Technical Sales Manager Senior - Architectural, Commercial, Specialty

Acuity Inc. (NYSE: AYI) is a market-leading industrial technology company. We use technology to solve problems in spaces, light and more things to come. Through our two business segments, Acuity Brands Lighting (ABL) and Acuity Intelligent Spaces (AIS), we design, manufacture, and bring to market products and services that make a valuable difference in people’s lives. 

We achieve growth through the development of innovative new products and services, including lighting, lighting controls, building management solutions, and an audio, video and control platform. We focus on customer outcomes and drive growth and productivity to increase market share and deliver superior returns. We look to aggressively deploy capital to grow the business and to enter attractive new verticals. 

Acuity Inc. is based in Atlanta, Georgia, with operations across North America, Europe and Asia. The Company is powered by approximately 13,000 dedicated and talented associates. Visit us at www.acuityinc.com. 

Team & Position Overview

The pre-sales solutions team is on a mission to create exceptional service experiences for customers and partners, thus turning opportunities into orders for ABL. Guided by our unwavering commitment to excellence, integrity, and collaboration, our mission as a pre-sales team is to drive order growth and foster enduring relationships with our customers. We strive to understand and anticipate our customers' needs, delivering solutions that turn opportunities into orders. Our proactive and customer-centric approach aims to inspire trust, exceed expectations, and set the stage for a successful sales journey. Our success comes from ensuring that our customers quickly, easily, and accurately get the information they need to secure an order. 

The Technical Sales Manager's mission is to help increase our order capture rate through impeccable service and ensure a clear path to order activation. This team understands that capturing an order is not merely a transaction but an opportunity to create a lasting impression, foster trust, and cultivate meaningful relationships through high-level empathy and project-level understanding.

Primary Responsibilities Include

Improving Sales Effectiveness

• Foster strong relationships and consistently deliver exceptional experiences.
• Aim to cultivate customer loyalty, ultimately securing the customers' trust and winning their orders.
• Leverage your technical expertise, comprehensive product knowledge, and solution-oriented mindset to drive the successful conversion of opportunities into orders.
• Collaborate closely with the Sr. Specification Sales Manager to identify and nurture potential opportunities, actively contributing to the growth of the project pipeline through designated tools.
• Support the creation of no-charge sample orders, working closely with customer support associates to ensure timely delivery of high-quality samples.
• Diligently monitor and oversee the specification registration process, ensuring seamless management of registrations.
• Proactively engage with agents to ensure they effectively manage their registrations, while swiftly addressing any conflicts in partnership to resolve them amicably.

Providing Specialized Support

• Facilitate customized product and design requests, utilizing advanced tools such as the Product Configurator and system resources to streamline bill of material and submittal generation (RFA request-for-assistance) as required. 
• Serve as a dedicated, trusted, and reliable point of contact, readily available to address and fulfill all pre-sales needs of both agents and customers, ensuring exceptional support and seamless communication throughout the process.
• Extensively train on ABL products, gaining comprehensive knowledge to address feasibility inquiries, ensuring our customers make informed decisions when selecting products for their unique requirements. 

Cultivating Customer Relationships

• Engage with customers, providing additional opportunities to build rapport, establish trust, and understand their challenges.
• Embody the "we'll take care of it" attitude. 

Continuous Improvement

• Provide proactive insights, address potential obstacles, and contribute to tailored solutions that meet unique customer needs.
• Continuously strive for improvement by actively identifying and addressing evolving pre-sales needs and fostering a team culture of collaboration.

Qualifications

• 6-8 years of related customer-centric experience supporting sales by collecting, accessing, and interpreting data to provide insights to customers and partners.
• Available to regularly travel and work in the field with customers. While travel varies based on the individual and the dynamics in the region, expect to have a 25% travel commitment.
• Ability to learn and understand the ABL organization, business strategies, and industry specifics.
• Excellent problem-solving and critical thinking skills are required.
• Superior communication and interpersonal skills are required.
• Demonstrated success in remaining calm and focused in fast-paced, stressful situations.
• A bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience and certifications. 

The Ideal Candidate

Naturally Empathetic

• The ability to step into someone else's shoes and walk a few miles can make all the difference between someone succeeding in this position and someone who struggles. 
• Producing the best solutions by truly understanding the customer's needs. 

Just Take Care of It Attitude

• Exhibiting a willingness to own a question or problem and not stop until the customer is satisfied. 

Technical and Process Expertise

• Knowledgeable of relevant business processes, systems, and tools.
• Anticipating what could impact the customer experience at any point and understanding how we can resolve it. 

Customer Advocacy

• Customer Success team members must be strong, natural advocates focused on improving the customer experience, which can sometimes be more difficult than it sounds. 

Trusted and transparent advisor

• With your expert knowledge, you can find the answers, solutions, and reasons why.
• Work with your partners to craft a transparent, honest, and empathetic message between agencies and customers. 

Business Acumen

• Demonstrate an elevated level of business acumen, organizational, and interpersonal skills. 

Pace

• Multitask and work independently, without guidance, in a dynamic, demanding environment.
• Act with urgency to solve the customers' problems. 

Empowered

• Lead, drive, and achieve results and solve problems.
• Lead projects or steps within broader projects.

The range for this position is $83,300.00 to $149,900.00. Placement within this range may vary, depending on the applicant’s experience and geographic location. Acuity offers generous benefits including health care, dental coverage, vision plans, 401K benefits, and commissions/incentive compensation depending on the role. For a list of our benefits, click here.

We value diversity and are an equal opportunity employer.  All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regards to race, color, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, ethnicity or national origin, disability, pregnancy, religion, covered veteran status, protected genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.  

Please click here and here for more information.   

Accommodation for Applicants with Disabilities:  As an equal opportunity employer, Acuity Inc. is committed to providing reasonable accommodations in its application process for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans. If you have difficulty using our online system due to a disability and need an accommodation, you may contact us at (770) 922-9000.  Please clearly indicate what type of accommodation you are requesting and for what requisition.  

Any unsolicited resumes sent to Acuity Inc. from a third party, such as an Agency recruiter, including unsolicited resumes sent to an Acuity Inc. mailing address, fax machine or email address, directly to Acuity Inc. employees, or to Acuity Inc. resume database will be considered Acuity Inc. property. Acuity Inc. will NOT pay a fee for any placement resulting from the receipt of an unsolicited resume. 

Acuity Inc. will consider any candidate for whom an Agency has submitted an unsolicited resume to have been referred by the Agency free of any charges or fees. This includes any Agency that is an approved/engaged vendor, but does not have the appropriate approvals to be engaged on a search. 

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