Produce Specialist

Position Summary:

This is a professional sales position responsible for growing new business within the fresh produce category, with the expectation of achieving assigned business goals while enhancing the customer experience. This will be accomplished through maintaining industry and category specific certification status and direct selling of the category to customers. Specialists will prioritize time, targets, and team selling efforts based on market insights and data analytics.

Responsibilities:

• Develop and execute targeted produce sales strategies to achieve region and individual annual business goals, delivering profitable sales growth and penetration across the fresh produce category, specialty segments, and Sysco brand
• Identify the needs of customers and prospects to assemble a product mix that delivers solutions and helps achieve business objectives
• Utilize data analytics to prioritize produce opportunities
• Actively seek, qualify, and support top prospect conversion to Sysco
• Be informed of market conditions, product innovations, and competitors' products, prices, and sales; share information with customers as part of value-added services provided
• Track activities and results, collaborate on opportunities, and champion the team selling process through use of Salesforce (Sysco’s CRM tool)
• Leverage sampling in a solutions-oriented manner to close sales
• Provide feedback to specialty companies and merchandising on product quality, product integrity, product mix, customer satisfaction, perceived value and competition
• Develop and maintain relationships with customers, chefs and sales team members
• Support execution of prioritized sales strategies through direct selling and engagement of customers and prospects at Sysco events (e.g. food shows, industry events)

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QUALIFICATIONS

Education/Experience:

• Minimum: High School Diploma or GED and 3+ years of sales experience within a retail, broker, wholesale or distribution environment (deep technical expertise of produce categories)
• Preferred: Bachelor's degree in a related field or equivalent educational level

Knowledge & Skills:

• Proficiency in produce knowledge and trends required
  • (Internal Certification & External Certification may be required)
• Analytical problem-solving skills, including familiarity with analyzing reports and deriving insights from data
• Ability to express information in terms of profit and loss, food cost and expense ratio
• Strong financial acumen and ability to properly plan and execute business plans
• Flexible; readily accepts change; open to new ideas
• Track record of success in the area of consultative selling, networking and negotiations
• Proficient communication and interpersonal skills and ability to work with and influence a variety of key stakeholders
• Experience building trust with prospective customers and securing new business
• Strong business and restaurant operations acumen to manage sophisticated customers
• Ability to learn the use of proprietary CRM tools for planning and forecasting sales growth
• Proficient in Microsoft Applications Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook)
• Proactive and self-directed, with the ability to structure a weekly schedule to be successful
• Demonstrated ability to deliver against deadlines and produce high-quality results (accuracy, thoroughness in the deliverables they are producing)
• Excellent organizational and project management skills, including the ability to execute multiple initiatives at the same time
• Understanding of marketing principles, product lines, ordering procedures and Sysco’s credit terms