Inside Sales - Lead Generation

Inside Sales - Lead Generation

The Inside Sales Representative drives new business growth by proactively identifying and qualifying prospective customers for commercial HVAC services, preventive maintenance agreements, and capital equipment projects. This outbound-focused role generates leads through cold calling, targeted prospecting campaigns, and systematic follow-up, then qualifies opportunities before handing them to New Business Development personnel for direct customer engagement and further qualification.

The position requires a working understanding of commercial and industrial HVAC systems, building operations, and the ability to engage facility managers, property managers, and building owners in consultative conversations that uncover equipment needs, service dissatisfaction, and capital planning timelines. The Inside Sales Representative must be comfortable making high volumes of outbound calls daily and managing a structured prospecting pipeline using CRM tools.

Prospect: Execute high-volume outbound prospecting through cold calls, emails, and other outreach methods to identify potential commercial and industrial HVAC customers within assigned territory or target segments. Research prospective accounts using market data, building databases, industry directories, and other lead sources to build targeted call lists.

Qualify: Conduct discovery conversations with prospects to assess HVAC equipment condition, current contractor relationships, service agreement status, and capital planning timelines. Qualify leads against defined criteria (budget, authority, need, timeline) and categorize as marketing qualified lead (MQL) or sales qualified lead (SQL) for handoff.

Convert inbound leads: Follow up systematically on inbound leads from marketing campaigns, website inquiries, trade shows, and referral sources to maximize conversion.

Hand off to New Business Development: Schedule qualified appointments for New Business Development Managers, providing thorough handoff documentation including prospect background, equipment details, and identified needs.

Manage pipeline in CRM: Document all prospecting activity, lead status, and follow-up schedules in D365. Track and report on key activity metrics including call volume, contact rates, leads qualified, appointments set, and pipeline contribution.

Collaborate on campaigns and cross-sell: Support multi-touch prospecting campaigns in coordination with marketing and sales leadership. Partner with Account Management and New Business Development teams to identify cross-sell and upsell opportunities within existing or lapsed accounts.

Develop product knowledge and technique: Maintain current knowledge of PremiStar service offerings, maintenance agreement structures, and competitive differentiators. Continuously refine prospecting scripts and objection-handling approaches based on results and feedback.

Minimum and/or preferred qualifications:

Education: High School Diploma or GED required. Associate's degree, Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Communications, or a related field, or relevant B2B sales experience is a plus. Commercial HVAC or building services industry experience is preferred.

Experience: 24 years' experience in inside sales, business development, lead generation, or outbound prospecting in a B2B environment.

Skill requirements: Proven experience selling to or prospecting customers (i.e. facility managers, property managers, or building owners). Familiarity with preventive maintenance agreements, service contracts, or recurring revenue sales models. Demonstrated experience with CRM systems (Microsoft Dynamics 365 preferred). Track record of successful cold calling into commercial or industrial accounts. Proven ability to initiate conversations with decision-makers via cold outreach and build rapport quickly over the phone. Strong verbal and written communication skills with the ability to clearly articulate value propositions for commercial HVAC services. Disciplined approach to daily activity management, call planning, and CRM documentation. Ability to qualify prospects through consultative questioning to understand equipment needs, budget authority, and purchase timelines. Resilience and persistence in a high-volume outbound calling environment with the ability to handle rejection professionally. Basic understanding of commercial HVAC systems and building mechanical infrastructure or demonstrated ability to quickly learn technical products and services. Organizational skills to manage a large pipeline of prospects at various stages of qualification simultaneously. Proficiency with Microsoft Office (especially Outlook and Excel) and CRM systems. Experience with Microsoft Dynamics 365 preferred. Experience with sales engagement platforms, dialers, or prospecting tools preferred. Comfort with adopting new technology tools and systems as they are introduced.

Physical demands: Primarily an office-based role requiring extended periods of sitting, computer use, and telephone communication. Occasional field visits to customer sites or trade events may require PPE and work in varied environments.

Work environment: This job operates primarily in an office environment. Must be able to sit and/or stand for extended periods of time. Occasional travel to industry events, customer sites, or company meetings may be required.

Reasonable accommodations: Reasonable accommodation will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential job functions unless doing so presents an undue hardship in the Company's business operations.

Other duties: Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice. Employees understand the above job description and agree to comply with and be subject to its conditions. Employee further agrees this job description does not alter their at-will employment status. Employees understand the Company reserves the right to delegate, remove, expand, or change all responsibilities. Employees acknowledge that they can fulfill the above duties with or without reasonable accommodation.

Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights notice from the Department of Labor.