3M Product Specialist

As the 3M Product Specialist, you are responsible for developing and maintaining the most favored distributor status with 3M.  You will serve as the supplier’s liaison and point of contact for the category of responsibility into Crescent Electric Supply Company and all divisions/brands/sub-locations.  You will establish and maintain mutually-beneficial relationships across the entirety of CESCO and all its business functions including Supply Chain, Sales/Services, IT, Marketing, Business Intelligence/Analytics, and others. Additionally, you will partner with Purchasing and Operations to ensure the assortment for their categories is procured from the highest quality sources as the best cost.

Primary Duties:

• Develop Crescent’s overall 3M product strategy to support the needs of the branches and regions to compete with local and national competition.

• Work with 3M on their development of new products and negotiate pricing and service agreements that benefit Crescent and customers.

• Select new products and negotiate initial pricing and service agreements.

• Fast-track training programs for the field sales function to highlight and allow them to be the first to show the feature, function and benefit of the new product to their existing customers. 

• Establish, implement, and own the end to end product category strategy. This includes developing business plans that support the required physical, logistical, capital expenditures, and inventory needs.

• Develop a market by market comprehensive plan and implement that plan across the regions. Provide increased value to the existing organization via improved buying processes, selling strategies, enhanced rebates and improved inventory performance.

• Familiarity with the construction and industrial markets and their related processes.

• Ability to align and partner across the business to drive results strategically, tactically and financially.

• Work with marketing to develop content marketing tools for mobile and web print publications.

• Align with Field Initiative Managers to provide tactical tools to the regions and salesman to quickly drive growth.

• Hold local teams accountable for improved product category performance by establishing and implementing performance criteria and quotas for sales, margin, and inventory performance.

• Work with Marketing Department to develop an overarching company product category branding position.

• Develop both internal and external communication plans to support and drive the business and improve category share.

• Work with management on leveraging relationships and develop strategies with key agents to gain Crescent a competitive advantage.

• Optimize our rebate potential and inventory investment by negotiating advantageous cost and rebate programs with vendors.

• Work with key suppliers to identify supply chain efficiencies and drive network to compliance

• Coordinate and optimize vendor returns.

• Assist in inventory planning

• Work with Corporate pricing team to establish pricing strategies for specific categories

• Secure above market SPA’s for strategic national opportunities

Skills:

• Must have good interpersonal skills, have good oral skills and have good written communication skills.

• Must be analytical, be able to solve problems, be able to create solutions, be cost conscious, be a strategic thinker and be able to adapt as the situation requires.

• Must be proficient in the operation of a personal computer and proficient in operating the various components of Microsoft (specifically Excel and Word).

• Ability to gather and evaluate data.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree from four-year college or university and two to five of product category industry experience (purchasing, sales, or marketing) or equivalent combination of education and experience.

• Valid driver’s license.

• Experience within electrical distribution industry, working for either a manufacturer or an electrical distributor, preferred.

• Sales experience a plus.

• Experience with Eclipse operating system, preferred.

Physical Demands:

• Ability to travel to branches, company training and vendor activities 25% - 30% of the time, which will require frequent overnight stays.

• Occasionally standing, climbing/balancing, stooping, kneeling, crouching, or crawling is required. Often walking or reaching with hands and arms is required. Most of the tim