Key Responsibilities

Business Development & Product Knowledge:

• Through current and effective business development activities, networking and marketing methodologies, grow new Trade business sales by a minimum of 10% on a yearly basis and meet personal sales and margin goals established by the Company.
• Must have solid proven experience with business development approaches and activities in order to identify, connect with and develop the Trade Segment customer base through our identified business channels. The majority of business development activities will be initiated from the branch. The TSR must possess strong written and verbal communication skills in order to effectively network and build business through the internet/social media, phone and in person. As necessary and with management approval, the TSR is able to schedule and meet with potential and existing Trade segment customers off site.
• Provide overall project guidance regarding budget, timeline and project management for all hard surface and sundry needs. All TSRs must have extensive experience and the ability to provide design advice regarding color, pattern and material suggestions based off of other materials and themes selected for the project. Influence and leading customers to make selections and the ability to close sales is a requirement of the TSR.
• Must schedule time daily for business development activities while still maintaining and overseeing showroom flow and trade customer service. The ability to self-manage and prioritize time is essential to driving and meeting sales goals.
• Actively become involved with company identified network affiliations one or several depending on market and access to company preferred partners. The TSR is expected to participate with a minimum of 1-major affiliate throughout the fiscal year. The TSR through relationship growth, maybe asked to join a committee or become a board member, in those instances branch and regional management approval is required before acceptance. Non-exempt TSRs will be compensated for all business time spent attending or participating. Refer to Emser Travel Pay Policy for non-exempt employees.
• Schedule, manage and host at minimum, 1-major and 3-minor branch showroom networking events per fiscal year. Follow guidelines and processes established by the Company. The branch, operations manager and ISR will assist and support all in-branch networking activities.
• Oversee and lead with support of the ISR/Inside Sales Rep, 3rd Friday Contractor Appreciation events. The TSR must be able to influence, motivate and engage with our Vendor reps in order to schedule and ensure participation. Event product knowledge topics are to be pre-scheduled monthly throughout the fiscal year. Marketing materials and guidelines are located in our internal electronic library.
• Learn and present to small or large groups CEU continuing education units to ASID/AIA professionals as required to foster strong relationships with our identified professional customer base. Learning, presentation materials and provisions will be provided by the company.
• Learn and remain current on basic flooring industry information, including general and emerging product categories, production and technical product knowledge, product application and installation methods
• Understand and be able to explain Emsers brand identity, competitive differentiation, and product philosophy; develop and maintain a working knowledge of all current Company business segment channels, breadth and depth of product offerings, basic pricing and program structure, and Emsers market segment incentive programs
• Research, analyze and maintain an awareness of all current and potential competitive market influences, including direct or indirect competitors, new product offerings, client mergers and acquisitions, etc.; determine potential impact of such competitive market influences on Branch or Company business; communicate all information regarding competitive market influences and potential impact to Branch or Company management.
• Develop and maintain a working knowledge of alternative supplies for items not routinely stocked by the Company; maintain a working relationship with alternative supply vendors to leverage service and pricing, when needed.

Account Management and Selling Techniques

• Prospect for, identify and categorize potential new accounts; identify account decision makers and perform account needs analysis; analyze new account information to determine sales potential and to develop proper pricing and program structure. Qualify walk-in trade; complying with Emsers business practices and pricing guidelines.
• Manage account selling activities by organizing account base into categories/business channels per Company identification, prioritizing account activities by imminent sales potential, developing and implementing plans for longer term sales cycles, partnering with Management through weekly sales meetings to identify goals and to determine an effective balance of account management activities.
• Must understand all business segment definitions in order to identify the proper segment and channel within the segment for set up. Provide Branch Management new account set-up information for posting in the Companys computer system, and forward pertinent changes in existing account information to the Branch Manager in a timely and accurate manner. Changes to existing customers that result in re-segmentation must be communicated to all stake holders; final approval for re-segmentation requires Regional and National Sales Manager approvals.
• Participate in effective account transitions by proactively providing relevant account sales and service information to Branch Management, corporate support personnel and appropriate sales peers when reactivating old accounts or transferring / inheriting accounts.
• Use data from various computer reports to determine account purchasing activities and trends, identify risks and opportunities and develop a strategy to manage each account; document account management strategies, action plans and activities, as required, and provide to Branch and Corporate Management as directed.
• Partner with the Credit Department to facilitate communication to and from clients regarding credit lines, holds, payments and all other credit activities.
• Personally, or through coordination with other Branch team members, manage the full sales transaction cycle with accounts, including initial calls / appointments and follow up on accounts, product presentations, introduction of lines and companion products, price negotiations, techniques for pre-closing and closing sales, and managing delivery expectations.

Customer Service and Support

• Uphold proper Branch customer service standards, including greeting customers, answering phones when backup is needed during high volume periods, maintaining a friendly / service-oriented environment and providing accurate and expert information; be responsive to the concerns of all Branch customers, including those under the account base of other sales personnel. TSRs are defined as all business subject matter experts and are expected to provide dedicated service or refer customer to appropriate inside employee for service.
• Develop an effective customer service strategy for all assigned accounts including, but not limited to, pre-scheduling showroom appointments, occasional visits to accounts, as agreed upon with Management, anticipating customer needs, supplying solutions proactively, and partnering with account decision makers to maximize mutually beneficial sales strategies.
• Embody Emsers customer service and sales philosophy, which includes friendly and professional interactions with all accounts personnel; establish and maintain an on-going direct rapport with key account decision makers; provide accurate and timely follow-through on customer information requests and needs.
• Partner with Branch and Distribution Center staff to ensure timely and accurate product delivery; accurately represent the terms of transactions and the fulfillment of product delivery to all parties involved.

Merchandising

• Remain current on all new product and promotional programs; partner with the Branch Operations Manager to maintain showroom standards according to merchandising best practices and operations directives, including maintaining current product displays throughout showroom; order and maintain a proper supply of marketing collateral; create and / or implement effective new product presentations for accounts.
• Participate in sample design and creation when needed to support trade business channel customers
• Provide samples to trade accounts, referrals and walk-in clientele; partner with Branch Management on occasional needs to implement sample set-up per Company merchandising and marketing standards for trade account requests.

Administration

• Communicate and facilitate customer price adjustment requests to Branch Management and accurately document approval of such requests on purchase order documents.
• Follow all Company expense reimbursement policy requirements, including maintaining and accurately submitting all expense documentation and reports in a timely manner; seek and obtain pre-approval for all non-routine expenses not already covered by Company policy.
• Adhere to company mobile phone policy for non-exempt employees. Company mobile phones will be issued to certain non-exempt positions based on Human Resources Directors approval. Employees are only authorized to use company issued mobile phones for company business during business hours. Therefore, employees must not have an expectation of privacy. Phone calls, texts, e-mails, and any other data on company issued mobile phones may be reviewed at any time by management.
• Maintain a basic knowledge of Branch Operations, including order and inventory management, shipping, logistics, freight programs and delivery to support trade business.
• Participate in physical inventories, sample and marketing kit creation, product quality control, researching open orders and other system data review, as required to support trade business.
• Participate as directed in the training of other Company employees, including conducting off-site training and on-going mentoring of new team members in other locations.

Personal Performance Management

• Participate in all required training, conference calls and meetings, and then disseminate information as directed; review all internal communications (including e-mails, voice-mails, memos, postings, etc.), and facilitate requested actions and / or implement procedural changes as required; utilize all productivity tools provided by the Company to manage personal productivity and ensure required job task completion.
• Partner with Branch and Sales Management to implement an organized system to effectively collect and manage sales and account information, track multiple task activities and ensure follow-up on important deliverables.
• Follow all safety requirements and attend all required safety training programs; follow all required facility security procedures; immediately respond to and notify management of any employee concerns regarding safety, security, dangerous situations or potentially illegal or unethical activities.
• Strive to achieve a working knowledge of, and maintain competency in, all essential job functions and related policies and procedures stated in this Job Description as well as any other tasks or duties as assigned by Management.

Qualifications (Knowledge/Skills/Abilities/Experience)

• Demonstrate an acceptable level of proficiency in communication, cognitive thinking and office equipment operations, as well as the capacity to quickly learn any other skills required.
• Required proficiency includes, but is not limited to, reading, writing and comprehending complex figures and text in the English language (including clarity of diction and the ability to communicate effectively with a diverse clientele)
• Ability to operate (with minimal training) basic office and selected Company computer programs
• Ability to decipher, extrapolate meaning from and compute (as directed) financial data from internal reports.

Working conditions (Branch/DC Positions)

• Work schedule is Tuesday through Saturday and hours are determined by Region and Branch management
• Working in enclosed offices, partially enclosed warehouse spaces
• Occasionally outdoors in all weather conditions, including hot, cold, wet / dry weather
• Moving over and/or around obstacles on the ground, and working in the vicinity of operating forklifts
• May also include occasional visits to the business locations of customers (when directed by Branch Management
• Branch showroom where the Branch ISR will make sales calls, service calls and maintain product displays.

Physical requirements (Branch/DC Positions

• Stand, use hands, and reach with hands and arms
• Walk, stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl
• Sit, climb or balance
• Lift and/or move up to 50 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this position includes close vision, peripheral vision, and ability to adjust focus
• ability to speak and hear; ability to visually detect product color and shading variation
• Occasional driving both in short and long distance trips for meetings/ training, client appointments in a personally owned vehicle and potentially a Company or rented delivery vehicle, at Managements direction
• routine set up of samples and displays
• ability to operate sample making equipment.

Emser is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind. Emser makes employment decisions on the basis of business needs, job requirements, individual qualifications and merit. Emser wants to have the best available people in every job. Therefore, Emser does not permit its employees to harass, discriminate or retaliate against other employees or applicants because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, national origin, military and veteran status, age, physical or mental disability, genetic characteristic, reproductive health decisions, family or parental status or any other consideration made unlawful by applicable laws. Equal employment opportunity will be extended to all persons in all aspects of the employer-employee relationship. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including, but not limited to, hiring, training, promotion, discipline, compensation benefits, and separation of employment. The Human Resources Department has overall responsibility for this policy and maintains reporting and monitoring procedures. Any questions or concerns should be referred to the Human Resources Department.