Career Area:

Sales

Job Description:

Your Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc.

When you join Caterpillar, you're joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do – but also about each other. We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don't just talk about progress and innovation here – we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live. Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it.

Job Description

The purpose of this Industry Sales Director role is to provide Caterpillar’s regional leadership in the Eastern region of the United States in terms of Construction Industries products and aftermarket sales. This is achieved by leading field-based sales, application, and product support teams who develop deep understanding of customer needs and achieve the Business Plan for Machines and Parts.

Reporting directly to this position are Managers of Sales. The incumbent reports to the North America VP of Sales & Marketing.

The position interacts with a large pool of internal customers including Solutions Groups, Machine Business Divisions (MBD) leadership and strong working relationships are needed with the Distribution, the Pricing and the Marketing support organizations found in the Industry Groups and MBDs. External contacts include dealer and customer management in the territory in scope. The incumbent establishes and monitors general policies and guidelines for projects under his/her control to ensure specific, management goals are met, and desired results are achieved.

Key responsibilities typically include:

• Achieving the Business Plan for machines, parts and work tool sales. Responsible for sales execution and managing budgeted sales variances. Accountable for achieving the market share and parts sales goals in their territory, and for the territorial product profitability view for their industry.
• Providing the direct sales and marketing interface to the market. The primary functions of this Group are delivery of product/application expertise, dealer sales execution support, and product support to dealers and customers. Responsibility for implementation of go-to-market strategies puts this role directly as the lead in achieving the Sales Business Plan
• Responsible to deploy Industry sales execution resources within region. Field coverage will be aligned and, where possible, co-located with the regional internal Distribution organizations, and as a rule of thumb, resources will be forward deployed as far as commercially feasible.
• The development of application expertise will be facilitated by this role. The Industry Sales Director will direct field resource time to be spent with customers, accompanying and supporting dealer representatives on selected calls. It is incumbent to this role to develop the people in this way and add value to the dealer in these visits.
• Another element of the sales execution role will be working with dealers to construct sales forecasts. Limited variance funds will also be deployed at the discretion of this group and package support will be coordinated by these resources to achieve business plan goals.
• Rounding out the primary role of the Industry Sales Director is product support. Technical service reps provide support to dealers in identification, communication and resolution of product issues. In addition to administering warranty and goodwill, these reps support dealers with customers, working with the various Product Groups. Additional product support resources in the Solutions group will work with dealers to understand life cycle cost and the delivery of after-sales products and services, key to creating and maintaining customer loyalty.

Skill Descriptors:

Customer Focus:

Knowledge of the values and practices that align customer needs and satisfaction as primary considerations in all business decisions and ability to leverage that information in creating customized customer solutions.

• Facilitates creation of the 'right' products and services to resolve customer business issues.
• Fosters strong customer relationships via delivery on commitments, open communication, and on-going feedback/improvement.
• Advises others on creating customer focused environments in various scenarios.
• Anticipates customer needs, focusing efforts to proactively meet needs and exceed customer expectations.
• Measures and observes customer satisfaction levels to ascertain and implement service improvement alternatives.
• Communicates and models the criticality of customer focus as an organizational strategy.

Industry Knowledge:

Knowledge of the organization's industry group, trends, directions, major issues, regulatory considerations, and trendsetters; ability to apply industry knowledge appropriately to diverse situations.

• Educates others on own organization in terms of the industry - its market position, niche (if any), etc..
• Compares and contrasts the latest developments and emerging issues in the industry.
• Raises coworkers' awareness of industry standards, practices and guidelines.
• Assesses how regulatory and reporting requirements apply to own organization.
• Explains the development of industry segments - trends, consequences, key issues.
• Discusses and anticipates industry-specific cycles and associated considerations.

Decision Making and Critical Thinking:

Knowledge of the decision-making process and associated tools and techniques; ability to accurately analyze situations and reach productive decisions based on informed judgment.

• Analyzes and discusses alternatives with multiple stakeholders.
• Monitors developments in critical-thinking and decision-making models for potential use by organization.
• Coaches others in decision-making models, processes, and practices.
• Anticipates special issues and considerations for effective decision-making during a crisis.
• Shares experiences regarding optimal timing and circumstances for refraining from or making decisions.
• Differentiates between content and context of a decision.

Negotiating:

Knowledge of successful negotiation concepts and techniques; ability to negotiate successfully across the organization and with external vendors and clients in a constructive and collaborative manner.

• Ensures negotiators have awareness of complementary yet diverse interests.
• Successfully completes significant negotiations, both internal and external.
• Details the risks of negotiation breakdown from each party's perspective.
• Protects own position, while demonstrating willingness to achieve win-win.
• Identifies similarities and differences in position and assesses impact on discussions.
• Detects and addresses lack of progress or a stalemate.

Relationship Management:

Knowledge of relationship management techniques; ability to establish and maintain healthy working relationships with clients, vendors, and peers.

• Oversees key client reviews to assure service and relationship satisfaction.
• Coaches others in the value, issues, and methods of client partnering.
• Collaborates with clients in the pursuit of common business objectives.
• Maintains status information on major developments in client or partner environment.
• Works directly with clients to discern business trends and their implications.
• Fosters a climate conducive to establishing positive working relationships with outsiders.

Value Selling:

Knowledge of the principles and practices for selling products, technology and services; ability to provide overall product/service 'value' and to differentiate support offerings that address clearly understood customer needs.

• Delivers bottom-line proof with credible third-party validation that proposed solutions deliver benefits of greater value than the competition.
• Researches customer's industry, strategies, environment and plans to support their business needs.
• Builds loyalty and 'partner versus vendor' relationships by helping customers understand, diagnose and resolve their complex business issues.
• Provides analysis tools to identify, quantify and qualify business issues and solution value components to help clients assess alternative business proposals.
• Provides highly solicited mentoring to various organizations regarding all aspects of 'value selling'.
• Presents compelling business cases for very complex business issues, shifting proposed solution focus from cost to overall value (benefits/payback).

Additional responsibilities typically include:

• As the direct interface with customers, this role also provides Market Awareness to the enterprise. In addition to forecasts, customer trends and competitive actions are examples of relevant information to the rest of the enterprise. Additionally, the collection of specific VOC can be provided or supplemented by request through the respective Industry Solutions Group.
• Implementation of Industry strategies and marketing plans will extend beyond the primary functions listed here. These roles will therefore support Distribution Services management in the execution of channel strategies essential to success in their Industry including Rental and Used strategies. They will also identify specific improvements needed in dealer capabilities necessary to meet their industry’s customer expectations and work with Distribution Services to help develop those capabilities in the dealers. Execution of local promotional tactics would also be delivered in this role.
• The ultimate goal of this group is capturing the greatest portion of customer spend in their assigned territory. Promoting the full suite of Caterpillar and Dealer products and services is required. Additional dedicated resources may be placed in the field where increased emphasis is appropriate.

Travel and location considerations:
The position will require significant travel estimated at least 50% of the time.

Location:

The position is based in Peoria, IL and domestic relocation will be provided.

Basic Qualifications:

• A college or university degree or equivalent experience.
• 10+ years of sales execution and marketing experience, with a good working understanding of the needs of customers, dealers, and product groups.
• Strong business acumen and leadership skills (previous supervisory experience).
• The interpersonal skills to successfully influence others and achieve goals across the Caterpillar and Dealer organizations.

Top Candidates Will Also Have:

• Knowledge of machine, application and work tool products and related services.
• Full time 6 Sigma experience.
• Previous experience working in a business-to-business sales organization.

Employee benefit details:

Our goal at Caterpillar is for you to have a rewarding career. Our teams are critical to the success of our customers who build a better world. Here you earn more than just a salary because we value your performance. We offer a total rewards package that provides benefits on day one (medical, dental, vision, RX, and 401K) along with the potential of an annual bonus. Additional benefits include paid vacation days and paid holidays (prorated based upon hire date).

Final details:

Please frequently check the email associated with your application, including the junk/spam folder, as this is the primary correspondence method. If you wish to know the status of your application – please use the candidate log-in on our career website as it will reflect any updates to your status. For more information, visit caterpillar.com. To connect with us on social media, visit caterpillar.com/socialmedia

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Posting Dates:

August 30, 2024 - September 13, 2024

Any offer of employment is conditioned upon the successful completion of a drug screen.

EEO/AA Employer. All qualified individuals - Including minorities, females, veterans and individuals with disabilities - are encouraged to apply.

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