Job Description

The successful Sales Assistant has the desire and skills to build and maintain positive relationships with customers over the long-term. He/she is organized, detail oriented, comfortable asking for help, able to establish and maintain positive relations with all departments, able to rapidly re-prioritize tasks throughout the day, and able to return and complete earlier tasks when interrupted for higher priority business.

As an industrial ingredient manufacturer, Milne Fruit Products makes juice concentrates, purees, and other products from fruits and vegetables. The Sales Assistant serves as the primary contact on assigned accounts to ensure the smooth flow of orders, information, and follow up. During a typical day, the Sales Assistant will interact with customers and brokers through email and phone calls, look up data and process orders through the business database, and communicate with other departments to confirm order details.

We are seeking a candidate with the right blend of:

• Customer service experience, preferably in a sales or a professional office setting
• An aptitude for details, follow-thru, and computer-based sales confirmation process
• Communication skills and the ability to work with all employees
• A desire to further their career and be part of a successful team

We are looking for a candidate with excellent customer service, communication, and organization skills to excel as a Sales Assistant and potentially move into advanced positions within the department.

Responsibilities

• Ensures daily customer contact to facilitate the complete and correct order fulfillment process
• Receives and writes up orders
• Releases products based on contract
• Completes sales confirmations
• Coordinates with Procurement and Quality Assurance
• Arranges logistics
• Generates reports using the MS Dynamics – NAV system and extracts and compiles data into useful, clear, and timely reports for distribution within the Sales department and company-wide.
• Maintains up-to-date knowledge of assigned customers and brokers
• Establishes and maintains sales relationships with the assigned accounts to anticipate needs and suggest sales
• Maintains customer database and profiles
• Supports the sales and marketing team for trade show development and readiness, keeping up-to-date on promotional materials, and performs trade show follow up to ensure timely delivery of literature and samples
• Minimal amount of travel in and out of state for trade shows and customer meetings; travel frequency increases with increased knowledge and responsibility

Qualifications

• A high school diploma or GED is required.
• Two years in professional office/sales/customer service related positions requiring customer interaction, detail orientation, and task prioritization; experience in a manufacturing environment or industrial sales assistance preferred
• Must demonstrate growth in responsibilities and skills over time
• PC-based computing experience (word processing/Word, spreadsheet/Excel, email/Outlook); Business database/ERP system (Microsoft Dynamics-NAV) experience preferred but not required
• Communication and interpersonal skills to interact well with and maintain positive relationships with others
• Professional writing skills to compose memos, letters, and other business correspondence, observing all rules of grammar, spelling, and punctuation
• Math skills, including the ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide into all units of measure using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals; able to compute rate, ratio and percent
• Able to evaluate and prioritize tasks and to re-prioritize throughout the day based on changing requests and needs
• Able to understand and carry out written or verbal instructions
• Able to manage details and comprehend the full scope of duties
• Able to work in a fast-paced environment managing multiple deadlines and unscheduled interruptions
• Ability to travel once or twice a year to regional and national trade shows or customer visits

Company Description

With a reputation built on our employee’s commitment to outstanding product quality and customer service, Milne utilizes innovative technologies and rigorous quality controls to provide healthy fruit products that are 100% natural to meet the needs of a diverse consumer marketplace. Founded in 1955, Milne Fruit Products is the industry leader in creating fruit juices, concentrates, purees and custom blends for the industrial food and beverage markets.

Benefits

• Medical Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• Vision Insurance
• 401(k), after 12 month eligibility period
• Life insurance
• Short-term Disability
• Long-term Disability
• Paid Vacation
• Sick Pay
• Holiday Pay
• Continuing education program
• Bonus Eligible