Innovance, Inc.

Innovance is the holding company for a family of four, 100% employee-owned, Minnesota-based manufacturing companies (Lou-Rich, ALMCO, Panels Plus, Mass Finishing, Jorgensen). Our mission is to lead, nurture, and grow a team of industrial manufacturing companies committed to making our OEM customers’ products better.

About Panels Plus

Panels Plus designs and manufactures panelizing equipment for constructing wall panels, floor cassettes, and associated subcomponents. Panels Plus products help those in the off-site, modular, and prefabricated building industries.

Position Description:

Panels Plus is looking for a dynamic Sales Account Manager to drive growth through a dual-focus strategy: high-impact direct sales and the strategic management of our sales representatives. In this role, you aren’t just selling equipment; you are the primary architect of customer experience, ensuring our clients have the services and technical support they need to succeed.

As an Account Manager, you will own the full sales lifecycle. You will be responsible for hunting new business, nurturing a robust existing portfolio, and leading a team of reps to meet and exceed revenue targets. You will serve as the critical link between our customers and our internal departments, ensuring every promise made is a promise kept.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Sales & Growth: Directly manage and service existing accounts while aggressively pursuing new business to meet or exceed established sales goals.

- Focus on understanding and fulfilling specific customer needs to obtain new orders and expand our historical sales footprint.

Distribution Network Leadership:

- Develop and maintain a robust distribution network.

- Lead distributor training initiatives and work directly with their sales staff to move complex projects forward.

Product Expertise & Consulting: Become a subject matter expert on all Panels Plus products, serving as a trusted resource for both long-term customers and new prospects.

- Research the competition by gathering real-time marketplace intelligence on pricing, products, and delivery schedules.

Operational Excellence & Reporting: Maintain high visibility with leadership by providing weekly work plans and call reports.

- Rigorously manage the CRM, ensuring all leads, accounts, and opportunities are accurate and up to date.

Product Expertise & Consulting: Become a subject matter expert on all Panels Plus products, serving as a trusted resource for both long-term customers and new prospects.

- Research the competition by gathering real-time marketplace intelligence on pricing, products, and delivery schedules.

Customer Advocacy & Problem Solving: Function as a liaison between customers and internal departments to ensure complete satisfaction.

- Resolve customer complaints by investigating issues, developing creative solutions, and collaborating with the management team to ensure a positive outcome.

Professionalism & Versatility: Conduct all duties with diplomacy, sensitivity, and tact, ensuring the company is always portrayed in a positive light.

- Provide backup support for service, equipment installations, or other positions as needed to ensure team success.

Requirements & Travel

Travel Commitment: This role requires 30–50% travel.

- Travel includes customer site visits, trade shows, equipment installations, and service calls etc.

- Must be comfortable traveling via both driving and commercial airlines.

Collaboration Skills: Ability to work with high level of independence while maintaining strong collaborative ties with other departments.

Core Values: Behavioral alignment with the Innovance mission and values is essential.

Qualifications

- Two-year associate degree with a minimum of 4 years Sales/Customer Service experience or minimum of 2 years of Building/Customer Service experience.

- Excellent communication skills verbal and written.

- PC skills including ERP, CRM, MS Outlook, MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, MS Access, and Intranet/Internet are a plus.

- Construction experience a plus.

- A strong ability to set and prioritize goals.

- Mechanically inclined.

- Excellent problem-solving skills and strong ability to multi-task.

- Ability to work with the customer to solve issues in a fair & friendly way.

- Must be able to work responsibly with limited supervision and know when to bring others into customer conversations.

This description reflects the principal functions of the job for the purpose of job evaluation. It should not be construed as a detailed description of all work requirements of the job, nor should it be construed as giving exclusive responsibility for every function described.

Innovance Training Requirement:

- Applicable training will be completed by following the syllabi (Human Resources, Safety, IFS - Timeclock, IFS - Navigation, etc.) for each new hire and that will be verified by the Employee Orientation & Job Qualification form within the first 60 days of employment.

- Applicable training will be completed by following the Planning, Customer Service, and Inventory Training Matrix (F4400-040). Effectiveness of Planning, CS, Inventory training guidelines will be determined by employee knowledge and demonstration of learned concepts. Additional training after the first several weeks of on-the-job training will be determined by the Supervisor in preparation for operating on their own as needed. Any follow-up training will be evaluated and provided at the 60 day review or as deemed necessary for the position.

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to use hands or fingers and talk and hear. The employee is frequently required to bend, stand, walk, sit and reach with hands and arms for extended periods. The employee is required to climb (stairs/ladders) or balance and stoop, kneel, crouch, twist, or crawl. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus. Occasionally required to move heavy objects and equipment weighing up to 75 lbs; pushing or pulling objects weighing up to 100 lbs.

Work Environment:

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those and employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Americans With Disabilities Act:

If you are a qualified individual with a disability, you have a right to request that the Authority make reasonable accommodation in order to help you accomplish your work, which must still be performed in all essential functions.