Great Lakes Regional Sales Representative

FoxFarm Soil & Fertilizer Company is seeking a sales representative for the Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky region to call on Garden Centers, Hardware stores, Farm and Feed and Hydroponic supply stores located in those states. This position is 100% remote and based in these states, there is no relocation assistance available for candidates.

Our Sales Representatives passionately and expertly educate the market and customers on FoxFarm Soil and Fertilizer products and provide excellent customer service. To achieve the goals of this position efficiently and effectively, frequent overnight travel is required, often by vehicle.

• Market Development
  • Provide assistance in merchandising, product knowledge, sales strategies, grow tests, rebate programs, and other various support programs of FoxFarm Soil & Fertilizer Company products to retailers and distributors.
  • Identify prospective customers through:
    • Following leads from existing customers and distributors 
    • Business directories
    • Participating in organizations and/or clubs
    • Attending trade shows and conferences
  • Monitor market conditions.
  • Maintain awareness of product innovations.
  • Monitor competitors’ products, prices, and sales.
• Training and Support
  • Maintain consistent in-store visitation and telephone communication with assigned accounts.
  • Ensure consistent communication with local distributor direct customers to maintain relations.
  • Conduct field rides with distributor sales representatives to aid in education and expand distribution to retail customers.
  • Answer customers’ questions about:
    • Products
    • Prices
    • Availability
    • Product uses.
    • Articulate to customers and consumers the benefits of FoxFarm products and their effects on plants.
    • Provide sales assistance to customers through product knowledge training and seminars.
    • Consult with customers after a sale to maintain relations, resolve problems and to provide ongoing support.
    • Provide customers with catalogs, product samples, promotional banners, promotional posters, and feeding schedules.
• Sales
  • Contact regular and prospective customers to:
    • Demonstrate products.
    • Explain product features.
    • Solicit orders.
  • Recommend products to customers based on customers’ needs and interests.
  • Positively increase sales revenue for the company.
• Administrative
  • Communicate activities, concerns, trends, and any other reports from the field to manager.
  • Maintain current, detailed and concise notes of activities, concerns, problems and complications, outcomes, and all other customer communication in company database.
  • Maintain and submit a log of activities.
  • Maintain well-developed business communication and presentation skills.
    
    
• Knowledge, Skill and Experience Required:
             
• BA/BS
• 1-4 years of professional experience in sales representation or retail sales.
• Knowledge of hydroponics growing systems and mainstream garden practices and methods, or a disciplined attitude about being trained in all of these aspects and more, including plant life cycles, plant structure, plant diseases, soil structure and pests).
• Product knowledge.
• Highly evolved customer service skills.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Excellent presentation skills. 
• Public speaking skills.
• Active listening skills.
• Critical thinking skills.
• Social perceptiveness skills.
• Professional, positive and articulate demeanor.
• Organizational skills.
• Problem solving skills.
• Self-motivated and a willingness to learn.
• Ability to multitask and prioritize duties.
• Ability to coordinate many activities.
• Ability to follow through assignments with a minimum of direction.
• Must be detail oriented. 
• Must have current driver’s license with clean DMV record as well as reliable transportation.
  
  
  
• Typical Working Conditions
  • Administrative or home office environment, retail store environment, and hotel room or conference center environment due to regional travel by automobile or airplane including overnight travel.  
  • Exposure to natural temperature fluctuations.  
  • Exposure to varying noise levels.  
• Equipment Used
  • Typical office equipment.
• Essential Physical Tasks
  • Must occasionally lift approximately 50 lbs.