Account Specialist

The Account Specialist drives customer satisfaction and sales growth by acting as the central contact person between the internal organization and the international customer organization.

Responsibilities
Project Management
Supports internal alignment and project follow-up during the RFQ and production series phase. Defines deliverables, planning and budget, in line with organization standards and in accordance with the business case and customer expectations. Activates and energizes internal stakeholders, including quality, procurement, engineering, logistics and finance, to win new projects. Facilitates a smooth project transition to the project management organization after contract nomination.

Part of the project team and responsible for the commercial activities, including change management, orders and contract management, within the project phases.

Leads smaller projects, prototype coordination and changes during series production. The key account manager supports when it concerns larger topics with the key accounts.

Account Management
Builds and maintains relationships with the customer through frequent contact moments, including visits, calls and emails, to improve customer satisfaction and identify business improvement opportunities. Acts as the customer expert for the internal organization.

Interacts and coordinates with the sales team and other staff members in other departments working on the same account.

Obtains information and knowledge about market developments, competitors, prices and products, and shares this information with the internal organization for forecasting, growth and business development purposes.

Quotation
Independently prepares quotations within projects and series production and prepares the negotiation and commercial realization. Is responsible for offers and deal closure with smaller customers, projects and changes.

Forecasting and reporting
Provides input to the sales manager for the forecast on a regular basis, using a forecasting module on the ERP system. Monitors and reports realized sales compared to forecast and uses the information to influence and motivate customers and key account managers to act on deviations. End-responsible for accounts receivable management.

The AS is the first point of contact for existing customers regarding improvements for running business, technical changes, crisis situations and smaller RFQs. The AS is the intermediary, or “spider in the web”, between the customer and the internal organization. The timely action of the AS must guarantee customer satisfaction.

Process improvements
Develops, maintains and improves internal administrative processes, including ERP settings and internal documentation, required to effectively serve new and existing customers as well as to support the internal organization.

Education & hard skills / Practical experiences

Minimum bachelor’s degree in Sales, Management or Economics.

Typically, 3-5 years of relevant commercial and/or commercial project management experience within a technical international B2B environment.

Knowledge of organizational processes.

Excellent communication skills, written and verbally, in English and Dutch. German is an advantage.

Knowledge of and experience with sales in an international B2B technical environment.

Analytical and problem-solving skills and resistant to change and stress.

Willingness to travel, about 10%.

Team player, able to work in multidisciplinary project teams.

Being able to understand and translate customer needs.

Good planning and organizational strengths.

Strong interpersonal and networking skills to win trust.

Multi-level and disciplinary communication skills.

Drive for results & execution

Understanding and building business documents.

Commercial DNA with winners’ mentality.

Strong negotiator and able to make decisions.

Personal skills

Authentic, adaptable, responsible, with ownership and a strong independent personality.

Good communication and presentation skills, verbal and nonverbal.

Energetic, proactive and challenging personality.

Resourceful and creative in finding suitable and/or commercial solutions.

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