Specialist, Latin

Job Summary:

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

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Develop and execute targeted Latin segment sales strategies to achieve region and individual annual business goals, delivering profitable sales growth and penetration across the Italian segment 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 segment 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 sales team members and 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, specialists and sales team members.

• Performs research on product discounts, product services information, special offers and/or company promotions. Utilizes information in sales activities in an effort to increase profitability and enhance customer satisfaction.

• Attends all sales meetings, as scheduled and participates in other activities as requested. Reports on industry and market competition as requested and assists with reviewing inventory levels.

• Engage and manage relationships with Latin segment manufacturers and the broker community.

• Document all sales calls using SCORE, a written sales report; list product sold and prices, competitor, problems, customer wants, and any other information that may benefit the sales associate calling on that account.

• Travel and meet with prospective export customers.

Education Required:

High School Diploma

Education Preferred:

4 year Bachelor’s degree

Experience Required:

• 3+ years of sales experience within a retail, broker, wholesale, or distribution environment (deep technical expertise of Latin categories)

• Bi-lingual (Spanish and English) required for Latin Specialist

• Ability to understand and utilize company sales reports.

• Ability to travel in and outside of the United States as needed

Experience Preferred:

• Sysco Sales, Sales Strategy, Marketing, Learning & Development or similar

• Salesforce.com CRM

• Proven track-record of progressive career development

Technical Skills and Abilities:

• Proficiency in Latin product knowledge, culture, category usage 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 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

• Must possess excellent interpersonal, communication, business writing, grammar, and verbal communication skills.

Physical Demands:

Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions of this job.

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Must be able to operate office equipment such as computers, telephones, facsimile machines, 10-key calculators, etc.

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit and use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls.

• Must be able to bend and stoop occasionally to reach file cabinets, boxes, etc.

• Requires the ability to read written instructions, reports and other documentation.

• The employee frequently is required to talk or hear.

• The employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; walk stairs; reach with hands and arms; and stoop, kneel, crouch.

• Also, airline and auto travel to locations around the United States, Latin America and Caribbean.

• The employee must occasionally lift, carry and/or move up to 50 pounds.

• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.

• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

Travel Requirements:

Moderate field work and travel 15-20%