Product Specialist

Job Profile SummaryThis position is responsible for building and maintaining relationships with local farmers with the goal of purchasing and selling their products to FreshPoint customers. The Specialist helps farmers understand food safety requirements as well as forecasting needs, and how FreshPoint can aid in growing their business. The Specialist is also responsible for building and maintaining a retail customer base for FreshPoint Carolinas with a focus on local produce.Responsibilities:Develop and execute targeted sales strategies to achieve region and individual annual business goals, delivering profitable sales growth and penetrationIdentify the needs of customers and prospects to assemble a product mix that delivers solutions and helps achieve business objectivesCommunicate with sales and merchandising teams on market conditions, product availability, new items and applicationsCoordinate with buyers to determine which products can be grown by and committed to local farmersWork collaboratively with Food Safety team to ensure vendors adhere to and maintain required food safety standardsManage new vendor onboarding with insurance, GAP audits, and AS400 farm maintenanceManage local reporting for both OpCo’s, monthly insurance reports, and quarterly Small Supplier reportsConnect with contract customers to ensure chefs receive the local reports, marketing, and product lists to support local purchasesBe informed of market conditions, product innovations, and competitors' products, prices, and sales; share information with customers as part of value-added services providedTrack 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 salesProvide feedback on product quality, product integrity, product mix, customer satisfaction, perceived value and competitionDevelop and maintain relationships with customers, chefs and sales team membersSupport execution of prioritized sales strategies through direct selling and engagement of customers and prospects at Sysco events (e.g. food shows, industry events)Utilize data analytics to prioritize produce opportunitiesOther duties as assigned by Manager​ QUALIFICATIONSEducation/Experience:Minimum: High School Diploma or GED and 3+ years of sales experience within a retail, broker, wholesale or distribution environment with a deep technical expertise of produce categoriesPreferred: Bachelor's degree in a related field or equivalent educational levelKnowledge & Skills:Proficiency in produce knowledge and trends required(Internal Certification & External Certification may be required)Analytical problem-solving skills, including familiarity with analyzing reports and deriving insights from dataAbility to express information in terms of profit and loss, food cost and expense ratioStrong financial acumen and ability to properly plan and execute business plansFlexible; readily accepts change; open to new ideasTrack record of success in the area of consultative selling, networking and negotiationsProficient communication and interpersonal skills and ability to work with and influence a variety of key stakeholdersExperience building trust with prospective customers and securing new businessStrong business and restaurant operations acumen to manage sophisticated customersAbility to learn the use of proprietary CRM tools for planning and forecasting sales growthProficient in Microsoft Applications Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook)Proactive and self-directed, with the ability to structure a weekly schedule to be successfulDemonstrated 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 timeTravel Must be able to travel to operating locations and other destinations as needed – equates to 25-50% of the time