Sales Engineer - SDR

The Sales Development Representative is an important role within the sales team for creating new opportunities with prospect companies that are unfamiliar with ifm solutions that can help their business improve. This is an entry-level sales position to develop valuable sales skills for prospecting and qualification of sales opportunities. Qualified opportunity leads are then passed to an Account Manager to complete the sales process.

This position reports to the Midwest Regional Sales Manager, and is responsible for generating leads in that territory. SDRs who have held this position for two years are fully trained and eligible for promotion to higher level sales roles in the organization.

Position Responsibilities

• Research companies to learn about their business model and the people who they could potentially interview
• Create a compelling message to gain interest from a prospect by leveraging communication tools such LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Vidyard and e-mail to increase success rates
• Prepare for discovery meeting to learn about the company and the right questions to understand if an opportunity exists and if ifm has a potential solution to recommend
• Conduct discovery meetings over phone and virtually using MS Teams to facilitate the initial interview and share valuable content from our website
• Determine potential and hand-off qualified opportunities to the sales team

Candidate Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Technical or Business
• 0 to 2 years of professional sales or industrial automation experience, preferred
• Good organization and time management skills required
• Desire to work in a collaborative office environment to learn from others and develop skills at a faster pace
• Some travel to local manufacturing plants will be required to improve industry knowledge and ifm sales process
• Willingness to reside in the Oakbrook, IL area for the first year of training before transitioning to our Grand Rapids, MI location

Company Description

ifm efector, inc., headquartered in Malvern, PA, has earned the distinguished Top Employers certification for 2020 and 2021 in North America for our outstanding people practices. ifm efector is the US subsidiary of ifm electronic gmbh, a global company with over 9,055 employees in 150 countries serving 160,000 customers worldwide. Our core business is the development and production of sensors and controls for industrial automation and process applications.

"Exceptional success can only be achieved when the employees believe in the company and when they know that they are treated in a fair and honest way." -ifm philosophy

ifm is a privately-owned company whose success can be attributed to three guiding principles: Employees First, Customer Loyalty, and Safe Growth. With a supportive and collaborative culture, ifm welcomes new ideas and fosters honest communication and trust. Distinguished by their individual capabilities and contributions, every employee plays a role in the success of our business, so that we may provide innovative solutions to meet and exceed our customer's business needs. ifm is dedicated to ensuring employees are engaged, enabled, and empowered to realize their full potential in a positive, diverse, and inclusive work environment filled with meaning and a shared sense of purpose.

"We have amazing products, but best of all we have amazing people. This is a core value of our success." - Roger Varma, CEO, ifm efector

ifm efector, inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability or handicap, marital or protected veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other category protected under applicable federal, state or local law.