Architectural Product Sales Manager

SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS

Architectural Product Sales Manager

Specifier Sales & Rep Network Management (60/40 split role)        Location: Boulder, CO (in-house)

Reports to: Operations Manager                                                       Full-time: 40 hrs/wk

Base Salary: $65,000-$80,000, depending on experience, plus a quarterly performance bonus tied to KPI targets

Mission

Sustainable Materials' mission is to become the trusted, branded "go-to" source for sustainable interior products for commercial specifications. This role exists to carry that mission into the field: finding the architects and designers who need a source they can trust, while giving them the guidance that makes specifying Sustainable Materials products a confident and easy choice. Where the company's ambition is to become that go-to source, this role is the person who will be in charge of actively building it, one specifier (and REP) relationship at a time.

This is a split role, with time divided roughly 60/40 between two equally important parts: Specifier Sales (engaging architects and designers directly and guiding them to specification) and Rep Network Management (making our independent sales Reps more engaged, consistent, and productive). Success requires strength in both.

Core Values

Skills can be trained — values can't. This role is as much about ‘fit’ and motivation as it is about experience:

·        Unique Marginal Efforts - going the extra mile (to resolve, to hasten completion, etc.)

·        Owning It - being responsible for the role and task at hand (and making others own their commitments to you)

·        Team First - pitch in when help is needed (no matter what it is); understanding the importance of 'team' is critical

·        Transparency Always - we'll work through it no matter what it is!

Core Responsibilities and Key Outcomes

Specifier Sales (~60%): New Specifier Engagement — Proactively identify and engage with architecture and design firms (and personnel) who aren't yet specifying our materials.

o   Develop specifier interest

o   Own the relationship after a sample goes out: understand ‘fit’, answer product questions, and guide the specifier toward a purchase or specification (understand client’s needs and work towards defining viable solutions)

o   Track engagements and conversion rates (from introduction and samples to actual ‘specification’)

Rep Network Management (~40%): Independent Rep Engagement & Accountability —

o   Support the company’s existing independent sales Reps, bringing more consistency and accountability (via metrics) to a group that currently works in isolation

o   Strengthening (via building) network of Independent Sales Representatives in strategic territories/markets

o   Create and implement a regular check-in and engagement protocol for Reps (inclusive of:)

o   Twice monthly check-ins

o   Holding Reps accountable to monthly presentation expectation levels (and tying this to related ‘sample requests’ as a true litmus test for specification volume)

o   Pushing for reasonable volumes of ‘specifications’ created by Reps’ efforts (ex: 2 new specs per month)

o   Creating ‘best practices’ for those who may need a productivity ‘push’

• Increase Product ‘Specifications’ and Sales (across both segments)

o   Via ‘in-house’ and Rep-led efforts

• Report weekly on specifier engagement and Rep activity (inclusive of samples sent, pipeline trajectory, conversion activity, and Rep KPIs)

• Seek strategic sales opportunities

o   Via potential sub-distribution relationships, by engaging with potential ‘buyers’ who could be interested in our sourcing capabilities (via specialized distribution or OEM product development)

o   Via ‘developer’ and ‘multi-family’ specifiers (where volume or longer-term sales are more prominent)

• Identifying Product Development Opportunities - Help identify market needs/wants relative to product development with the materials currently being used, and/or the innovation with new materials 

Why It Matters

Though Sustainable Materials has been working in the ‘specification’ industry for many years, presenting ‘brands’ it represents to ‘specifiers’, it has recently retooled its focus more broadly on developing its own brands that leverage the company’s strong manufacturing partnerships using select ‘sustainable’ raw materials in the products being developed. By decreasing our reliance on existing brands from our suppliers (which can ebb and flow based on many factors – perception, economy, tariffs, etc.), the ability to own our position is ‘ours’. By no longer leaning on our suppliers to build brand value and relevance in this market, future success and trajectory will be a function of current steps, efforts, and relationships built. Word-of-mouth keeps growing and we want to keep it that way – expanding our expertise, so we can capture that ‘go-to source’ mentality and position. Every specifier engaged and every sample followed through on is direct evidence to the market that our ability to create ‘go-to’ positioning is real; everyone that is missed is a competitor's opening. This role's numbers aren't just quotas, but a leading indicator of whether the mission is gaining ground or just staying aspirational.

Ideal Candidate

•    Proven experience in both parts of the role: growing specifications/sales with architects and designers, and managing or coordinating independent sales Reps (e.g., a regional sales manager for a manufacturer that sells through rep agencies, or a principal/senior rep at an architectural rep agency)

•    A real, personal belief in the mission of sustainability

•    Science or technical background preferred, but not required

•    Comfortable working independently with minimal day-to-day oversight