Virtual Account Manager - Industrial Automation - Team Selling

Mission of the Role

***This position is a remote based sales role. The ideal candidate will work out of their home office and cover a regional sales territory virtually.

This position has primary responsibility for supporting and growing profitable SICK sales and market share within SICK’s defined strategic industries in the associated Team Selling region.  The virtual account manager will be responsible for a named set of accounts and will drive market share within these accounts.  This account manager will also be a critical part of a defined selling team that will utilize collective experiences, knowledge, and expertise to drive efficient and effective response to all defined SICK’s customer with a Customer Centric focus.  This position will be involved in strategic sales with a focus on products, services, systems, and solutions selling all through virtual medium (email, web-based, etc.).

Key Responsibilities

• Account ownership responsibility for C+D accounts, as well as accounts in the defined region that can be serviced through exclusively digital means.
• Focus on prospecting and lead development through eChannel, digital, and virtual experiences. 
• Engage with the selling team to identify the “best-fit” engagement path, inclusive of direct or through a SICK channel partner.
• Support the Selling Team Unit and Channel Partners in the defined region for daily business (e.g. pricing in CRM)
• Cold contact prospective new target customers through digital engagement methods to generate interest in SICK products and services, leading to new customer orders.
• Be the trusted technical advisor to our customers. Introduce and sell SICK solutions and Lifetime Services to both existing and new account prospects to achieve established goals and grow market share through solution selling.
• Use and accurately maintain the company’s CRM system for all customer and sales process data to ensure teamwork, collaboration, and transparency towards providing an amazing customer experience.
• Develop direct customer relationships using an understanding of customers business needs, production applications, and technical language utilized in their industry.
• Use consultative sales techniques and solutions that are differentiated to improve customer production quality control and production efficiency, based on SICK Sales Power (SSP) to uncover customer needs and solve difficult applications.
• Provide an amazing customer experience and accurately managing customer communications and SICK customer relationship with named accounts.
• Identify and qualify business and customer opportunities and/or threats; understand the account potential, competitors, and position in the market and requirements for doing business.
• Be responsible for new leads and potential opportunities for new and diverse product applications through continued product, industry, and client research.
• Introduce SICK’s new products, solutions, systems, and Lifetime Services with a sense of urgency and entrepreneurialism.
• Develop strategic account plans for target customers and opportunities.
• Pursue Sales Excellence, developing skills, knowledge, and competencies to continuously improve performance. Complete annual performance objectives and performance reviews, with Supervisor.
• Capitalize on development and training opportunities to position yourself for highest levels of performance recognition and continued career development.
• Keep abreast of market and competitive activity; recommend actions in areas where competitor activities are having a negative impact on sales goals.
• Carry out other duties and responsibilities as may be assigned or required.

Key Qualifications

• Experience: Prior sales experience involving sales of complex, high technology industrial automation solutions and sensor products through direct sales. Prior Technical industry experience outside of sales is preferred.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree in a technical field with either an academic or experiential orientation toward technical sales.
• Position-specific Qualifications:
  • High degree of direct sales skills and the implementation of account sales plans through a network of direct and indirect sales channels.
  • Ability to manage consistently to a sales plan, providing sales leadership in the implementation of corporate sales strategies.
  • Fundamental leadership in sales and opportunity assessment.
  • Focus on utilization of the team selling unit to locally solve problems and create strategic plans through shared knowledge and collaboration.
  • Must be flexible, resilient and open to change.
  • A self-starter with strong motivation and desire for con