The Key Account Manager leads territory planning, customer engagement, and business development activities to drive sales growth and strengthen customer loyalty. This position identifies and pursues new business opportunities, develops compelling value-based solutions, negotiates commercial agreements, and coordinates internal resources to successfully onboard and support customers.
The role serves as a trusted advisor to key accounts by conducting regular business reviews, identifying opportunities for operational improvement, and managing customer relationships at multiple stakeholder levels. Success requires strong sales acumen, financial analysis skills, project management capabilities, and the ability to travel extensively while working collaboratively across technical, commercial, and operational teams. Preferred candidates will have experience selling technical products and managing complex customer accounts in industrial or manufacturing environments.
Additional Information:
- This position will require at least 50% travel.
- Job duties involve contact with customers, which may include minors; and access to cash and other payment methods, electronic equipment, personal information, store merchandise and other items of value, and such access may be supervised or unsupervised. The Company therefore has determined that a review of criminal history is necessary to protect the business and its operations and reputation and is necessary to protect the safety of the Company’s customers, staff, employees, vendors, contractors, and the general public.
- This position is eligible for health benefits, such as medical, dental and vision coverage, Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs), disability coverage, security, retirement and saving benefits. Additional benefits include a generous time away from work package, including personal leave, paid parental leave, medical leave, vacation, and holidays.
- Full-time regular employees not covered by a collective bargaining agreement are eligible for:
- 0-10 paid holidays throughout the calendar year, including 1 floating holiday
- In the year of hire, 3-13 paid vacation days, prorated based on hire date, including a minimum of 3 frontloaded paid “flex” days which can be used for unplanned absences, such as sick days.
- Non-exempt employees who work within the state of Washington will accrue paid sick leave at an accrual rate of 1 hour per every 40 hours worked
- Employees who work within the city of Seattle, Washington will accrue paid sick leave at a rate of 1 hour per every 30 hours worked
- 4 workweeks (on a 12-month rolling calendar period) of paid Military leave for employees who are absent from work due to service in the uniformed services
- 5 days of paid Bereavement Leave following the death of an immediate family member and 3 days of paid Bereavement Leave following the death of any other family member
After one year of employment, two weeks of Paid Parental Leave following the birth, adoption, or placement of a foster child
TERRITORY PLANNING & ACCOUNT ENGAGEMENT PLANNING
Build strong territory and account plans with multiple paths to success
Complete key customer Relationship Maps with clear engagement objectives
Identify both the Technical and Commercial actions required to deliver the plan, then lead the internal teams to execute on aligned priorities
Capture competitive intelligence and build a plan to deliver superior value to customers
NEW CUSTOMER ACQUISITION & GROW AT EXISTING ACCOUNTS
Advance new business opportunities through the selling cycle, and document progress in CRM.
Develop a quantified value proposition that respond to customer’s top priorities and differentiates Sherwin-Williams from other coatings suppliers.
Establish clear product performance and service expectations that are agreed upon by both the customer and key internal stakeholders.
Agree internally on commercial terms and present that proposal to business leaders using financial proformas that reflect all requested investment and key commercial terms, including pricing.
Present target proposals in a compelling way that address all customer stakeholder’s needs
Negotiate then reach a mutually beneficial relationship and secure new business as agreed upon with leadership.
If requested by the customer and agreed upon internally, capture the negotiated agreement in a contract and ensure that it received full internal approval prior to customer execution
Organize cross-functional internal teams to smoothly onboard the customer
STRENGTHEN CUSTOMER LOYALTY
Strengthening existing customers relationships and loyalty through the following work
Identify “value selling” opportunities to create growth and efficiency in our customers’ operations and communicate these internally in a compelling way to both operations teams and senior management.
Monitor the on-going relationship formally through Periodic Business Reviews that engage appropriate cross-functional customer and internal stakeholders to identify opportunities to strengthen our customer value proposition.
Monitor the on-going relationship informally through regular touchpoints with all key stakeholders. Ensure that there is a Stakeholder Engagement Plan that connects the internal account support team with the appropriate customer contacts.
Lead internal Account Reviews to ensure that the internal account team is positioned to provide value-added support to the customer.
Manage risks and issues that may arise by stabilizing the customer and ensuring that a corrective action is completed.
Execute pricing action as needed to respond to changing economic conditions.
Minimum Requirements:
- Must be at least eighteen (18) years of age
- Must be legally authorized to work in the country of employment without needing sponsorship for employment work visa status now or in the future
- Must have a high school diploma or equivalent
- Must have at least one (1) year experience in sales
- Must be able to travel as required by the position
- Must have at least one (1) year experience with Microsoft Office Suite, including building succinct, compelling PowerPoint presentations
- Must have at least one (1) year experience with travel management software and expense reporting
- Must have the ability to read and interpret financial reports, particularly income statements
Preferred Qualifications:
- Have a Bachelor’s Degree in Science, Math, Economics, Engineering, or Business-related field
- Have experience selling technical products, e.g. coatings, chemicals, equipment.
- Have experience managing large complex customer relationships
- Have Project Management experience
- Have Lean Six Sigma experience
- Have Coatings Industry knowledge
- Have experience building financial business cases and documenting in pro formas
- Have experience navigating financial reporting software and analyzing financial performance