New Business Developer

About the Role

This is a professional sales position responsible for improving Sysco’s market position and achieving financial growth by executing long-term strategic goals. The role prioritizes advanced analytics and lead generation while leveraging Sysco’s Salesforce platform, and negotiates contracts to secure new business. Using a team-selling approach, the Local New Business Developer engages a cross-functional team to create strategies that meet prospect needs, fosters relationships, and transitions accounts to the sales force during onboarding.

Responsibilities

• Deliver the agreed-upon local new business plan in alignment with the region’s financial goals.
• Work with regional sales leaders to develop a comprehensive business development strategy.
• Leverage advanced analytics insights to prioritize opportunities and develop a local new business regional strategy.
• Prioritize intel opportunities recommended by other sales team members (processed through Sysco Salesforce with leadership approval).
• Build creative and effective sales plans to capitalize on targets below $5M in annualized revenue, focusing on prospect opportunities such as large TRS, multi-location, and LC2, identified by advanced analytics.
• Leverage the expertise of a cross-functional sales team to address prospects’ unique concerns, build trust, and shorten sales cycles.
• Coordinate the proposal process for local contracts (LC2) that address client needs, concerns, and objectives.
• Collaborate with the sales team to expand business development efforts, including assisting other team members in securing key accounts to achieve the annual profit plan.
• Review weekly, monthly, and quarterly sales objectives and results for target accounts, and prepare action plans where improvement is needed.
• Participate in continuous training and education opportunities on key areas/skillsets (e.g., basic SC-training, business development certifications, and executive business development training).
• Gather information on emerging market and foodservice industry trends to understand the competitive landscape and position Sysco for increased effectiveness in securing new business.
• Stay current with developments in the field through participation in seminars, workshops, and reading publications.
• Develop strong working relationships with brokers, distributors, and foodservice industry peers, and actively engage in the foodservice community.
• Adapt to new challenges quickly and thrive in a fast-paced learning environment.
• Seek opportunities to improve by applying feedback from others.
• Ensure accurate entry and management of prospect account data within Sysco Salesforce.
• Identify opportunities for promotions, additional services, and distribution avenues to increase sales.
• Present to and consult with senior-level management on trends in the foodservice industry.
• Attend sales meetings, food shows, customer events, and provide feedback.
• Stay current with Sysco’s value-added offerings and technology solutions, including customer-facing reporting tools.

Requirements

• Minimum: High School diploma or GED, and 3+ years of relevant sales experience in a business-to-business professional sales environment, with 2+ years of proven track record in new business development.
• Preferred: Bachelor’s degree in a related field or equivalent educational level.

Skills

• Solid analytical problem-solving skills, including familiarity with analyzing reports and deriving insights from data.
• Ability to express information in terms of profit and loss, food cost, and expense ratios.
• Strong financial acumen and ability to plan and execute business plans.
• Flexible; readily accepts change and is open to new ideas.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work with and influence a variety of key stakeholders.
• Strong communication skills; ability to effectively communicate with internal and external teams.
• Ability to understand and manage compliance with contracts.
• Ability to learn the use of proprietary CRM tools for planning and forecasting sales growth.
• Demonstrated ability to deliver against deadlines and produce high-quality results (accuracy, thoroughness).
• Proficient in Microsoft Applications Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook).
• Excellent organizational and project management skills, including the ability to execute multiple initiatives simultaneously.
• Business and restaurant operations acumen to manage sophisticated customers.
• Demonstrated experience in building trust with prospective customers and securing new business.
• Demonstrated skills in consultative selling, networking, and negotiations.
• Proactive, self-directed, with the ability to structure a weekly schedule for success.
• Understanding of marketing principles, product lines, ordering procedures, and Sysco’s credit terms.