Account Manager - Sonoco

While reporting to the Director of Sales, you will be responsible for building relationships across prospect organizations to discover and quantify needs to reduce assembly costs and ergonomic challenges and reduce damage (warehousing, fork truck clamping, stacking, shipping) through the entire supply chain. You will lead the Sonoco cross-functional team to utilize our portfolio of fiber, foam, wood, etc to design the most cost-effective and sustainable solution.

What you will be doing:

• Develop and implement a strategic sales plan for this market that is used as the blueprint for your activities
• Communicate with existing and new potential customers to find new opportunities for Sonoco Protective Solutions returnable and expendable packaging products
• Manage a large number of projects(typically 15-20) at all times to ensure he or she meets their sales budget
• Work with customers on the specific design project(s) to (1) develop the design concept (2) then follow-through with a prototype for evaluation and testing and (3) close the order

• Effectively communicate the specific design requirements of the project to the engineering teams in Michigan and Tennessee which will be supporting their efforts.
• Once sold work with the assigned program manager and the production facility to ensure a smooth startup of the project
• Implement pricing strategy with customers by project; manage the margins of the project; keep manager involved in the pricing decisions
• Provide annual sales forecasts
• Utilize the Sonoco Selling System as an underlying method to procure customers and manage her activities & customer base
• Submit weekly activity reports, call schedule, and updated sales pipeline.
• Have Weekly Individual Meeting (WIM) with a manager- be prepared for this meeting

This position location is flexible and can be based anywhere in the US.

We would love to hear from you if:

• You have a 4-year undergraduate degree or equivalent experience
• You have 3 years of sales experience minimum
•  Knowledge and experience in protective packaging (molded foam, plastics, fiber, thermoforming)
• Demonstrated success in selling engineered solutions into the targeted markets, including developing and growing new markets
• Experience in managing business negotiations including contracts, pricing, and terms within given guidelines
• Success at reaching decision makers and dealing with top-level decision makers
• Experience with cold calling and developing prospecting plan