Account Manager - Distribution

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Account Manager - Distribution

Your role:

As an Account Manager, you will be responsible for growing distributor partner accounts in your territory with products from Core Flour, Specialty grains, and any future portfolios, to achieve sales goals. As a team member, you will utilize the Customer Engagement Process, and other defined tools and processes while working alongside your Sales Leadership to manage the internal network and minimize barriers to achieving sales performance goals.

The Role

As a Seller, the Ardent Mills Values of Trust, Serving, Simplicity, and Safetywillguide your decisions, while upholding Our Promise we make to our Team Members. Youwilllisten, learn, and serve your team and Customers. Youwillwork with your Sales Director to deliver superior business results while embracing a mindset of change resiliency, showcasing learning agility, and challenging yourself to do better.

Above all you will be expected to carry out all your activities with reliability, integrity, compliance and in a safe, environmentally responsible, and efficient manner.

Your responsibilities:

• 40% Customer Facing Sales Activities
• 50% Non-Customer Facing Sales Activities
• 10% Internal Non-Sales Activities

Prospect & Qualify

• Attend prioritized events (e.g., trade shows, etc.) to promote Ardent Mills and generate leads; work closely with Marketing team to optimize commercial promotional efforts
• Engage current customer account stakeholders to identify new opportunities for growth across products and services; work with Sales Leadership to appropriately prioritize time and effort allocation among accounts to optimize business outcomes
• Participate in meetings with their Sales Leadership to prioritize accounts, identify account growth opportunities, forecast account growth, and discuss other methods to achieve sales & business objectives

Identify Key Decision Influencers & Define Needs

• Research Customer prospects in advance of initial connections to gain an understanding of their business, product line, and resell Customers. Develop recommendations on how to meet the customer needs in alignment with Ardent Mills Solutions
• Identify key decision makers and influencers, build strong relationships with them, and engage in fruitful discussions to understand the needs and priorities of the account
• Enable connections between decision influencers and internal Ardent Mills counterparts (e.g., Marketing, Supply Chains, RQT, Operations, Risk Management)
• Collaborate with other Ardent Mills functions to identify the needs of each key decision maker and influencer and validate with Customer leadership
• After the sale, maintain awareness of Customer needs

Design Tailored Solutions & Articulate Value Propositions

• Work with cross-functional teams to co-create viable solutions across the Ardent Mills product portfolio that meet Customer needs and preferences
• Align internal capabilities to design tailored solutions that achieve strategic and financial objectives
• Define and communicate relevant value propositions in a way that details the benefits of partnering with Ardent Mills and differentiates us from our competitors

Deliver Proposals & Reach Mutually Beneficial Agreements

• Create and deliver proposals, including pricing, that reflect identified solutions and Ardent Mills differentiated value
• Conduct negotiations for mutually beneficial agreements while maintaining and growing strategic partnerships; leverage legal team to manage supply agreement and contract execution processes

Set Up Contracts & Onboard Customers

• Ensure accurate set-up of Customer contracts and communication of contract specifications to all relevant internal teams (supply chain, mills, etc.)
• Create cross-functional Ardent Mills team to service Customers and facilitate connection with corresponding Customer functions
• Execute the customer or account onboarding process, through clear and timely communication with both internal and Customer stakeholders

Fulfill Orders, Provide Service, & Collect Payments

• Contact Customer to confirm order, coordinate the facilitation of payment and ensure satisfaction
• Ensure Customer issues are addressed quickly and effectively through collaboration with other functions, and follow up on Customer questions and requests
• Utilize Customer Service and other functions to deliver on expectations

Maximize & Reinforce Value Delivered

• Collect account feedback on overall satisfaction with Ardent Mills and document findings to develop improvements to products and services
• Reinforce value of Ardent Mills by leveraging data and analytics to provide Customers with information demonstrating the strategic and quantitative benefits of the partnership

Industry & Market Knowledge

• Develop deep expertise relevant to their territory, Customers, segments, and the industry overall; use these insights to differentiate Ardent Mills with Customers; regularly share insights with their Sales Leadership
• Maintain a deep understanding of the products and services available in their portfolio, and stay up-to-date with new innovations, products and offerings from Ardent Mills

People, Process, and Technology

• Leverage existing Ardent Mills resources and technology, such as Salesforce CRM, to operate effectively
• Utilize internal support teams when needed to better service customers accounts
• Establish, maintain, and update Account Plans throughout the sales process; create and document goals and the strategies and activities to execute;
• Work with Sales Leadership to validate mutually beneficial account growth strategies

Required Education, Skills & Experience:

• BA or BS is business or relevant field OR HS Diploma or GED and 5 years sales experience
• 3+ years of sales or relevant work experience
• Strong sales process skills and communications abilities (verbal and written)
• Good listening skills
• Demonstrated ability to influence and support internal teams that are not direct reports
• Demonstrated ability to deliver results
• Demonstrated ability to build trust with Customers and influence Customer decision making
• Outstanding conceptual skills
• Very strong interpersonal skills including relationship-building and collaboration
• Proven analytical ability and comfort using data for decision-making
• Natural sense of curiosity for the industry, segment, customers, and our products
• Ability to thrive in difficult conversations
• An openness and excitement to learn, grow, and be coached about sales, the industry, etc.
• Show high learning agility to new technology, process and ways of working
• Strong negotiation skills

Good to have:

• First-hand knowledge and experience in the flour milling industry or food manufacturing

Other considerations:

• Travel: Up to 40% within the US and Canada

Ardent Mills is headquartered in Denver, CO. This role can be 100% remote. The successful candidate will be expected to commit to a periodic presence in the Denver HQ office, the frequency of which is open to discussion with the hiring manager.