Customer Account Specialist

Customer Account Specialist

The Customer Account Specialist reports to the Business Development Manager and supports the Business Development Manager by owning day-to-day customer relationship management, sales support, and customer success activities for Cordia's downtown Minneapolis district energy system. This role is the primary point of contact for existing customers on service, usage, and account matters, while also providing sales support proposal preparation, presentations, and reporting to help grow and retain the customer base. The Customer Account Specialist ensures customers have a consistently strong experience with Cordia and helps identify opportunities to deepen those relationships over time. This position will be hybrid, but the right candidate lives in or around the Minneapolis area.

Principle Responsibilities/Key Results Areas:

Customer Success & Account Management

• Serve as the primary day-to-day point of contact for existing customers on service, billing, and usage questions
• Meet with customers regularly to review energy usage and provide recommendations for efficiency improvements
• Build and maintain strong relationships across multiple levels of customer organizations, from facilities and operations staff to executive contacts
• Prepare and deliver usage/consumption reports and exception reporting on a recurring basis
• Resolve customer issues and escalations, coordinating with plant operations as needed
• Facilitate and support contract renewals, including preparation of renewal materials
• Develop and run customer retention and outreach programs
• Support customer billing processes, including dispute resolution and light collections support
• Support brand awareness through networking, community initiatives, and participation in relevant professional organizations

Sales & Business Development Support

• Provide sales and technical support to the Business Development Manager, including proposal preparation and customer-facing presentations
• Promote new programs, products, and services to existing customers to support growth and retention goals
• Assist in preparing responses to requests for proposals (RFPs) from prospective and existing customers
• Support the development of pricing, economic, and financial models for new and expanded customer opportunities
• Help identify expansion or new-revenue opportunities within the existing customer base
• Maintain accurate, up-to-date customer and opportunity records in the CRM system
• Coordinate with Engineering, Operations, and Finance to gather inputs needed for customer proposals

General

• Promote safety by following all safety policies and regulations; complete required safety and other training
• Represent Cordia professionally in customer-facing and community settings
• Perform other duties as assigned

Requirements:

Knowledge & Skills

• Excellent written, verbal, and presentation communication skills
• Strong customer service orientation with the ability to build long-term client relationships
• Strong proficiency in MS Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Word)
• Familiarity with CRM systems (Salesforce or similar) preferred
• Ability to interpret and analyze customer usage and account data
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple accounts and priorities independently
• Basic understanding of building heating, cooling, and district energy systems a plus (training provided)

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in business, engineering, or a related field, and 2+ years of related experience; or equivalent combination of education and experience
• Experience in a customer-facing sales support, account management, or technical sales role preferred
• Experience in the energy, utilities, or commercial real estate industry a plus Valid state driver's license required

Working Conditions:

• Normal plant environment / building mechanical rooms and/or out of doors work environment. May include working at heights, tight spaces, high/low ambient temperatures and high humidity areas at generating unit work locations
• Requires operation of a motor vehicle; Valid State Driver's License
• Regular extended and non-standard hours during critical issue resolution and to achieve project milestones or resolve emergency outages
• Working in professional environment interacting face to face and on phone with customers
• Occasional travel to Corporate locations and other company plants
• Requires wearing personal protective safety equipment (safety glasses, hard hat, appropriate footwear, ear plugs, fall protection etc.)
• Requires working around rotating and energized equipment, hazardous materials, and chemicals
• Requires operation of a personal computer