Sales Representative

About the role

Description Depatie is looking for a driven, technically sharp Outside Sales Representative to own and grow our Detroit territory. This is a high-impact, field-based role for a sales professional with deep roots in fluid power, hydraulics, and/or pneumatics — someone who can walk a shop floor, speak an engineer's language, and close meaningful deals.

Responsibilities

• Territory Development & Sales Growth
• Own your territory's revenue performance — drive profitable sales growth through a consultative, solutions-based selling approach.
• Research and identify prospective customers within your geography, evaluate sales potential against Depatie's capabilities, and build strategic account plans to win new business.
• Identify, initiate, and close high-value, high-margin opportunities across new and existing accounts.
• Maintain a consistent call schedule and manage a healthy opportunity funnel from first contact through close.
• Follow up on inbound sales leads and advance them to closed-won status.
• Account Management & Customer Relationships
• Build and maintain strong relationships with engineers, procurement managers, and key decision-makers at target accounts.
• Serve as a trusted technical resource — create and deliver proposal presentations, RFQ responses, and customer training sessions.
• Promote, establish, and maintain bin/stocking programs with applicable accounts.
• Review and recommend adjustments to reserved inventory to ensure customer satisfaction and minimize stockouts.
• Create and maintain sales forecasts and revenue goals for all assigned accounts.
• CRM & Operational Excellence
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date customer and opportunity data within the Depatie CRM system (NetSuite).
• Collaborate regularly with manufacturers' representatives, product specialists, and sales management to deepen product knowledge and sharpen your technical edge.
• When applicable, participate in Depatie's Subject Matter Expert (SME) program to further develop and share expertise across the team.
• Professional Growth
• Actively pursue personal and professional development opportunities.
• Travel within the Detroit territory and beyond for customer visits, training sessions, and industry events, including occasional overnights.

Requirements

• 3–7 years of technical sales or industry experience, preferably in hydraulics, pneumatics, or fluid power systems
• High school diploma or equivalent
• Proven ability to work independently, manage a territory, and self-direct daily activity
• Strong consultative selling skills with a customer-first work ethic
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills — comfortable presenting to technical and executive audiences alike
• Solid problem-solving ability and high degree of business acumen
• Proficiency with computer-based business systems and CRM platforms
• Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously
• Willingness to travel regularly throughout the Detroit metro area and surrounding region

Qualifications

• Technical certification or associate's/bachelor's degree in a related field (Fluid Power, Mechanical Engineering Technology, Industrial Distribution, or similar)
• Hands-on experience with hydraulic system design, component selection, or application engineering
• Familiarity with NetSuite or similar ERP/CRM systems
• Existing relationships within the Detroit-area industrial, manufacturing, or OEM markets