Director, Business Specialists

Sysco•Saint Charles, MO

About The Position

The Director of Business Specialists is an equal member of the senior sales leadership team. This position will be included in all strategic planning, decisions, and execution as it pertains to region sales. The senior sales leadership team will consist of the VP, Region Sales, Director, Local Sales, Director, New Business Development, Director, Sales Strategy & Operations, Director, Contract Sales and Director, Business Specialist. Through the senior sales leadership team this position will drive the region's strategic plan for growing sales, increasing penetration and reducing lost business. Specifically, this leadership role is responsible for driving the performance management, coaching, and deployment of the region's specialist resources with the goal of enhancing the customer experience and achieving the region's financial plan. As noted in Sysco's Leadership Framework; On-target performance includes exhibiting the following framework components; Core Qualities, Shaping the Future, Delivering Business Results and Leading People. Up to 50% travel within region required.

Requirements

Minimum : Bachelor's degree in a related field or 5 years managing professional sales team in the foodservice industry and 5+ years leading a B2B sales team in a professional sales environment, with demonstrated success in contract sales
Note to HR : Incumbents in role excused from bachelor's degree requirement
Strong financial acumen and ability to properly plan and execute business plans
Embraces change and champions corporate initiatives
Demonstrated ability to coach and mentor associates and peers
Track record of success in the area of consultative selling, networking and negotiations
Proficient communication and interpersonal skills and ability to work with and influence a variety of key stakeholders
Experience building trust with prospective customers and securing new business
Strong business and restaurant operations acumen to manage sophisticated customers
Analytical problem-solving skills, including familiarity with analyzing reports and deriving insights from data
Ability to learn the use of proprietary CRM tools for planning and forecasting sales growth
Proficient in Microsoft Applications Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook)
Demonstrated ability to deliver against deadlines and produce high-quality results (accuracy, thoroughness in the deliverables they are producing)
Excellent organizational and project management skills, including the ability to execute multiple initiatives at the same time
Understanding of marketing principles, product lines, ordering procedures and Sysco's credit terms

Responsibilities

Lead a high-performing regional team of specialists to secure new business and increase penetration in alignment with region's financial plan
Develop and execute targeted specialist strategies to acquire new business, penetrate existing accounts, and minimize lost business across categories, specialty segments, and Sysco brand
Under the direction of the region VP of Sales; support or lead the coordination and execution of corporate, market, or region initiatives
Drive team selling efforts around new business, lost business and penetration of existing accounts, aligning specialist resources toward unified goals
Cultivate a culture of team sales excellence through clear communication of specific, timebound goals and by upholding a metrics driven performance management strategy
Coach specialists on developmental opportunities and ensure there is a robust and measurable plan in place to deliver against individual and region results
Interpret and harness data insights to provide feedback to the team, align priorities, and discover profitable business opportunities and focus areas
Utilize KPIs/metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of business specialist growth strategies including specialist deployment and performance manage the team to deliver results
Establish clear expectations and advocate best practices regarding utilizing Salesforce (Sysco's CRM tool) as the primary sales communication, collaboration and analytical tool
Drive brand and specialty focus, and champion innovative items and Category Management conversion products through support of merchandising
As the region's Specialty company relationship owner, create clear lines of communication and partnership and identify additional opportunities to unlock growth
Communicate growth and retention opportunities to a broad range of stakeholders, including the region VP and Directors of Region Sales on a frequent basis
Determine the best usage of specialists as direct customer sales resources to support industry and region special events with Sales and Marketing
Support the development of Emerging/Local Contract Customer concepts both originating in the region and market