What are the responsibilities and job description for the Strategic Account Specialist position at Ashley Distribution Services, Ltd.?
Primary Job Functions and Decision-Making Ownership
Business Development & Sales Support
Account & CRM Management
Operational Support (3PL Coordination)
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Ownership and Decision-Making Authority
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Business Development & Sales Support
- Own assigned account support activities for strategic customers, including pipeline follow-up, opportunity tracking, customer communication, and coordination of internal actions needed to advance business objectives.
- Evaluate customer needs, pricing inputs, operational feasibility, and service requirements to recommend onboarding actions, rate setup, proposal support, and follow-up priorities tied to new or expanded business.
- Maintain accurate CRM data, including account activity, pricing records, forecasts, contact notes, and reporting outputs.
- Generate weekly and monthly reporting on pipeline health, customer performance, account activity, and growth opportunities.
- Lead small-scale business development projects, including lane analysis, pricing comparisons, customer opportunity reviews, and win/loss tracking, with responsibility for findings, recommendations, and follow-through.
- Identify, assess, and escalate new opportunities within existing accounts, underdeveloped lanes, or network gaps, including recommendations for pursuit, prioritization, or operational review.
Account & CRM Management
- Own assigned account records and ensure customer interactions, rates, contracts, commitments, decisions, risks, and follow-up actions are documented accurately and maintained for business visibility.
- Independently manage day-to-day customer touchpoints within assigned scope, including scheduling coordination, status updates, service questions, issue tracking, and determination of appropriate next steps.
- Prepare account review materials, interpret performance data, identify trends or risks, and recommend action items to improve customer outcomes, account stability, and internal execution.
- Determine when customer expectations require clarification, escalation, operational adjustment, or leadership review, and coordinate alignment between customer commitments and execution capabilities.
Operational Support (3PL Coordination)
- Provide backup coverage and operational decision support for 3PL Coordinators during peak volume periods, PTO, staffing gaps, or elevated service events.
- Assist with load coverage, carrier sourcing, shipment tracking, exception monitoring, and customer updates when needed.
- Own execution-related projects that improve service, reduce cost, increase efficiency, or strengthen operational consistency, including analysis, recommendations, implementation coordination, and follow-up.
- Collaborate cross-functionally with Customer Service, Dispatch, Transportation Operations, carrier partners, and internal stakeholders.
- Resolve or escalate service exceptions by assessing impact, clarifying ownership, determining recovery actions, communicating updates, and ensuring appropriate follow-through.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Act as a decision-support liaison between Sales, Operations, Customer Service, and Transportation teams to ensure smooth handoffs from opportunity development through execution.
- Evaluate and recommend alignment on pricing strategy, service commitments, customer requirements, operational capacity, and execution feasibility.
- Participate in pipeline reviews, team meetings, customer performance discussions, and recurring operating cadences.
- Own improvements to scalable processes that increase speed, consistency, accountability, decision quality, and customer confidence across the 3PL business.
Ownership and Decision-Making Authority
- Own assigned customer account support activities and determine appropriate prioritization based on business impact, customer urgency, revenue opportunity, service risk, and operational feasibility.
- Exercise discretion in evaluating customer needs, service exceptions, account performance data, and internal constraints to recommend solutions, escalation paths, or corrective actions.
- Make independent recommendations that influence account strategy, customer retention, service commitments, pricing support, operational recovery, and growth opportunities.
- Represent assigned account priorities in internal discussions and coordinate cross-functional decisions with Sales, Operations, Transportation, Customer Service, and carrier partners.
- Escalate matters requiring leadership approval while maintaining ownership of analysis, communication, documentation, and follow-through through resolution.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
- CRM accuracy, reporting completeness, timely account documentation, and clear ownership of assigned account actions.
- Pipeline visibility, reporting timeliness, quality of opportunity tracking, and effectiveness of recommendations supporting business growth.
- Support contribution to new business wins, account expansions, and customer retention.
- Responsiveness, judgment, and effectiveness in operational support, including load coverage, issue resolution, customer updates, and escalation management.
- Contribution to service performance, account stability, and customer satisfaction.
- Project ownership, analytical support quality, decision support, and follow-through on assigned actions through completion.