Business Development Manager - Value Added Solutions (Greater Chicago Area)

RS Group•Glen Ellyn, IL

114d•Remote

About The Position

The Business Development Manager – Value Added Solutions supports profitable growth across the Americas, with a focus on expanding RS brand recognition through its Value-Added Services. The role aligns activities with sales strategies, partners with sales teams on account planning, and provides insight and coaching to help teams generate qualified leads, drive channel compliance, and grow sales and services. The manager evaluates accounts and opportunities using performance, cost, and benefit information; assesses customer readiness for RS solutions; and uses a consultative approach to demonstrate value and build competitive advantage. The role owns and advances Value-Added Solutions projects and pipelines, develops business strategies to improve solutions performance, coordinates resources, and supports implementation and customer engagement. The position also serves as a voice of the customer, sharing future needs and market developments with the VAS Product Management Team and relevant stakeholders. It maintains customer data integrity and confidentiality and develops relationships across procurement, finance, production, operations, and senior management. The position is based in the Greater Chicago Area and requires 50%–75% travel.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in business or a related field, or 5–7 years of experience in business development.
Ability to think broadly and adapt in an agile way.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Openness, curiosity, confidence, enthusiasm, tenacity, ability to work effectively with others, and a strong work ethic.
Self-motivation and ability to set an agenda and work independently in a national field-based role.
Capability in business planning and project management.
Ability to create customer needs and opportunities rather than only respond to them.
Willingness to challenge constructively and pursue continuous improvement.
Positive sales mindset, belief in the RS sales strategy, and sustained motivation.
Ability to work well under pressure while producing quality work.
Ability to solve problems and establish appropriate customer solutions.
High learning agility and emotional intelligence, with a deep understanding of personal motivations.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office.
Ability to travel 50%–75%.

Nice To Haves

Experience with MRO procurement strategy, eProcurement, maintenance, or inventory solutions.
Experience with solution-based sales techniques.
Experience in a multi-site distribution environment.

Responsibilities

Align activities with sales strategies and objectives through joint account planning with sales teams.
Provide Value Added Solutions insight and coach field sales teams to improve channel compliance, sales growth, services growth, and lead quality.
Evaluate current and potential account performance to prioritize activity based on cost and benefit.
Assess customer suitability and readiness for RS solutions and make commercially driven decisions about implementation opportunities.
Position RS Value Added Solutions consultatively, build customer-perceived value, and develop competitive advantage.
Support account development plans by establishing influential customer contacts and helping sales teams understand account structures and decision-making procedures.
Coordinate internal resources to deliver projects and targets, and create end-user engagement that drives channel compliance and sales growth.
Identify opportunities to profitably grow the business and improve efficiency for RS.
Represent customer needs and communicate them to the VAS Product Management Team.
Understand key RS competitors’ products and services and communicate demand for emerging technologies and products to internal stakeholders.
Contribute to profitable growth of the Americas business and expansion of RS brand recognition through Value-Added Services.
Protect and grow revenue through a strong understanding of the RS Value Proposition.
Own Value-Added Solutions projects within accounts and drive business by adding demonstrable value to internal and external customers.
Create business strategies to improve solutions performance and own and advance the pipeline, landing major opportunities through joint planning with sales teams.
Drive the services business strategy and align activities and resources to it.
Mentor and coach sales teams on the services offering and support sales capability.
Maintain customer data integrity and protect data confidentiality.
Build relationships across procurement, finance, production, operations, and senior management, aligning senior leadership where appropriate.