Position Overview
Johnstone Brothers Equipment Corp. is seeking a motivated, organized and outgoing Sales Development Representative to support the continued growth of our equipment, parts, service and related business.
This is primarily an office-based lead generation and sales development position. The successful candidate will focus on proactively contacting existing and prospective customers, identifying potential needs and opportunities, maintaining regular customer contact, and ensuring qualified sales opportunities are directed to the appropriate salesperson or department for follow-up.
This is not initially a territory-based outside sales position and the successful candidate will not be expected to independently manage the complete equipment sales process. Rather, this person will serve as an important front end of the company's sales process by creating conversations, identifying customer needs, gathering useful information and generating qualified opportunities for the sales team.
The role will support outreach to contractors, paving companies, construction companies, municipalities, government and public works departments, rental customers, existing equipment customers and other customer groups identified by management.
For a successful candidate who demonstrates strong sales ability, product knowledge and customer-development skills, there may be an opportunity over time to progress into a more traditional equipment sales or territory-based position.
Key Responsibilities
- Conduct consistent outbound customer contact by telephone, email and other approved methods to both existing and prospective customers.
- Develop and maintain regular contact with customers to identify current and upcoming equipment, parts, service, rental and other business needs.
- Generate qualified sales leads and appropriately direct those opportunities to the responsible salesperson, department or territory representative.
- Ask appropriate qualifying questions to understand the customer's requirements, timing, existing equipment, upcoming projects and potential purchasing needs.
- Maintain an organized schedule of customer follow-ups so prospective opportunities are not lost or forgotten.
- Re-engage existing and inactive customers and identify new opportunities within the company's existing customer base.
- Research and develop new prospective customer accounts within assigned markets, customer groups or geographic areas.
- Assist with ongoing outreach to municipalities, public works departments and government customers, including maintaining regular contact and monitoring potential purchasing activity.
- Maintain awareness of relevant tenders, projects, contractor activity and other market information that may create opportunities for the company.
- Accurately record customer communications, notes, leads, follow-up dates and opportunities in NetSuite or other company systems.
- Create or update opportunities in NetSuite and ensure sufficient information is provided for the salesperson receiving the lead to take the next step.
- Work closely with the Sales Manager and sales team to determine customer priorities, target markets, calling campaigns and follow-up strategies.
- Provide qualified referrals to Equipment Sales, Parts, Service, Rentals and other departments as appropriate.
- Assist with sales campaigns, customer lists, market research, customer follow-up initiatives and other business-development activities.
- Help maintain consistent company and brand visibility with customers, even when a customer does not have an immediate purchasing requirement.
- Participate in product training so the employee develops sufficient knowledge to identify customer needs and direct opportunities appropriately.
- Attend occasional trade shows, customer meetings, training sessions or customer visits as required.
- Support other sales-development initiatives as business needs evolve.
Role Boundaries and Sales Handoff
The primary responsibility of this position is to identify and qualify sales opportunities rather than independently close equipment transactions.
Once a qualified opportunity has been identified, the Sales Development Representative will work with the Sales Manager to direct the opportunity to the appropriate equipment salesperson, territory representative or department.
The assigned salesperson will normally be responsible for detailed product recommendations, equipment demonstrations, pricing, formal quotations, negotiations and closing the sale.
The Sales Development Representative will remain involved where appropriate by assisting with follow-up, information gathering, scheduling and maintaining accurate records.
Lead Conversion Incentive
In addition to base salary, the position is eligible for a Lead Conversion Bonus on qualifying opportunities generated by the employee that subsequently result in completed customer sales.
Bonus amounts will vary based on the value of the resulting transaction and the company's Lead Conversion Incentive Plan.
Eligibility, attribution, payment timing and other terms of the incentive program will be determined in accordance with company policy.
Performance Expectations
Success in this role will be measured through a combination of:
- Consistent and productive outbound customer activity.
- Meaningful customer conversations and relationship development.
- Number and quality of qualified opportunities generated.
- Conversion of generated opportunities into quotations and completed sales.
- Timely and accurate customer and opportunity information in NetSuite.
- Completion of required follow-ups.
- Development of new customer accounts and re-engagement of inactive accounts.
- Contribution of useful market and customer intelligence to the sales team.
- Professional communication and responsiveness with customers and internal staff.
The emphasis is on quality customer contact and commercially useful opportunities rather than call volume alone.
Travel Requirements
This position is primarily based at the Woodbridge office.
Limited travel may occasionally be required for product training, trade shows, customer visits, equipment demonstrations or to accompany a salesperson for training and development purposes.
Travel is expected to be substantially less than a traditional territory sales position and will generally represent less than approximately 10% of the role.
Qualifications
- Previous experience in inside sales, sales development, business development, customer service, account support, outbound calling or another customer-facing position is preferred.
- Experience in equipment, construction, industrial, contractor, municipal or B2B environments is considered an asset but is not required.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Professional and confident telephone manner with the ability to comfortably initiate conversations with new and existing customers.
- Strong listening skills and the ability to identify potential customer needs through conversation.
- Comfortable making a consistent volume of outbound calls and following up with customers.
- Organized and disciplined with the ability to manage a large number of contacts, follow-ups and customer records.
- Strong attention to detail and commitment to accurately documenting customer activity.
- Comfortable learning basic technical information regarding construction and paving equipment and related products.
- Experience using a CRM or ERP system is considered an asset. NetSuite experience is preferred but not required.
- Self-motivated, dependable and able to work independently while supporting a larger sales team.
- Able to work collaboratively with multiple salespeople and departments without creating confusion regarding customer or territory ownership.
- Valid Ontario driver's licence is preferred for occasional business travel.
What We Provide
- Performance-based Lead Conversion Bonus.
- Comprehensive benefits package.
- Training on the company's equipment lines, customers and markets.
- Support and mentorship from experienced equipment sales, service, parts and management personnel.
- Exposure to a wide range of contractors, municipalities, construction companies and equipment customers.
- Opportunity to develop a career in the construction and heavy equipment industry.
- Potential advancement into equipment sales, account management or a territory sales position for a successful employee who demonstrates the required skills and interest.
Summary
This position is ideal for someone who enjoys talking with customers, is persistent with follow-up, is highly organized and wants to build a career in sales without immediately being responsible for managing a full sales territory.
The successful candidate will play an important role in ensuring Johnstone Brothers Equipment Corp. remains consistently connected with its customer base, identifies opportunities earlier and provides its sales team with a stronger and more organized pipeline of qualified opportunities.
Pay: $50,000.00-$65,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Dental care
- Disability insurance
- Extended health care
- Paid time off
- Vision care
Work Location: In person
