The Inside Sales Specialist plays a significant role as the first link in the sales process. The Inside Sales Specialist will support our business by following up on leads and working directly with customers from lead inception to the close of the sale. The Inside Sales Specialist will drive leads through the sales funnel and work cross-functionally with sales, sales development technical service, and marketing to ensure a quick and accurate follow-up to customer inquiries and leads. This role is cross-functional in nature and will have a direct effect on the customer experience, particularly with small and medium-sized companies.  

Critical Deliverables: 

Lead follow-up / Selling: 

• Draft and send e-mail correspondence to customers regarding customer interest in Kerr products  

• Directly call customers to follow up on leads 

• Develop customer relationships to be seen as a “go-to” resource for customers 

• Provide pricing (in conjunction with management approval) to customers based on request 

• Close sales with customers 

• Work collaboratively to troubleshoot customer issues and cover projects when necessary 

• Ensure a smooth transition to outside sales representatives after projects close 

• Work with brokers and distributors for smaller-scale business opportunities/projects 

• Manage a territory of small “inside sales” customers 

Systems: 

• Manage all assigned leads within Salesforce.com through the sales funnel.  

• Qualify leads and assign to outside sales representatives as appropriate 

• Document all interactions with leads and log opportunities in Salesforce.com.  

• Ensure accuracy of data and opportunity size in Salesforce.com 

• Qualify and convert all assigned leads to opportunities and contacts. Determine which leads are “unqualified” in a timely manner     

• Utilize Salesforce.com to arrange samples to be shipped to customers  

Product Expertise 

• Become a functional expert on key product lines in the product portfolio across  

• Provide customers with product recommendations (in conjunction with Technical Service) that allow customers to utilize Ingredion products 

• Communicate directly with customers from lead inception to the close of the sale.  

• Interact and develop relationships with key members of the Ingredion Go-To-Market team.  

Desired behavior, personal attributes (Leader Imperatives and Competencies): 

• Push to continually drive personal and organizational results, take educated risks on business opportunities and benchmark external best practices to outperform the competition. 

• Demonstrate the ability to think strategically in terms of total business process.  

• Demonstrate experience working as part of a team with the ability to lead/supervise a team.  

• Regularly identify areas that can be improved and constructively propose new solutions that increase value and improve business performance; as well as explore multiple possibilities for tackling challenges, think “out of the box” to determine the best solution. 

• Challenge the status quo and promote bold thinking in order to create value. 

Knowledge, Skills, and Requirements: 

• 2-year college degree or equivalent with experience in a sales or customer service capacity. Food Science degree with an interest in taking on a role in Sales is a plus.  

• Demonstrated ability to manage and prioritize multiple projects. Flawless follow-up skills to ensure that projects with customers move to close. 

• Enjoys customer interaction and has a positive attitude and pleasant phone manners. Ability to be pleasantly persistent with customers.  

• Understands when to escalate customer projects to management due to internal or customer issues. 

• Excellent organizational skills. Thrives in detail-oriented work but enjoys significant cross-functional interaction.  

• Strong interpersonal skills 

• Ability to constructively interact with colleagues within the company as well as with outside contractors 

• Flexibility to handle and manage both long-term projects and short-term problem-solving needs 

• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relations in a cross-functional environment. 

• Demonstrated advanced proficiency with Windows-based software programs (i.e., Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook) and Salesforce.com, proficiency in SAP a plus.  

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Highly developed interpersonal skills with the ability to work with multiple levels within the organization.