Technical Sales & Customer Service Representative

Inland Empire Paper Company, operating in Millwood Washington since 1911, strives to be the industry leading custom ground-wood paper supplier through highly efficient production methods, first-in-class customer service, and market defining employee capabilities.

Job Description

The Technical Sales and Customer Service Representative is a key liaison between the customer, mill, and production staff to learn, understand, and appropriately represent the interests of customers and mill staff. This role directly reports to the Customer Service Supervisor with a thin dotted line to the Sales Manager. 

Responsibilities:

• Develop and maintain suitable travel and mill site schedules to cultivate effective relationships. 
• Provide industry information and innovation to Sales and Production. 
• Provide clear, articulate, and accurate communication to/from the sales manager, customer service, mill staff, and customers to further enhance direct relationships with customers. 
• Become a trusted technical support resource known for being reactive to issues that affect a solution and proactive with root cause discovery. 
• Report to mill and sales/customer service all issues relating to proper service of paper customers, such as quality, delivery, transportation, communication, etc.
• Deliver timely written reports on customer visits, documentation of customer experiences, development of responses, and formulation of action plans as needed along with follow-up on plans; set up and monitor trails; provide accurate and timely expense reports with appropriate logs to support time and travels.
• Must maintain and demonstrate high ethical standards. 
• Perform customer service responsibilities at mill the as required and needed. 

Qualifications

• Customer equipment knowledge desired; printing - heat set, coldset, digital, Flexo, Roto. grade specifications & applications.
• Open to new ideas; recognize and present new business opportunities; able to investigate and cold call potential new customers
• Warehouse experience with awareness of proper product handling; ability to investigate transit damage; some exposure to customs/international shipments preferred
• Ability to travel up to quarterly, as needed to interface with customers and work occasional nights or weekends as customer requirements dictate
• Ability to understand and follow all safety & physical requirements of both customer sites and mill site
• Excellent problem solving / trouble shooting skills
• Exceptional communicator – verbal and written; excellent computer skills
• Effective time and territory management
• Strong interpersonal skills and able to work on cross functional teams; easily form robust business relationships with customers, mill staff, sales, warehouses, logistics, planners and other technical reps
• Positive attitude with pride and understanding in the products represented
• Other factors and skills which contribute to a successful performance, are the following: good listener, calm approach to challenging situations, focus on facts, be able to present and implement solutions to mitigate costs, ability to follow through on tasks & effectively manage multiple priorities, good negotiator, excellent organizational skills
• College degree and/or higher education preferred.
• Knowledge of manufacturing, print and/or converting desired.
• Experience with marketing and social media desired.

Additional Information

• The Technical Sales/Customer Services Representative is a salaried position. The pay range is $60k to $75k per year, depending on experience and education.
• Inland Empire Paper Company continues to offer excellent benefits to employees and their families including medical, dental, vision, life insurance, 401(k) retirement plan, 13 paid holidays per year and 2 weeks of vacation to start (pro-rated first year based on hire date). 
• IEP is a smoke-free and drug-free (including cannabis-free) facility.
• All job offers and subsequent employment are contingent upon a drug screen and criminal background check.
• Your application to this posting is deemed to be your consent to the collection, use and necessary disclosure of personal information for the purposes of recruitment. Privacy of all applicants and the confidentiality of personal information are respected. Thank you to all applicants for your interest and effort in applying for this position; however, only candidates selected for interviews will be contacted.

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