ShortlistFox
← Back to results

Outside Sales Representative - Industrial

Cogentanalytics

Peoria, Illinois

  • Onsite
  • Full Time
Apply

About the role

The Opportunity 

Our client is seeking a driven, consultative B2B salesperson who can open doors, build a qualified pipeline, win new industrial business, and grow strategic customer relationships.  This is not a passive account-maintenance role.  The successful candidate will combine disciplined prospecting with solution selling and strategic account development, helping customers improve reliability, reduce downtime, solve maintenance challenges, and make better industrial-fluid decisions. 

What You'll Do

Win New Business 

  • Research and target industrial, manufacturing, fleet, municipal, construction, metalworking, and other qualified B2B prospects. 
  • Create new conversations with maintenance, operations, purchasing, plant leadership, and executive decision makers. 
  • Build and maintain a qualified pipeline from first contact through discovery, proposal, follow-up, negotiation, and close. 
  • Use phone, email, LinkedIn, referrals, networking, field visits, and industry events to create opportunities. 
  • Grow & Protect Strategic Accounts 

  • Develop trusted-advisor relationships with key customer stakeholders and decision makers. 
  • Identify cross-sell, upsell, reactivation, and multi-location growth opportunities within existing accounts. 
  • Conduct structured account reviews and proactively surface customer risks, needs, and expansion opportunities. 
  • Coordinate technical support, product trials, conversions, inventory programs, and custom solutions with internal resources. 
  • Protect retention, margin, service quality, and long-term relationship value. 
  • Sell Solutions, Not Commodities 

  • Lead discovery conversations focused on equipment reliability, downtime, maintenance cost, application challenges, inventory, and total cost of ownership. 
  • Translate Comet Supply’s technical expertise, responsiveness, local support, custom blending, and industrial-fluid capabilities into measurable customer value. 
  • Know when to bring in internal technical expertise and coordinate the right resource to advance the opportunity. 
  • Own the Sales Process 

  • Maintain accurate contacts, notes, opportunities, next steps, and pipeline stages in HubSpot. 
  • Follow up consistently on quotes, proposals, trials, and customer commitments. 
  • Prepare professional proposals and support pricing, contract, and margin discussions with leadership. 
  • Provide reliable weekly pipeline and activity visibility and participate in sales/KPI reviews.
  • What We're Looking For

  • 5+ years of successful B2B sales, business development, or strategic account experience preferred; industrial, manufacturing, MRO, distribution, lubricants, chemicals, or technical sales experience is especially relevant. 
  • Demonstrated ability to prospect, create opportunities, and move business from a cold or dormant relationship to signed customer. 
  • Consultative selling skills: able to ask strong questions, diagnose needs, communicate value, and earn credibility with operational and executive stakeholders. 
  • Strong follow-through, organization, time management, and personal accountability. 
  • Comfort with CRM systems; HubSpot experience is preferred, but disciplined CRM use is more important than a specific platform. 
  • Strong communication, presentation, negotiation, and relationship-building skills. 
  • Ability to work independently in the field while collaborating with leadership, operations, inside sales, and technical resources. 
  • Bachelor’s degree in business, Sales, Marketing, or a related field preferred, or equivalent relevant experience. 
  • Valid driver’s license and ability to travel regularly to customer and prospect locations.