Sales Representative

Sales Representative – Equipment, Automation & Service

Position Summary

The Sales Representative is responsible for developing new business and growing existing customer relationships through the sale of OEM equipment, replacement and spare parts, service work, maintenance contracts, and industrial automation solutions.

The primary focus of this position is selling OEM equipment to customers in the 5-gallon bottled water industry , while also actively developing new business opportunities for robotic palletizing, robotic automation, material handling, and end-of-line automation across a variety of manufacturing industries.

The Sales Representative will also be responsible for developing the company's aftermarket business , including replacement parts, spare parts, service work, preventive maintenance, repair work, and maintenance agreements. The expectation is that the representative will continually look for opportunities within existing customer accounts to generate additional revenue and strengthen long-term customer relationships.

The successful candidate will be expected to be proactive in identifying opportunities, developing customer relationships, understanding customer operations, and bringing forward solutions that improve productivity, efficiency, labor utilization, equipment reliability, and safety.

Initially, the Sales Representative will work closely with senior sales and engineering personnel on more complex automation opportunities. The expectation is that the Sales Representative will develop the technical knowledge and sales experience necessary to increasingly manage equipment, aftermarket, service, and automation opportunities independently.

Essential Responsibilities

Equipment Sales & Account Development

• Develop new business and expand relationships with existing customers.
• Proactively sell OEM equipment and related solutions within the 5-gallon bottled water industry.
• Develop a strong understanding of the company's equipment, capabilities, and value proposition.
• Identify customer needs and recommend equipment solutions that address operational requirements.
• Conduct regular customer visits and maintain consistent communication with key accounts.
• Develop relationships with decision-makers, plant managers, operations personnel, engineers, maintenance personnel, and other key customer contacts.
• Prepare and present quotations, proposals, and sales presentations.
• Follow opportunities from initial contact through proposal, negotiation, and close.
• Develop strategies to grow existing accounts and identify additional equipment opportunities.
• Maintain an active sales pipeline and provide accurate forecasts of expected business.

Parts, Service & Maintenance Sales

• Proactively solicit and sell replacement parts, spare parts, wear parts, and other equipment-related components to existing and prospective customers.
• Develop an understanding of customers' equipment, operating conditions, maintenance requirements, and critical spare-part needs.
• Identify opportunities to establish recurring parts business and become a preferred supplier for customer replacement and spare parts.
• Solicit and sell equipment service, repair, troubleshooting, field service, and maintenance work.
• Identify opportunities for preventive maintenance programs and recurring service agreements.
• Develop and sell maintenance contracts and service agreements that provide customers with ongoing equipment support and reliability.
• Regularly review customer accounts to identify aging equipment, recurring failures, maintenance requirements, and other opportunities for parts and service work.
• Work closely with service, maintenance, engineering, and project management personnel to develop appropriate scopes of work and pricing.
• Follow parts and service opportunities from initial identification through quotation, customer approval, and completion.
• Build long-term customer relationships by becoming a trusted resource for equipment support, maintenance, parts, and service.
• Look for opportunities to transition one-time service or parts sales into recurring maintenance, service, or parts programs.
• Maintain accurate records of customer equipment, parts opportunities, service opportunities, and follow-up activities within the company's CRM system.

Automation & New Business Development

• Actively prospect for new customers and identify opportunities for robotic palletizing, robotic automation, material handling, and end-of-line automation.
• Look beyond existing customers and develop relationships across multiple manufacturing industries.
• Visit customer facilities to understand their processes, challenges, labor requirements, production goals, and automation needs.
• Identify processes where robotics or automation could improve productivity, efficiency, consistency, safety, or labor utilization.
• Generate qualified automation opportunities and work with senior sales and engineering personnel to determine appropriate solutions.
• Collaborate with engineering and project management to develop solutions, proposals, quotations, and presentations.
• Participate in customer presentations and solution-development meetings.
• Develop sufficient technical knowledge to effectively communicate the capabilities and benefits of robotic and automation solutions.
• Progressively take ownership of automation opportunities as technical knowledge and sales experience develop.
• Ultimately manage the sales process for automation projects from initial prospecting through proposal, negotiation, and close.

Sales & Business Development

• Maintain accurate customer information, sales activity, forecasts, and opportunity pipelines within the company's CRM system.
• Consistently prospect for new business through direct outreach, referrals, networking, customer visits, trade shows, and industry events.
• Research target industries and companies to identify potential customers, equipment opportunities, aftermarket opportunities, and automation opportunities.
• Develop and maintain an active pipeline of qualified equipment, parts, service, maintenance, and automation opportunities.
• Attend trade shows, industry events, and customer meetings to generate new business and strengthen customer relationships.
• Work collaboratively with senior sales, engineering, service, and project management personnel to successfully develop and close opportunities.
• Meet or exceed established sales and business-development objectives.

Qualifications

• Associate's or Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, Industrial Technology, or a related field preferred; equivalent experience will be considered.
• 1–3 years of sales, customer service, industrial, manufacturing, technical support, or related experience preferred.
• Strong communication, relationship-building, follow-up, and organizational skills.
• Mechanical aptitude and a strong interest in industrial equipment, robotics, automation, and industrial maintenance.
• Self-motivated and comfortable prospecting for new business and initiating conversations with prospective customers.
• Strong desire to learn technical products and understand how they can solve customer problems.
• Ability to understand customer operations and identify potential equipment, parts, service, maintenance, and automation opportunities.
• Comfortable working with both technical and non-technical customer personnel.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and CRM software.
• Valid driver's license and willingness to travel regularly to customer facilities, trade shows, and industry events.

Performance Expectations

Success in this role will be measured by:

• Achievement of established OEM equipment sales objectives.
• Growth of existing customer accounts and development of new customer relationships.
• Growth in replacement parts, spare parts, service work, and maintenance contract sales.
• Development of recurring aftermarket revenue within existing customer accounts.
• Consistent prospecting and new business-development activity.
• Number and quality of qualified equipment, parts, service, maintenance, and automation opportunities generated.
• Development of a healthy pipeline of robotic and automation opportunities across multiple industries.
• Conversion of qualified opportunities into closed sales.
• Growth in technical knowledge of robotic, automation, material handling, end-of-line, equipment, and maintenance solutions.
• Demonstrated ability to increasingly manage equipment, aftermarket, service, and automation opportunities independently.
• Accurate CRM activity, opportunity management, and sales forecasting.
• Customer satisfaction and development of long-term customer relationships.
• Demonstrated ability to identify additional opportunities within existing accounts rather than relying solely on inbound customer requests.

Role Development

The long-term objective of this position is to develop the Sales Representative into a well-rounded industrial equipment, aftermarket, service, and automation salesperson.

The initial emphasis will be on learning the company's equipment, developing customer relationships, generating equipment sales, identifying parts and service opportunities, and developing automation opportunities. The Sales Representative will have the opportunity to learn from experienced personnel and work alongside senior sales, engineering, and service team members on more complex projects.

As the Sales Representative develops technical knowledge, customer relationships, and sales capabilities, responsibility for larger and more complex equipment, parts, service, maintenance, and automation opportunities will increase.

A key expectation of the role is the ability to grow the overall value of each customer relationship. The Sales Representative should not view a customer solely as an equipment-sale opportunity, but as a long-term account with potential for equipment, replacement parts, spare parts, service, repairs, preventive maintenance, maintenance contracts, upgrades, and automation.

The successful candidate will be expected to continually develop their understanding of industrial equipment, robotics, automation, maintenance requirements, and the customer's manufacturing processes, with the ultimate goal of becoming a trusted advisor and independent sales resource for the company's equipment, aftermarket, service, and automation solutions.