The Role
Sell Protolabs products and services to assigned accounts, retain and grow revenue, execute account-based initiatives, perform deep discovery, forecast pipeline, document activity in CRM, and collaborate with pod/SAM/KAM teams to resolve customer issues and drive strategic growth.
Summary Generated by Built In
Be yourself at Protolabs
Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. We are an equal opportunity employer, and we are committed to building a diverse team that feels they are valued in the workplace. So do you feel you do not meet every single requirement but still intrigued? We encourage you to still apply! You can help make our company even better. We do not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, age, mental or physical ability, or any way you represent yourself. We strongly believe diversity makes for more successful teams.
Why Protolabs?
We are the leaders in digital manufacturing. We hire doers, makers, and creative thinkers who tackle our roles with an entrepreneurial spirit. Our culture is centered around meaningful work that brings new and innovative products to market at unprecedented speeds. We are a diverse team that comes from all walks of life and take pride in our team who is smart, genuine, humble, and passionate about what we do. It’s our people who fuel our creativity and make our culture feel like home.
Join our team as an Sr. Sales Specialist!
This is a hybrid role being onsite in Maple Plain, MN on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
The Sales Specialist is responsible for selling products and services and acting as a point of contact with their assigned accounts and opportunities. This role will be working as a team with other resources to focus on customer satisfaction, retention of customers, and growing revenue. This role will do this, by working on assigned projects from their accounts to determine the best solution for the customer.
You Will
- Build and maintain communications with internal partners within the strategic teams on customer projects within Protolabs, as well as navigate internal networks to help resolve customer pain points and execute strategic initiatives
- Leverages existing customer relationships to generate customer referrals to the account manager with influencers & decision makers; by gaining knowledge, insight and understanding of customer business priorities, strategies and needs. Align Protolabs products to the customer corporate strategies by deep questioning, industry insight and customer knowledge.
- Navigates complex business interactions with customers. some may be done jointly with the SAM/KAM team members or leadership.
- Retain and grow revenue from the customer account base through opportunity follow up, shipment follow ups, and colleague referrals. Execute design reviews, impromptu product showcases/presentations as well as participate in customer sales presentations either virtually or in person.
- Determine customer needs and motivations in terms of; timeline product needs, budget, and decision-making authorities/influencers. Understand and uncover customer mapping and decision-making processes within complex large corporations.
- Work with the pod team to understand the customers’ product, their company, their role and buying patterns to support anticipated customer needs. Help to gain an understanding of the customer needs then use that detail to help shape the strategy for growing wallet share and revenue with customer organizations.
- Report findings back to the account manager and pod team on insight gained.
- Works with the pod team to execute account-based initiatives with customer interactions. helping with execution on strategic initiatives in partnership with the SAM/KAM team members and leadership
- Achieves and or exceeds key performance indicators & other metrics to deliver growth targets and revenue.
- Maintain customer information by documenting & tracking engagement and interactions within Customer Resource Management software application- (CRM / Salesforce). understanding of usage of other sales tools, DOMO, Hubspot, highspot, etc..
- Accurately forecast, manage, and advance opportunities through the various sales stages. Understand future pipeline of programs and projects with the customers at a high level.
- Demonstrates company values, complies with policies, and completes all assigned training initiatives. Additionally, participates in company events as well as showcases good company stewardship
- does deep discovery and align customer needs with Protolabs products & services, with unique problem-solving skillset for complex customers and customer issues.
- services assigned however the individuals should have a deep understanding of all of our products as well as an understanding of the appropriate resources for those products.
- Will work with a range of projects with varying complexities and services offered.
What It Takes
- Bachelor’s degree in business or related field or equivalent education and/or experience.
- 5+ years of sales experience and / or 4 years of Protolabs selling experience.
- Consistent high performer with proven record of growing sustainable customer business partnerships.
- Deep knowledge of industry and Protolabs products, fitment to the customers they are service
- Knowledgeable to advanced level of business principles, theories, and concepts
- Expert level of products, offering an advanced level of markets and accounts
- Apply company policies and procedures to resolve a variety of problems. Determines actions based on guidelines, and modifies actions and methods as required with an emphasis on creative problem solving and out of the box thinking.
- Good grasp of how to develop and drive customer growth through projects, programs and agreements.
- Ability to build and sustain internal relationships across Protolabs' ecosystems.
- Ability to build and maintain relationships with customer coaches and champions.
- Strong experience with CRM tools for managing the sales process and forecasting to provide further insight into other department stakeholders.
- Thorough understanding of all of Protolabs’ service lines, they understand the manufacturing product life cycle, and how to connect customer needs with Protolabs’ capabilities in our full-service offering.
- Strong culture promoter who embodies Protolabs values.
- Proficient presentation and communication skills, both verbal and written inside and outside the organization.
- Technical aptitude for engaging in high-level conversations related to manufacturing and engineering.
- Working understanding of customer value propositions and articulates how Protolabs’ solutions can improve their customer’s corporate initiatives and business objectives.
- Self-motivated and results-driven, with a dedicated focus on achieving/ exceeding sales goals.
- Proficient problem solving and negotiation skills for project requirements, customer documentation conversations, and financial conversations.
- Utilizes advanced knowledge of product/service offerings and developing proficiency of markets & accounts.
Education and Experience:
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
What's In It For You!
- We offer a competitive total compensation package
- In addition, we offer competitive benefits including but not limited to:
- Health Insurance: Traditional OR High Deductible plan
- Flexible Spending Accounts
- Health Savings Account (including employer contributions)
- Dental and Vision
- Basic and Supplemental Life Insurance
- Short-Term and Long-Term Disability
- Paid caregiver leave
- You will receive PTO + Wellness Hours + Holiday Pay + Volunteer Hours
- 401k with company match and immediate vest
- Employee Stock Purchase Program with a 15% discount
- And More!
Proto Labs maintains ITAR-compliant operations in all of our United States based facilities. Due to ITAR regulations, this role is only open to U.S. Citizens, lawful permanent residents (green card holders) or foreign nationals granted refugee or asylee status. Individuals with temporary visas (e.g. E, F-1, H-1, H-2, L, B, J, TN or OPT) are not eligible for hire in this role.
Proto Labs, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer
Physical Demands:
While performing the essential duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit; use a computer keyboard, monitor and mouse, telephone and printer; reach with hands, and arms, talk, see and hear. The employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, stoop or kneel and must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.
Work Environment:
Indoors (A/C); nonsmoking; the majority of this job function is performed in an office setting requiring normal safety precautions. However, there may be job duties that require the employee to spend time in the manufacturing areas exposed to machinery and noise; eye protection occasionally required. Occasionally works in outside weather conditions. Occasionally works near moving mechanical parts and in high, precarious places and is occasionally exposed to wet and/or humid conditions, fumes or airborne particles, toxic or caustic chemicals, risk of electrical shock and vibration. The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet to moderate.
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in business or related field or equivalent education/experience
- 5+ years of sales experience and/or 4 years of Protolabs selling experience
- Proven record of growing sustainable customer business partnerships (consistent high performer)
- Strong experience with CRM tools and sales/forecasting (Salesforce, DOMO, HubSpot, Highspot)
- Deep knowledge of Protolabs products, manufacturing service lines, and technical aptitude for manufacturing/engineering conversations
- Proficient presentation and communication skills, verbal and written
- Ability to work hybrid onsite in Maple Plain, MN (onsite Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)
- ITAR eligibility: must be U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident (green card), or refugee/asylee (temporary visa holders not eligible)
- Ability to occasionally lift/move up to 25 pounds and work in manufacturing areas when required
Protolabs Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Protolabs and has not been reviewed or approved by Protolabs.
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Healthcare Strength — Medical, dental, and vision options are broadly available and described as good to excellent. Additional protections like short- and long-term disability and life insurance bolster the overall package.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — A starting PTO allotment plus paid holidays, along with added wellness and volunteer time, is emphasized, with some roles noting PTO growth over tenure. Paid caregiver leave appears in postings and supports flexibility for life events.
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Retirement Support — A 401(k) with company match and immediate vesting is offered, supporting long-term savings. This foundation is frequently cited alongside core financial benefits as a strong element of total rewards.
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The Company
What We Do
Protolabs is the world's fastest digital manufacturing source for rapid prototyping and on-demand production. The technology-enabled company produces custom parts and assemblies in as fast as 1 day with automated 3D printing, CNC machining, sheet metal fabrication, and injection molding processes. Our digital approach to manufacturing enables accelerated time to market, reduces development and production costs, and minimizes risk throughout the product life cycle. 3D Printing Our 3D printing service offers a wide selection of materials and technologies to create prototypes and end-use parts with complex geometries and detailed features. With tight process controls, careful design reviews, and extensive quality monitoring, we ensure precise and repeatable 3D-printed parts, every time. CNC Machining We use 3- and 5-axis milling along with turning to machine parts from commercial-grade plastics and metals. Our online quoting system and automated manufacturing process enable us to ship parts within 24 hours, helping customers accelerate development and reduce time to market. Sheet Metal Fabrication Protolabs is an industry leader in quick-turn sheet metal parts for both prototyping and low-volume production. Our digital approach to manufacturing enables us to fabricate sheet metal parts in as fast as 5 days. Additionally, we can support our customers’ development efforts with component assemblies, several finish options, and screen printing. Injection Molding Our injection molding service offers two options—prototyping and on-demand manufacturing—which provide customers a tooling solution that aligns with their project’s requirements. It’s used for quick-turn prototyping, bridge tooling, and low-volume production of up to 10,000+ parts in 15 days or less.
