Customer Sales & Service Representative-Industrial Distribution

Industrial Sales Inside Sales PositionCustomer Sales and Service Representative

 

Opportunity Snapshot

This position represents an excellent opportunity whether you want to establish a long and rewarding career in customer sales and service, or showcase your talents in order to move up into sales or other areas of our company. At Applied we regard the Customer Sales & Service Representative (CSSR) role as one of the most important in our organization, and we'll ensure you receive extensive ongoing training and provide you with solid feedback and support to help you achieve your goals. You'll join a tight-knit team serving loyal, long-term customers.

In a nutshell, you'll help customers get the parts they need, interacting extensively with them to clarify their needs, research and recommend parts, provide quotes, and take orders. While the majority of your interactions will take place over the phone, this is not a call center environment, but rather a service and parts center. There is a hands-on component to the role; for example, you'll learn to use calipers to measure specs on a wide variety of parts, from bearings and sprockets to electric motors and controls to hydraulic and pneumatic components.

To be a good fit for this opportunity, you'll have a high school degree (or equivalent) and one to three years of experience in a customer service or inside sales setting. While experience with mechanical parts is not necessary, you will need a strong interest in learning about the products we sell and their applications. We're looking for an outgoing "people person" who is resourceful about finding information and who enjoys the challenge of discovering just the right part or solution for a customer's need. You'll also need a proactive approach to probing for information and recommending additional, related products.

Applied Industrial Technologies, which has been named to Forbes magazine's 2005 Platinum 400 List of Best Big Companies in America, is one of North America's largest independent distributors of bearings, power transmission components, fluid power components and systems, industrial rubber products, linear components, tools, safety products, general maintenance and a variety of mill supply products. We offer a competitive salary, incentive bonus potential, and excellent benefits.

If this sounds exciting to you, please read on!

 

What Else You'll Bring to the Table

In addition to the qualifications detailed above, you'll need:

· The ability to learn and apply new information quickly

· Excellent interpersonal and communication abilities

· Solid organizational skills, including the ability to manage multiple competing priorities

 

What's in It for You

Extensive training programs -- because we recognize the importance of this position to our overall success, we'll provide you with on-the-job and online training, covering topics such as customer service skills, product knowledge, and computer systems. We'll map out a guideline for your first 12 weeks with Applied, to ensure that we cover everything to set you up for success. A variety of ongoing training and development programs are also available.

Career development -- many of our CSSRs have made a satisfying career in this role, and we'll help you lay out a path to earn promotions through three different CSSR levels. Other CSSRs have used the role as a "proving ground" and pursued other opportunities, such as Product Specialist, Outside Sales Account Manager, Service Center Manager, or other positions. There are opportunities at this Service Center, as well as in our 440 other locations throughout North America.

Great work environment -- we foster an upbeat and positive culture, and the Service Center is a high performing center staffed by a team that works hard and enjoys achieving success together. We are currently pursuing initiatives to take advantage of untapped opportunities, and you'll play a role in taking the center to the next level of performance.

Stability and values -- at Applied, our core values (Honesty, Integrity, Fairness, Openness, Quality Dedication, Promise Keeping, Personal Mastery) are more than just words on paper; they are embraced throughout the company. We also enjoy a robust financial picture. For example, for our fiscal year ended June 30, 2006, we recorded sales of $1.9 billion.

Excellent compensation -- in addition to a competitive salary and incentive plan, we offer a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision and prescription drug coverage, a 401(k) plan with company match, an educational assistance program, product discounts, and more.

More About Your Role

Reporting to the Service Center Manager, you'll join a team of about ten people in a Service Center that includes a small front office and a warehouse. You'll be one of five Customer Sales & Service Representatives (CSSRs) handling a steady flow of business.

You'll invest the largest part of your time interacting with customers to determine exactly what they need and then get it to them. Sometimes this will be as straightforward as taking a part number and filing a shipping order, and other times you may need to probe for information, research our parts database (it includes some 2 million SKUs) and other resources, and get back to the customer with a recommendation. We will expect you to develop a solid knowledge of our products as well as a strong sense of where to look and whom to ask for information.

Your specific activities will include:

· Processing customer telephone orders, price, and delivery inquiries, and participating in or handling associated servicing and clerical reporting activities.

· Taking orders by phone, mail, or at the counter; checking availability of stock, back order status, vendor schedules, service center stock, and shipping dates; quoting prices; and writing and processing orders. This will include verifying orders, billings, and correspondence; filling orders for counter sales; receiving payment; and ensuring proper adherence to customer specifications.

· Working from worksheets, inventory lists, part number files, price books, stock requests, customer orders, automatic ordering system, and related information in order to assist customers and service centers in estimating needs and quoting prices on parts, replacements, shipping, and other charges. You'll gather information as to costs, discounts, stock availability, and specials as necessary.

· Receiving service requests from customers and service centers in writing, by phone, or by computer, and expediting order inquiries, checking the status of orders, following up on back orders, issuing tracers on lost orders, establishing order or stock disposition, and notifying the customer or service center. In addition you'll investigate defects, damages, incorrect shipments, lost orders, and the like.

· Monitoring customer returns as required, including investigating the cause and recommending or approving reshipment or credit, and processing necessary paperwork. You'll also report or handle past dues, inter-service center transfers, petty cash, and cash reports if and as your work assignment dictates.

· Assisting other service center personnel in such activities as maintaining truck and vehicle usage reports, postage meter accounting, customer mailing lists, catalog library, time card reporting, and other routine clerical duties. In addition you may also coordinate plant and office surveys and participate in various training programs.

Keys to Success

To excel in this role you'll have not only a solid commitment to excellent customer service, but also a strong desire to learn new things; the size of our product line and the technical nature of their applications can seem overwhelming, but our most successful CSSRs are those who enjoy the ongoing learning process. In addition, in order to be an outstanding CSSR, you will:

· Leverage your self-initiative and resourcefulness in tracking down information.

· Be patient and solutions-oriented when working with customers; sometimes they'll have a part number but often they'll look to you for assistance.

· Practice excellent follow up habits.

· Remain flexible in responding to issues as they arise, including being able to stop what you're doing in one moment, take care of a new priority, and pick up the original activity an hour later or even the next day.

· Be as effective in a team player role as you are in an individual contributor role.

· Demonstrate professional maturity, including dependability, conscientiousness, and integrity.

 

If this sounds like the right mix of challenge and opportunity for you, and you meet the minimum qualifications, we want to hear from you!

Who We Are

Representing more than 2,000 leading manufacturers worldwide, Applied Industrial Technologies offer more than 2 million specific products to customers within a broad cross-section of industries, including primary metals, pulp and paper, food processing, chemical processing, mining and aggregate, utilities, textiles, corrugating, agriculture and automotive. The Applied network encompasses more than 4,600 associates at more than 450 facilities in 47 U.S. states, 5 Canadian provinces, Puerto Rico and Mexico. For more information, please visit www.applied.com Applied Industrial Technologies is an equal opportunity employer.