Inside Sales Business Development Representative

As the largest pureplay adhesives company in the world, H.B. Fuller’s (NYSE: FUL) innovative, functional coatings, adhesives and sealants enhance the quality, safety and performance of products people use every day. Founded in 1887, with 2023 revenue of $3.5 billion, our mission to Connect What Matters is brought to life by more than 7,000 global team members who collaborate with customers across more than 30 market segments in over 140 countries to develop highly specified solutions that enable customers to bring world-changing innovations to their end markets.

Primary Responsibilities

1. The position is responsible for being able to quickly identify the customer’s need and/or business opportunity in order to direct the customer to the correct department or sales group within the company by applying sales skills to the conversation providing exceptional service to the customer.
2. Develop long-term customer relationships, creating value through proactive account management by understanding and meeting the customers’ business needs.
3. Establish and record buying trends, purchasing criteria for assigned accounts.
4. 30-50 outbound calls/day.
5. Proficiency in English and Afrikaans.
6. Record all customer conversations in CRM.
7. Meet the targeted levels of customer meetings (telephone meetings).
8. Manage sales at existing accounts as well as develop new business.
9. Ensure customers view HB Fuller as a partner by providing professional sales representation and excellent service.
10. Gain customer support and acceptance by engaging in technical discussions to determine requirements and expectations, then effectively explore product and service solutions.
11. Influence and gain alignment with both external and internal key decision makers and influencers at all levels of an organization.

Identify, develop and close new business using tools such as LinkedIn, to include:

1. Cold calling, market research and lead sourcing.
2. Through verbal and written communication, determine business requirements and expectations.
3. Identify decision maker(s), influencers and develop relationships.
4. Develop, enter and update opportunity process in CRM.
5. Partner with H.B. Fuller Account Managers to ensure closure of new business, including pricing recommendation and contact development.
6. Partner with H.B. Fuller Account Managers to coordinate customer site visits to run line trials and/or audits.

Listening and Customer Discovery: Follows a structured discovery process, collecting relevant customer information as received that supports a potential sale.

Communication and Presentation: Confidently delivers critical information to customers by contextualizing to customer specific needs, in a variety of mediums: in-person and remote.

Negotiation and Value Selling: Attempts to acknowledge and defer price-based conversations and ensures that customer understands value before discussing financial terms.

Influence and Stakeholders Management: Links offering to generic organizational-level goals and limits interactions to stakeholders that are willing to share information, but not necessarily the decision makers.

Business Acumen and Economic Drivers: Uses a standardized one-size-fits-all commercial approach regardless of industry or situation and holds misconceptions about customer’s business model or industry.

Data Analysis and Tools Management: Resists the use of analytical tools in daily activities, such as SFDC, FLIP and Power BI, and gravitates towards traditional approaches instead.

Digital Dexterity: Relies on digital systems to supplement missing information, uses platforms for prospecting and nurturing relationships, modulates self-conduct to suit a collaborative engagement in a digital meeting channel, looks for opportunities where digital systems can aid to accomplish sales tasks.

Technical Knowledge: Sometimes demonstrates lack of confidence on talking to customers about key application, substrates, equipment processes and H.B. Fuller products and services.

Minimum Requirement

1. Bachelor’s degree in a technical/mechanical or marketing field (or equivalent experience).
2. 0-2 years professional sales experience, directly managing and supporting accounts and multiple technical product lines/families. Preferably in the industrial chemical industry.

H.B. Fuller is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and proud to have created a collaborative culture where employees around the world are seen, heard, and respected. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability, or marital status or status as a protected veteran, or any other legally protected classification.