Now Hiring - Astor Chocolate - Sales Representative in Lakewood, NJ

Full description of the position

Astor Chocolate is a 4th generation privately held, family-owned company and has been a leading purveyor of chocolate for over 90 years with our core strengths being innovation, creativity, and dedication to creating premium products. The company services multiple industries ranging from Hospitality, Travel Retail, Food Service, ASI, and Gourmet specialty retailers. Astor, with our energetic team atmosphere, believes the success of our growth is our strong commitment to developing our employees potential. We are committed to building the company with talented, and motivated individuals who will uphold our mission of being a market leader, by innovating and servicing our customers with extreme dedication.

PRIMARY FUNCTION:

Reporting to the VP of Sales, the Astor sales representative will be responsible for maintaining and growing a specific customer base primarily within the Specialty Retail industry. This position will work in close collaboration with our design and product development teams in creating exceptional products to meet our customers requests. The right tenured individual will be flexible and possess the ability to work in a mid-size company that requires a multi-tasking can do detail-oriented attitude. The ideal candidate is quick, smart, meticulous, flexible, a creative problem solver, promotes teamwork between departments and is tenacious about achieving organizational goals.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Establish and maintain productive relationships; identify business opportunities based on knowledge of customers, markets, products, and services.

Develop new business and increase profitability from existing accounts, advocating Astors vision, purpose, and values.

Promote Astors brands awareness, increase sales, and boost customer engagement by presenting new product offerings to existing customer base that will meet their unique requirements.

Direct responsibility for managing the entire sales cycle; fiscal responsibility for all budgets assigned. Review and report on projected vs. actual sales. Determine opportunities and actions to achieve revenue targets.

Convey institutional market knowledge with awareness of competitors offerings from both the consumer and retailer point of view.

Liaison between customers and various internal and external teams to ensure customer requirements are understood, lead times are met, and customer experience standards are exceeded.

• In conjunction with Astors design and product development team, work collaboratively to identify areas of opportunity in terms of product that will generate and enhance consumer appeal. Utilize industry experience and best practices to further promote best in class product assortment.
• Perform and manage territory coverage and service frequency ensuring customer satisfaction within the territory.

Deliver and educate clients on product offerings; possess a thorough understanding of category trends throughout the market place.

• Provide ongoing communication to the VP of Sales regarding field activity with a focus on strategy and territory planning.
• Ensure that administrative functions associated with direct accounts are managed accordingly.

Qualifications, Essential Skills, and Experience:

Previous sales/marketing/communication experience

Goal Oriented and metrics driven, with an aggressive mindset

Ability to develop quality relationships and communicate effectively with management, peers, internal teams, suppliers, and customers

Ability to leverage sales enablement tools provided

Commitment to sales training process and personal development

Ability to translate customer insights into sales opportunities

Ability to negotiate and persuade

Outgoing and personable with excellent interpersonal skills

Excellent organizational, written, and oral communication, listening and presentation skills

Must be able to conduct professional prospect meetings both in person and virtually

Self-motivated and self-starter with the ability to manage time and meet deadlines

Ability to sell and position multiple product offerings

Excellent interpersonal communication (verbal, written, technical and presentation) skills with the ability to effectively communicate at all levels within the organization.

Time management skills with the ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines.

Detail oriented, organized, and able to effectively prioritize and delegate tasks

Microsoft skills Word, Excel, PowerPoint

Analytical capability

MININIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Marketing, or related field preferred (or equivalent experience).
• Proven track record of success in sales, with at least 5+ years of experience in inside and/or outside sales roles.

BENEFITS:

At Astor Chocolate, we ask a lot of our employees, and we give a lot in return. We believe that every successful relationship is reciprocal. In addition to your competitive salary, we offer a compliment of benefit offerings. The most important benefits we believe we can provide you are:

• A work environment that is positive and engaging, yet challenges you to perform your absolute best work
• A company that you can call home for as long as you would like to
• A job that does not feel like a job because you are actually enjoying what you are most passionate about
• Recognition for a job well done

COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY:

Astor Chocolate recognizes the necessity of building an inclusive culture that values each employees individuality and diverse perspectives. We are committed to providing equal opportunity to all employees, creating an environment that promotes inclusion and cultural differences.

Astor Chocolate is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, or any other protected class and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability.

Job Type: Full-time

Benefits:

• 401(k)
• 401(k) matching
• Dental insurance
• Flexible spending account
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Compensation package:

• Commission pay

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday

Travel requirement:

• Travel

Ability to Relocate:

• Lakewood, NJ 08701: Relocate before starting work (Required)

Work Location: In person