Account Manager, Sales

ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES

Customer Relationship Management

• Establishing relationships with seed breeders and dealers, in-house and independent agronomists, key growers, and any key stakeholder who influences the business in the area.
• Discovering the preferred path to sales, consistent with Gowan SeedTech’s capabilities.
• Building support, rapport, and earn trust with seed breeder and dealer management.
• Developing local champions for Gowan products among seed breeder and dealer sales representatives.
• Targeting key growers who are influential in their area to increase the impact of your sales efforts.
• Facilitating the transfer of retail chemical sprays to seed treatment, working alongside relevant PCAs or chemical retail businesses.
• Identifying and addressing any areas of friction around decisions or rules made by commodity groups, shippers, and others who influence buying.

Sales Responsibilities

• Growing a reputation for Gowan SeedTech as a company dedicated to: building the best seed treatment products; and bringing value to growers to solve current and future problems.
• Spotting the primary sales opportunities in your region and creating a plan to increase market share.
• Being the main advocate for GST’s products in your region and educating customers on the solutions our products provide.
• Acting as the primary point of contact for all questions and issues relating to GST’s activities in your region.
• Building a complete picture of the use patterns and market share of GST’s and competitor products, along with untreated acres or crops in your region.

P&L Responsibility

• Budgeting and managing sales related expenses such as business promotion, customer entertainment, travel, product demos, communications, and more.

EDUCATION

• Minimum Education: BS Degree or above in Ag. Econ/Business, Plant Science, Weed Science, Entomology, Plant Pathology, or Agronomy with 3-5+ years field experience in crop protection industry.
• Preferred Education: An advanced degree in one of the areas listed above.

EXPERIENCE/SKILLS

• The ideal candidate for this position will have:
• 5+ years of field experience in the crop protection industry, and familiarity with the vegetable seed industry.
• Extensive experience working in all the following cropping systems – onions (required), leafy greens, brassicas, cucurbits, fruiting vegetables and other specialty vegetable crops.
• Experience in the Columbia Basin geographic area.
• A thorough understanding of the US crop protection industry.
• Strong inter-personal skills to enable communication with fellow colleagues and customers, including seed breeder/dealer sales reps and their regional management, university stakeholders, independent and in-house agronomists, as well as the greater Gowan SeedTech team.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with experience in translating detailed scientific information into practical decision-ready information for non-technical clients.
• A self-starter mindset and the ability to take initiative and conduct themselves in a professional manner with some direct supervision.