Southworth Products Corp has an immediate opening for a Regional Sales Manager (RSM) with material handling experience for its Midwest territory, states consist of Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska. The preferred home office location will be Chicago or Milwaukee.

We are looking for someone with a knowledge of the industry who will fit in nicely with our current sales team to provide the highest level of customer service and sales possible to the material handling industry.

Southworth is the world’s largest manufacturer of ergonomic material handling equipment for vertical lifting and work positioning. Our products are designed to improve worker productivity while reducing the potential for worker injuries. Anywhere that workers are lifting and positioning items, handling pallets, working with parts in containers or transporting loads in a factory or warehouse, Southworth has a product to make the job faster, safer, and easier.

We realize that our success is a direct result of the efforts of our talented and dedicated employees. To ensure continued success we take extra care to make sure that careers at Southworth are financially, intellectually, emotionally, and socially rewarding for all.

Position Summary:

The Southworth RSM role is to maximize sales growth in the territory in all aspects to:

• Manage sales activities between the end user, dealer, and channel to grow business.
• Coach and advise dealer salespeople on best approach for successful sales of our machines.
• Qualify, select, train, and motivate the various sales channels to sell products.
• Develop and maintain relationships with distributors and customers.

Key Responsibilities:

• Select, evaluate, and develop effective sales channels and strategies designed to provide maximum penetration for all assigned products in each appropriate market throughout the designated territory. Actively manage and grow sales in the territory.

• Provide the technical support and product assistance required which allow involved distributor personnel to effectively sell the assigned products. Areas of expertise should include but not be limited to: (a) scope of product line, (b) specific features and benefits, (c) code compliance, (d) safety requirements, (e) options, (f) applications; and (g) limitations. Help find and provide the best solution for end user applications.

• Communicate customer information and application information to engineering and estimating for effective quoting and sales. Understand customer needs to provide solutions to their problems. Plan, organize, and coordinate with management to qualify opportunities and projects for best sales of machinery.

• Purposeful travel in territory to build relationships with channel personnel and end users, determine the effectiveness of channel salespeople, identify training needs, and recognize future opportunities for Southworth products.

• Develop and assist in the implementation of programs, on the distributor level, which will improve their sales performance, which includes joint sales calls. Update channels on all products/policies/features/benefits and evaluate their use of the selling process and sales skills. Provide training for dealer salespeople to help with sales of work positioning equipment.

• Ensure fast response to customers, request for quotes and technical or service issues.

• Prepare and monitor sales plans and quotas to maximize revenue growth. Maintain measuring mechanisms in order to quantitatively evaluate a distributor’s performance.

• Provide the necessary information to keep all account files and records in the CRM database timely.

• Implement sales strategies to penetrate channel accounts and markets. Prospect for new distributors and customers within the territory.

• Submit short- and long-term forecasts and additional reports, as required.

• Assist in the development of all sales procedures from the standpoint of its effect on the sales volume of the territory.

Travel Requirements:

• Ability to travel the territory up to 50% of the time.

What our ideal candidate brings to the table:

• Bachelor’s degree with a minimum of 5 years of sales experience managing and supporting dealer channels or relevant work experience.
• Technical or mechanical aptitude is required.
• Must have material handling experience.
• Ability to travel the territory up to 50% of the time.
• Superior communication (written and verbal) and interpersonal skills.
• High level of integrity and trustworthiness. Must have customer and quality focus.

What you will love about Southworth:

• Paid time off for Vacation, Sick/Personal, Maternity/Paternity Leave, and Community Service/Volunteer work
• Affordable Medical and Vision coverage
• FREE company paid Dental coverage.
• Company paid Life Insurance
• Tuition Reimbursement & Career Development Plans
• FUN and collaborative team members
• The opportunity to reach a worldwide customer base.

Southworth is an equal opportunity employer.