Print Account Specialist

Staples Inc.•Framingham, MA

About The Position

Staples is a business-to-business company where the sales and sales support teams work directly with businesses of all sizes to offer products and services that meet customers' unique needs. The Account Specialist Team is a dynamic group focused on driving exceptional customer satisfaction and profitable print sales growth within Staples’ contract-based print services. This team provides seamless support for all customer accounts, managing both programmatic and transactional print business. They work closely with departments such as Sales, Implementations, and Sourcing to maintain high service standards and deliver precise, timely, and customer-focused solutions. This position is dedicated to growing profitable print sales in contract through direct support for internal and external print customers, ensuring the highest levels of customer satisfaction for programmatic and transactional print business. The role requires cross-functional collaboration with sales, Implementations, Sourcing, Print Support, Suppliers, and other internal teams in a fast-paced environment. The Account Specialist coordinates multiple customer inquiries, responds promptly with accurate information, and collects/consolidates reports to manage customer accounts. They are also accountable for identifying program improvements, driving sales and operational efficiencies, presenting these improvements to sales leadership, and providing training as needed.

Requirements

Decision-Making: Evaluate and adjust sales margins within established guidelines to secure wins and drive increased sales and print orders.
Situational Judgment: Make independent decisions based on specific situations to resolve issues or prevent escalations related to print orders.
Supplier Relations: Assess when to engage with vendors to advocate for the best interests of the company and our customers, making informed decisions on pushback as needed.
Account Management: Analyze individual Enterprise/MidMarket account orders and make decisions geared towards improving processes, enhancing sales, and retaining customers.
Credit and Rebill Decisions: Assess and decide on small and large dollar credits and rebills within established guidelines, communicating the rationale behind these decisions to the Team Manager.
Customer Service Excellence: Work independently to service all print customers, empowered to take necessary actions to ensure optimal customer satisfaction.
Special Projects: Collaborate with customers on special accounts/projects, making decisions that support the implementation of process from a transactional and programmatic standpoint for print products.
Negotiation Skills: Negotiate sales margins independently with customers, ensuring that both client needs and business objectives are met.
Order Classification: Determine whether a print item should be processed as a transactional order or converted to a programmatic SKU based on annual usage.
Strong relationship building and interpersonal skills
Professional and effective telephone and written communication skills
Competency in MS Office suite and PC Skills
Flexible team player with ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously, functioning in a fast-paced environment under regular time pressures
Ability to build relationships and tailor communication to a variety of customers and stakeholders
Basic mathematical aptitude
High School diploma or equivalent
2+ Years Relevant Print/digital copy experience (customer service, sales, project management)

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration or related field
Strong Customer Service/ Print Background
Strong computer and web skills with an ability to learn new systems and tools quickly
Capable of working efficiently in team and independent situations
Ability to consistently communicate effectively with customer, suppliers, and associates

Responsibilities

Manage transactional and programmatic custom orders, projects and warehouse replenishment (specialty accounts)
Proficiently manage support queues as well as a pipeline of opportunities from transactional and programmatic requests and convert them into print sales and provide high levels of customer satisfaction
Provide primary customer and sales support through a variety of contact methods for all print customers to help drive sales and retention
Professionally intake, analyze and resolve issues through execution of corrective action and/or coordination of cross functional communication and take proactive measures to prevent recurrence
Plan and prioritize a high volume of tasks to meet customer-driven deadlines
Provide timely communication and follow-up to external and internal customers throughout the various stages of an order lifecycle (quotation, proofing, production, fulfillment, and delivery)
Accurately collect and communicate custom print order specifications for transactional and programmatic sourcing opportunities, work to secure order commitments from customers, and maintain accurate detailed records.
Collaboration and planning with the team, the Sales organization, and customers to ensure programs are managed effectively in order to enable retention and growth opportunities
Leverage analysis of various reports, extract opportunities specific to your support group and geography, present recommendations to Print Sales team for changes to grow sales and improve operational efficiencies of accounts
Maintain high level of understanding of all print database and systems knowledge required to support our customer and provide product and solution based recommendations
Maintain customer-branded website and facilitate requests for new program item adds and changes
Organize and maintain up-to-date files, reports and records to capture critical business intelligence
Drive retention and sales through customer interaction and professionalism
Maintain effective follow-through in-line with standard operating procedures throughout the process
Identify opportunities for process improvements, assisting in the development of effective strategies to implement them
Attain Key Performance indicators, including win rate, customer engagement, SLA’s and adhere to all process guidelines.
Assess when to engage with vendors/suppliers to advocate for the best interests of the company and our customers, making informed decisions on when additional support may be needed and communicating issues to team managers

Benefits

Inclusive culture with associate-led Business Resource Groups.
Flexible PTO (112 hours and Holiday Schedule (7 observed paid holidays).
Online and Retail Discounts, Company Match 401(k), Physical and Mental Health Wellness programs, and more perks and benefits.

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