Gourmet Food Sales Associate - San Francisco Bay Area

As a key member of our rapidly growing organization, The Gourmet Food Sales Associate ultimately acts as the face of our company by delivering outstanding customer service and building strong relationships. He or she will be responsible for selling products for distributor to restaurants and caterers, hotels and retail, establishments or individuals at place of business by performing the following duties.

Job Responsibilities

• Sales Associates will adapt the process of cultivating and producing sales revenue through the development and growth of new sales and by increasing sales with existing accounts.
• Compiles lists of prospective customers for use as sales leads, based on information from newspapers, business directories, industry ads, trade shows, Internet Web sites, and other sources.
• Travels throughout assigned territory to call on regular and prospective customers to solicit orders, or talks with customers or by phone.
• Displays or demonstrates product, using samples or catalog, and emphasizes salable features.
• Quotes prices and credit terms and prepares sales contracts for orders obtained.
• Estimates date of delivery to customer, based on knowledge of own firm's production and delivery schedules.
• Prepares reports of business transactions and keeps expense accounts.
• Works with inside sales representatives to keep account activities and literature up to date.
• Tracks stock levels.
• Enters new customer data and other sales data for current customers into computer database.
• Develops and maintains relationships with purchasing contacts.
• Investigates and resolves customer problems with deliveries.
• Mentors with Senior to obtain institutional knowledge concerning products, processes and systems.
• Closes sales by building rapport with potential account; explaining product and service capabilities; overcoming objections; preparing contracts.
• Expands sales in existing accounts by introducing new products and services

Qualified applicants should possess:

• One to two years of related experience in restaurant, food sales, or professional catering
• High energy and enthusiastic
• Candidates must live in the assigned geographic sales area
• Ability to manage multiple, concurrent projects and initiatives
• Outstanding verbal and written communication skills
• Excellent organizational skills with the ability to handle and prioritize multiple projects
• Self-starter. Must ask questions and learn new skills quickly on the job
• Driven, team player that is motivated to take responsibility and ensure successful outcomes across activates
• Ability to work under tight deadlines with short turnarounds in a fast-paced working environment
• College Degree desired but not required
• Past experience working as a Chef highly desired
• High Energy and enthusiastic

Education/Experience:

Degree in Culinary Arts or related field.A minimum of 2 years of experience in sales function. A minimum of 2 years of experience in food distribution.Experience working in a fast-paced environment.

Language Ability:

Bilingual in English/Spanish a +.Ability to read, analyze, and interpret sales data and trends.Ability to respond to common inquiries or complaints from customers or members of the business community.

Math Ability:

Basic math skills with addition, subtraction and multiplication. Ability to apply concepts such as fractions, percentages, ratios, and proportions to practical situations.

Reasoning Ability:

Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions. Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagram form and deal with several abstract and concrete variables.

Computer Skills:

To perform this job successfully, an individual should have advance level of expertise with Microsoft Word and Excel.Knowledge of, JDE, & other sales programs.Must be able to operate common office machines.

Work Environment:

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

The Chefs' Warehouse (chefswarehouse.com)