Position Summary

The Sales Manager is responsible for developing and executing sales strategies to drive revenue growth, expand market share, and strengthen customer relationships within industrial manufacturing markets.

This position will lead business development efforts, manage key customer accounts, identify new market opportunities, and work closely with Operations, Engineering, Quality, and Customer Service to ensure customer satisfaction and profitable growth.

Key Responsibilities

Sales & Business Development

• Identify and pursue new business opportunities within existing and emerging markets.

• Generate and qualify leads through prospecting, networking, trade shows, industry contacts, and customer referrals.

• Develop new customer relationships while expanding sales within existing accounts.

• Conduct customer and prospect visits, presentations, and business development meetings.

• Prepare, present, and negotiate pricing proposals, quotations, and contracts.

• Manage and support a field network of independent sales representatives.

• Develop relationships with key decision-makers within target organizations.

Customer Relationship Management

• Maintain strong relationships with key customers and strategic accounts.

• Serve as a primary point of contact for major customer concerns, opportunities, and commercial matters.

• Partner with Customer Service and Operations to resolve customer issues promptly.

• Conduct regular customer reviews and business development meetings.

• Identify opportunities to increase customer retention, share of wallet, and long-term account value.

Strategic Planning

• Assist with annual sales forecasting, budgeting, and business planning.

• Establish sales goals and performance metrics in alignment with company objectives.

• Evaluate market trends, competitive activity, and emerging opportunities.

• Identify opportunities to expand into new markets, industries, and customer segments.

• Develop strategies to diversify the customer base and increase revenue.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with Engineering on new product opportunities and customer requirements.

• Collaborate with Operations to align manufacturing capacity with customer demand.

• Coordinate with Quality regarding customer concerns, corrective actions, and quality requirements.

• Support new product launches and continuous improvement initiatives.

• Communicate customer requirements and market feedback internally.

Reporting & Analysis

• Track sales performance against established goals.

• Maintain accurate customer, opportunity, and pipeline information within CRM/ERP systems.

• Prepare monthly sales reports, forecasts, and pipeline updates.

• Monitor quote-to-order conversion rates and identify areas for improvement.

• Analyze sales performance by customer, product line, and market segment.

• Provide management with relevant market and competitive intelligence.

Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Engineering, or a related field preferred.

• Equivalent combination of education and relevant experience may be considered.

Experience

• Minimum of 10 years of industrial manufacturing sales experience.

• Experience selling bearings, machined components, metal stampings, industrial components, or similar manufactured products strongly preferred.

• Proven track record of business development, new customer acquisition, and revenue growth.

• Experience working with OEMs, distributors, and industrial manufacturing customers.

• Experience managing independent sales representatives or a field sales network.

• Demonstrated experience with pricing, quoting, contract negotiations, and account management.

Skills & Competencies

• Strong business development and relationship-building skills.

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

• Strong negotiation, presentation, and influencing abilities.

• Strategic thinking and strong problem-solving skills.

• Ability to identify and develop new market opportunities.

• Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings and technical specifications.

• Strong understanding of industrial manufacturing processes and applications.

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications.

• Experience with CRM and ERP systems preferred.

• Ability to work effectively across Sales, Engineering, Operations, Quality, and Customer Service teams.

Travel Requirements

• Approximately 25%-50% travel, depending on business needs.

• Travel may include customer visits, prospect meetings, trade shows, industry events, and manufacturing locations.

• Ability to travel by automobile and airplane as required.

Key Performance Indicators

Success in this position will be measured through:

• Achievement of annual sales and revenue growth targets.

• Acquisition of 3-5 new customer accounts annually, subject to market conditions and business objectives.

• Growth of existing customer accounts and increased customer retention.

• Development and maintenance of a strong qualified sales pipeline.

• Consistent quoting activity and improvement in quote-to-order conversion.

• 4-6 customer or prospect visits per month, as appropriate.

• Improvement and maintenance of gross profit margins through effective pricing and account management.

• Accurate and timely sales forecasting and reporting.

• Expansion into new markets, industries, and customer segments.

• Strengthening relationships with key customer decision-makers.

• Contribution to long-term revenue growth and profitability.