Sales Account Manager

Korn Ferry; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 100,000 - 175,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Performance bonuses

Professional development opportunities

Job summary

A leading global consulting firm is seeking a Sales Account Manager to manage and develop relationships with restaurant chain accounts and foodservice distribution clients. This role focuses on driving sales growth, developing strategic plans, and ensuring customer satisfaction through best-in-class solutions. Ideal candidates will have over 5 years of sales experience, strong communication skills, and proficiency in Microsoft Office. The position may require approximately 20% travel.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 5 years of sales or business development experience.
• Excellent interpersonal and presentation skills are required.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Manage a portfolio of accounts and develop new business.
• Drive growth and profitability through strategic planning.
• Build robust account plans and monitor business pipeline.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Presentation skills

Communication skills

Sales strategy development

CRM proficiency

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Sales Account Manager – Foodservice and Restaurants

Base pay range: $100,000.00/yr - $175,000.00/yr

The role of the Sales Account Manager will primarily focus on managing the portfolio of assigned accounts and developing new business within the prioritized restaurant chain account, foodservice distribution, and other ingredient/industrial opportunities. This person will protect and strengthen the long‑term relationships with customers, connect with customer stakeholders to bring a solution‑oriented approach through best‑in‑class sales practices to create value for both the client and the company.

Primary Responsibilities

Commercial Leadership

• Develop a holistic sales plan for the assigned book of business to consistently deliver volume and profit margin targets, as well as the annual Key Performance Indicator (KPI’s) objectives as assigned.
• Drive growth of customer and channel profitability and create action plans where needed to ensure delivery of monthly & annual KPIs for overall business health.
• Provide fact‑based and qualitative updates to the leadership team on business performance and key customer initiatives.
• Leverage investments in digital tools and CRM as the central hub for customer intelligence to deepen customer insight, business performance, key engagements, customer segmentation and targeting, and the balance between existing and prospective customers by Account Manager.
• Develop new business within prioritized market segments, tracking new customer opportunities.
• Own accurate demand forecast for assigned customers grounded in key insights and data centric approaches.

Category & Customer Development

• Customer Value Proposition Enhancement – deepen understanding of the Customer Journey to better deliver value‑add solutions to unmet needs and collaboration opportunities. Deliver persuasive, professional, data‑driven business development strategies tailored to specific channels and customer segments.
• Cultivate and deepen solid professional relationships with existing clients and build successful engagement plans to develop new customers from prioritized leads.
• Monitor the development of new business pipeline within defined areas of focus.
• Build robust Account Plans for prioritized clients that clearly outline customer objectives and strategic alignment with clients capabilities and focus areas.
• Serve as the conduit for marketplace insights, including customer and competitor perspectives, to help proactively address business needs and capitalize on opportunities.
• Partner with Customer Service & Solutions Team to deliver best in class service levels, and maximize revenue delivery.

Revenue Management Excellence

• Deliver the achievement of specific sales goals including business unit volume and margin plans.
• Collaborate with Finance and Strategic Sourcing Partners to understand impact of oil and commodity markets as means to deliver category expertise to the customer.
• Cultivate strong competitive and market intelligence to negotiate pricing decisions within an established management framework.
• Develop revenue growth impact through product and customer mix decisions – upselling and cross‑selling to grow margin contribution.
• Ensure proactive management of contract renewals and lead recommendations for Customer RFP and negotiation strategies.

Contribute to a Winning Culture

• Drive a capability development mindset that ensures continuous growth, balancing technical and leadership skill to develop.
• Responsible for bringing the full enterprise to bear in support of the customer – always taking accountability to drive positive outcomes.
• Embody an innovation and continuous improvement mind‑set to business processes & resource allocation, continually looking for ways to increase customer impact and performance.
• Live the Company Values.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Minimum of 5 years of sales or business development experience, or relevant experience.
• Excellent interpersonal and presentation skills.
• Strong communication skills, written and verbal.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office.
• Approximately 20% travel, or as much as necessary.
• Off hours and weekends work as needed.