Culinary Sales Specialist - Chicago

IGF Mission To deliver quality service and cultivate community around the table.

Sales Department Mission To deliver quality by taking a team-oriented approach to building relationships, resolving issues, and making it easy to be an IGF customer.

Sales Department Objectives IGF’s Sales Department members work together to approach markets with the objectives of securing strong business relationships and dominating the independent food sector within select areas.

Within this, the Culinary Sales Specialists are intellectually curious and understand that quality is the continuous improvement of every aspect of the business.

They achieve continuous improvement by holding one another accountable to high performance standards and building rapport with IGF’s customers and vendors to cultivate in-depth knowledge of the products they sell and effective placement strategies.

Culinary Sales Specialist :

• Job Description Work as a team to manage, expand, and compete for IGF’s share of the food distribution market Serve as subject matter experts on how to sell IGF’s products and work together to identify sales opportunities in the marketplace Meet and exceed individual and department targets and KPIs Develop, manage, and grow IGF’s customer base within designated markets Proactively pursue new business : cold-call and regularly follow up on inquiries, leads, and prospects Expand existing customer accounts and relationships to : Increase overall sales volume Sell a broad range (high percentage) of products IGF carries Increase IGF’s market share Actively manage existing accounts Maintain an accurate portfolio of accounts, including customer contact information, targets, and updates Stay up to date on customers’ businesses and needs Visit customers in person to check in and introduce new products Develop and continuously improve industry and product knowledge                             iii.
• Negotiate and manage contract rates, terms, and payment arrangements Coordinate customers’ contract terms and fees with Accounts Receivable to ensure payment and avoid lapses in service Collect customer payments Submit credit and product-return requests                              iv.
• Serve as customers’ IGF point of contact Effectively communicate internally to resolve service issues Effectively communicate issue resolutions to customers          4.
• Attend sales meetings as required          5.
• Comply with company and department policies and procedures          6.Perform other duties as assigned Qualifications (Required)   A minimum of three years of hospitality or food industry experience   A proven track record of success in the food sales and services industry   Ability to deal with customers, vendors, and all channels of distribution to assess and analyze situations   Demonstrated ability to effectively negotiate contracts and terms, and close deals   Ability to build and maintain relationships across teams, departments, customers, vendors, and service providers   Ability to work independently or as part of a team – changing gears when required, whether multitasking or adapting working hours; effectively manage time and prioritize multiple responsibilities   Must be able to travel up to 75% to visit clients within the designated sales region, and 15% for out of market travel   Proactive, quick-thinking, problem-solving approach to work   Excellent communication, organization, and data-entry skills with keen focus on customer needs and relationship building; A high level of energy and self-motivation, as well as a passion for the food industry   Strong attention to detail and solid written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills; maintain a high and positive energy   Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (especially Dynamics, Excel, Teams, and Word) and other tech skills, including use of email, and text   Must live in the area and have strong local connections Qualifications (Preferred)   Five or more years of hospitality or food industry experience   Bilingual communication skills Physical Requirements   Must be able to sit and drive for several hours a day and able to walk around to client establishments   Must be able to bend and lift (at least 40 lb.)   Requires bending, sitting, standing, walking, use of hands, arms, legs, eyes, and voice Benefits Medical Dental Vision 401K Paid time off Company-paid life insurance Short-term disability Referral program Employee discount Health savings account Compensation Salary plus performance-based bonus eligibility beginning in Year 2   Powered by JazzHR