Sales Representative is responsible for developing and driving sales within a designated geographic territory, focusing on the Protective & Marine market. This role emphasizes the importance of individual growth and innovation, encouraging employees to leverage their unique talents and abilities. The position involves direct interaction with customers, sales strategy development, and product demonstrations to enhance customer engagement and satisfaction.

Responsibilities

• Prospecting new business and making sales calls to existing accounts for the purpose of selling to customers in the Protective & Marine focus market.
• Collecting reliable customer/territory information and estimating individual customer potential.
• Developing a strategy to grow business with customers and identifying items or product categories that require specific attention in support of this strategy.
• Developing a weekly selling plan and conducting sales calls accordingly.
• Determining where the customer is in the overall selling process and what steps are necessary to move the process along.
• Conducting product demos to support the selling process.
• Supporting customers' application requirements.
• Identifying sources of sales leads and following through on leads provided by store/facility personnel as appropriate.
• Managing customer complaints within lines of authority and managing the process to resolution.

Requirements

• Must be at least 18 years of age.
• Must have a valid state issued driver's license.
• Must be legally authorized to work in the country of employment without sponsorship for employment visa status.
• Must be able to retrieve material from shelves and floor stacks and carry up to 50 lbs.
• Must have a high school diploma or equivalent.
• 1-3 years business to business sales experience.
• Prefer experience as a Commercial Branch Manager or Sales Rep with proven successful sales performance in a large territory; or comparable non-SW industry Sales Rep experience.
• Ability to travel (occasionally overnight) as needed.
• Ability to maintain discipline in pre-call planning daily and monthly activity to ensure time is maximized and the territory SherPlan is being executed.
• Demonstrated knowledge in the Protective & Marine products, Industrial Flooring products, and application methods, market dynamics and trends in the coatings industry.
• Strong working knowledge of concrete surface preparation and application of floor coatings.
• Knowledge of and capable of using sales excellence methods in sales calls and time management.
• Ability to evaluate growth and improvement opportunities and establish a strategic direction taking into consideration resources, constraints, and organizational values.
• Experience and proven success in conducting outside sales calls on commercial and wholesale accounts to build new business and increase existing business.
• Excellent wholesale customer service skills, including problem solving and handling customer complaints within lines of authority and managing process to resolution.
• Demonstrated leadership qualities, including professional presence and exhibiting confidence with customers.
• Ability to perform the essential duties of the job with/without reasonable accommodation.

Nice-to-haves

• 3+ years of business to business sales experience in the coatings industry.
• Demonstrated knowledge and proficiency of multiple corrosion prevention solutions.
• NACE or SSPC Certified or other industry certifications.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills required to effectively communicate and influence specifiers and asset owners.
• Strong demonstrated knowledge in Protective & Marine products, industrial preparation and application equipment.
• Bachelor's degree in a technical/business field.

Benefits

• Wide range of world-class benefits designed for employees and their families, including health care and retirement options.