Area Sales Manager - Industrial Adhesives & Tapes

About The Position

The Area Sales Manager is responsible for driving profitable growth within an assigned territory by acquiring new customers, expanding sales with existing accounts, and delivering value through application-based industrial adhesives and tapes solutions. The role requires customer engagement, solution selling, and disciplined execution to meet sales, margin, and collection targets. The manager develops new business, executes account and opportunity plans, conducts customer visits and technical demonstrations, and works with technical service and application engineers to support trials and adoption. The role also manages territory coverage and sales opportunities, uses the designated CRM for tracking and forecasting, negotiates proposals within pricing guidelines, and supports invoicing, collections, and customer payment resolution. The position collaborates with marketing, supply chain, and finance; monitors market and competitor activity; and adheres to company requirements for ethics, safety, environmental health and safety, trade compliance, and documentation. This is a field-intensive role involving approximately 50–70% travel within the territory. Customer site work may require PPE and compliance with plant safety rules, and customer production schedules may require early starts or late visits.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Science, or Business, preferably Mechanical, Chemical, or Production, or equivalent experience.
3–7 years of field sales experience in industrial or B2B sales, such as adhesives, tapes, industrial consumables, or a related field.
Demonstrated success in solution selling, negotiation, and closing.
Ability to travel approximately 50–70% within the assigned territory.
Ability to follow customer-site PPE requirements and plant safety norms.

Nice To Haves

Experience with OEMs, converters, fabricators, and key accounts in automotive, electronics, packaging, construction, or general manufacturing.
Hands-on exposure to process lines such as lamination, assembly, gasketing, or bonding.
Understanding of substrates and surface preparation.
Proficiency with CRM systems such as Salesforce, Excel, and data-driven forecasting.
Knowledge of bonding mechanisms, test methods, and ROI/TCO.
Consultative selling skills, including diagnosing problems, developing value-led proposals, and handling objections.
Territory planning, route optimization, and call-cadence discipline.
Negotiation skills that balance price, value, and terms while protecting margins.
Ability to use CRM and reports for pipeline management, forecast accuracy, and performance tracking.
Target orientation, self-motivation, resilience, and a bias for action.
Ability to collaborate effectively with technical, marketing, supply chain, and finance teams.

Responsibilities

Achieve monthly, quarterly, and annual revenue and product-mix targets.
Develop new business through prospecting, lead conversion, and pipeline management.
Execute account plans and opportunity strategies aligned with the Operating Plan and OLCG goals.
Conduct customer visits, technical demonstrations, trials, and joint application development.
Identify customer needs and recommend adhesive and tape solutions that improve process efficiency.
Coordinate with technical service and application engineers to support successful trials and adoption.
Manage territory coverage, call cycles, and visit frequency to maximize reach and productivity.
Maintain an accurate opportunity funnel, including stage definitions, value, and probability.
Use the designated CRM to track leads, meeting notes, action plans, and forecasts.
Prepare and negotiate proposals within pricing and discount guidelines.
Support timely invoicing and collections, maintain DSO adherence, and proactively resolve billing and payment issues.
Monitor competitor activity, market trends, and customer risks; update counter-strategy plans.
Partner with marketing on Ad Merch programs, campaigns, and promotion-led demand generation.
Collaborate with supply chain on stock allocations, backorder mitigation, and aged inventory liquidation.
Align with finance on credit limits, CIR impacts, and budget adherence.
Follow company policies on ethics, safety, EHS, trade compliance, and documentation.
Maintain accurate records of trials, approvals, contracts, and regulatory requirements.