Sales Consultant - Construction (HVAC)

Who we are: Ketchum & Walton is a trusted manufacturers’ representative serving industry leaders in Noise Control, HVAC Equipment, and Indoor Air Quality. We help clients achieve greater efficiency and cost savings through innovative solutions in air filtration, architectural and interior noise control, HVAC systems, and vibration isolation.

We’re proud to partner with top-tier manufacturers who are committed to continuous improvement, cutting-edge research, and advancing technology. Our work environment reflects these values—creative, collaborative, and focused on solving complex problems for our clients.

At Ketchum & Walton, our core values are the foundation of everything we do. We’re a team that thinks strategically, works collectively, and strives to be a world-class organization. If you’re driven, innovative, and ready to make an impact, we’d love to hear from you.

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What we need: The Sales Consultant - HVAC is results-driven and strategically aligned, requiring a proactive, competitive, and focused individual. It demands quick decision-making, innovation, and the ability to lead with confidence and urgency through change. Our ideal candidate is a motivating, goal-oriented leader who communicates effectively, adapts quickly, and thrives in a fast-paced environment. Delegation, accountability, and high performance are key, with an emphasis on outcomes over process. Though we operate as a team, the salesperson is expected to work independently by planning and strategizing their own sales plan. Territory includes Washington DC, Maryland, and Nova Scotia areas.

Key Responsibilities

·      Documented Sales Plan (Cookbook): Includes defining market segments such as Healthcare, Pharma, Industrial, Education, Government, Commercial, and Mission Critical. It covers territory management, organizing social events like trade shows, trade associations, lunch & learns, and personal entertainment. Sales activities including project takeoffs, submittals, contractor appointments, prospecting, site inspections, and entertainment are tracked diligently. The plan also requires accurate forecasting and budgeting of annual sales volume, margins, and product mix.

·      Industry Knowledge: Involves understanding appropriate product applications for each building code primarily as it relates to vibration isolation, sound control and seismic bracing. Familiarity with online search tools and media resources like trade journals and business periodicals, and awareness of competitors' products, pricing, lead times, and services. Additionally, it will require heavy ability to read and interpret mechanical drawings and specifications.

·      Customer Knowledge: Entails recognizing behavioral characteristics and culture of clients (using tools like DISC), identifying and understanding the roles and influence of specifiers, influencers, and decision-makers, as well as understanding key performance drivers and success criteria by identifying and eliminating pain points. It also includes recognizing personal vulnerabilities within customer relationships and promptly mitigating risks, plus qualifying customers to ensure alignment with business goals.

·      Relationship Skills: Focuses on building and maintaining long-term relationships, networking effectively with clients and industry professionals to achieve business goals and ROI, contributing productively to team environments, and continuously self-reflecting through customer feedback to improve service quality.

·      Selling Skills: Centers on following a proven sales process to improve results and shorten sales cycles. Key skills include prospecting and developing new business, setting meetings with clear upfront contracts, building rapport, employing strategic questioning to uncover customer needs, active listening and observation of verbal and non-verbal cues, presenting solutions that address those needs, using innovative sales tools (like manufacturer analytics and multimedia presentations), matching solutions and pricing to ensure win-win outcomes, providing well-written, detailed proposals, handling objections effectively, negotiating for positive results without selling on price alone, and securing customer commitment to proceed.

·      Product Knowledge: Requires deep understanding of product features and benefits, proficient use of manufacturers’ sales tools, technical expertise to ensure correct application, ability to generate project- or customer-specific specifications, comprehensive knowledge of the mechanical contracting industry and engineering principles, and capability to provide field guidance for installation and troubleshooting. Basic Sales Responsibilities include the following items:

-Vibration Isolation of mechanical equipment and mechanical systems

-Engineering Services

-Seismic Engineering

-Pipe Stress Analysis

-Pipe Riser Analysis

-Acoustical Products

-Sound Attenuators

-Barrier Walls

-Acoustical Louvers and Enclosures

(Cross selling opportunities include fans, heat exchangers, cooling coils, air filtration product lines could arise but the main focus is on vibration isolation )

·      Quoting: Often involves direct negotiation with the owner, setting up new customers including ACH payments, Credit apps, coordinating with factories to obtain scopes and quotes, compiling proposals for bidding contractors, and following up with customers to assess potential low bidders and arrange scope reviews.

·      Order Fulfillment: Ensures all turnover documents are thoroughly completed. In some cases the salesperson will take full responsibility on order entry, procurement and delivery to the customer. At other times, all documents will be turned over to project managers. The salesperson at times must offer support to collections efforts when requested.

·      Job Turnover to Inside Sales/Project Management: Includes verifying purchase orders against quotes, entering sales orders, setting up electronic job files, issuing material purchase orders, providing order status updates and expediting as needed, and managing project submittals documentation and closeout.

·      Travel: 15-25% throughout District of Columbia, Maryland, Northern Virginia (0-2 hours from homebase), 5%-10% outside of sales territory for company meetings.

·      Technology Proficiency: Due to the nature of this job this will require 75 % of the time taking off mechanical plans, schedules and specs and interpreting them quickly for project bids. Though this is an outside sales role, it will require a large portion of in-office time reviewing project plans and specifications to ensure adequeate bid day coverage of our customers (mainly mechanical contractors)

·      Other duties as assigned

What you need: Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or related field.
• Additional education or certifications in relevant fields are a plus including but not limited to mechanical contracting and acoustical consulting.
• Proven ability to develop and execute sales plans across diverse market segments.
• Strong knowledge of industry products and applications, including technical drawing interpretation.
• Excellent relationship-building skills with a deep understanding of customer needs and decision-making processes.
• Proficient in a structured sales process (e.g., Sandler), with strong prospecting, qualifying, and closing abilities.
• Skilled negotiator with the ability to handle objections and secure customer commitments.
• Effective communicator, both written and verbal, with strong networking and teamwork capabilities.
• Analytical mindset with experience managing bids, pricing, and competitive analysis.
• Detail-oriented and organized in managing orders, documentation, and project turnover.

Reports to: Director of Sales

Status: Full-Time, Office is in Germantown MD and expectations are to work from the office when not on sales calls. Will require a minimum of 3-4 months of training with local Ketchum and Walton Sales team member based out of Germantown MD.

Job Class: Exempt

We are proud to be 100% employee-owned (ESOP) and committed to investing in our people. Our team members enjoy an extensive benefits package, including:

• Annual contribution into ESOP account
• 100% employer-paid healthcare premiums
• Biannual bonus opportunities
• Paid time off, holidays, and leaves
• 401(k) retirement plan
• And more!

Ketchum & Walton is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit, and business need—regardless of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, national origin, veteran status, or any other protected status under applicable law.

Please note: We are not engaging with recruiting agencies for this position and will not respond to agency inquiries.