Automotive Finishes Sales Representative

The Sales Representative is responsible for developing sales in a specific geographic territory. Duties include prospecting for new business and making calls to existing and new customers for the purpose of selling Automotive Finishes products, which include Sherwin-Williams labeled automotive paint and associated products. Typical accounts include automotive body shops, production, and fleet shops.

Job duties involve contact with customers, which may include minors; and access to cash and other payment methods, electronic equipment, personal information, store merchandise and other items of value, and such access may be supervised or unsupervised. The Company therefore has determined that a review of criminal history is necessary to protect the business and its operations and reputation and is necessary to protect the safety of the Company's customers, staff, employees, vendors, contractors, and the general public.

• Collect reliable customer/territory information and estimate individual customer potential.
• Conduct competitive product comparisons and identify current competitors' strengths and weaknesses and S-W's competitive advantage.
• Make sales calls to prospective and existing customers. Through the sales process, identify the customer's needs and develop solutions to objectives in order to profitably grow sales.
• Develop a regular sales call schedule to ensure that the needs and expectations of the customer are met.
• Familiarize self with all products, including their application and preparation, in the Sherwin-Williams Automotive line.
• Develop a strategy to grow sales & profits to key, opportunity, new and existing customer and identify items or product categories that require specific attention in support of this strategy.
• Maintain a discipline in pre-call planning daily and weekly activity to ensure time is maximized. Conduct sales calls accordingly, occasionally in conjunction with servicing customers.
• Determine where customer is in the overall Sales Process and what steps are necessary to move the process along.
• Conduct product demos to assist in selling/marketing of automotive refinishing products.
• Obtain information necessary to open a new account and communicate to credit office.
• Access product/technical information to support customers' application requirements.
• Complete expense reports on a timely basis.
• Identify sources of sales leads and follow through on leads provided by store/branch personnel as appropriate.
• Understand servicing branch's strengths and weaknesses and communicate effectively with staff members to ensure that commitments made are within the store's capabilities.
• Identify potential opportunities/issues and work with Zone Manager to support positive outcome.
• Handle customer complaints within lines of authority and manage process to resolution.
• Identify ways to deepen the business relationship with your customers.
• Enlist input from Branch Manager and/or Area Sales Manager on strategies and opportunities in marketplace.
• Schedule periodic sales/technical meetings and conduct these meetings in proficient manner.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

- Must be at least 18 years of age

- Must have a valid driver's license

- Must be legally authorized to work in country of employment without sponsorship for employment visa status

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

- High School Diploma or equivalent

- Must have at least 2 years in customer service-related position

- Minimum of 1 year in sales related position

-Ability and willingness to travel as needed

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

- Sales experience in coatings, automotive, or a related field

- Outside sales experience is strongly preferred

- Bachelor's Degree

-Experience utilizing a Customer Retention Management System (CRM) to log customer visits and track the progress of new accounts

- Previous experience conducting product demos to assist in the selling/marketing of products

- Proficiency in developing a pre-call strategy to help ensure efficiency of time

TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS: (TIME SPENT AWAY FROM HOME OR OTHER TYPICAL OFFICE LOCATION)

• 75%