Area Sales Manager Life Cycle Services

Krones FBL (France, Belgium, Luxembourg) is a subsidiary of the Krones Group, which was founded in Germany and is now a leading international player in the production, sales and servicing of machinery and even complete factories for the beverage & liquid food industry worldwide.

The Group is a global employer of more than 18,500 employees. In Krones FBL today there are about 150 employees who handle Krones’ activities in France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Krones Group is the global market leader in its industrial sector and is expected to grow even further, with a clear focus on sustainable, eco-friendly solutions. At Krones, we are working on a better tomorrow and helping to save our planet for future generations.

To expand the Life Cycle Services (LCS) sales team at Krones FBL, we are currently looking for a (f/m/x) Area Sales Manager Life Cycle Services (ASM LCS)

As ASM LCS you are responsible for a portfolio consisting of some large key accounts to which you sell change parts, spare parts , second-hand machines, trainings, maintenance contracts, services, consumables, and upgrades for the entire Krones installed base (IOS). The ASM plays a key role in the customer relation from the initial contact, over the finetuning of the needs, the writing of the contract, to the final acceptance and payment of the investment. He/she will also maintain and develop the overall customer relation with the different stake holders at each customer. Therefore, he/she can rely on the support of a strong Project Management and Back Office located in respectively Louvain-la-Neuve and Germany, After Sales Managers, Customer Care Managers, and a complete service team with experienced technicians. The ASM will take up this mission and fulfil it with Krones’ high-quality standards in mind, to realize and exceed the defined commercial goals (positioning, growth, revenue, …) and continuously increase customer satisfaction.

Position

• You build strong alliances with existing customers by helping them to understand and identify their needs, to jointly draw their technical roadmap and by proposing them Krones’ tailor-made, innovative and / or out-of-the-box solutions;
• You proactively scout for leads and opportunities within the assigned area and nurture and strengthen the relationships with existing as well as dormant customers to finally integrate them in our active customer community;
• You are responsible for the execution of the defined sales strategy by monitoring KPI’s and managing key priorities;
• You work closely with specialists at Krones AG Head Quarters in Germany as well as with experts at Krones FBL, to analyse your customer’s needs and to be able to submit to your customer the most appropriate, accurate, timely and complete offer for the proposed solutions;
• You creatively lead customer negotiations but at the same time monitor that all sales activities remain in line with compliance regulations and with the Krones Group sales policy;
• You ensure that all information on client visits, opportunities, installed base, … are properly and timely documented in the CRM system to drive and monitor sales execution at all times;
• You will directly report to the Head of Sales LCS of Krones FBL;
• You actively develop and maintain a network of Krones FBL/AG specialists as well as of external stakeholders and experts, for keeping abreast of evolutions and innovations either on the different Krones’ machines or within our industry. Therefore, you visit regularly the HQs of Krones AG as well as the production plants in Germany;
• You follow up on trends and tendencies in the market of industrial bottling lines and related machines and actively engage in industry exhibitions and conferences to foster Krones’ brand presence.

Your Profile

• Commercial and project management experience in an industrial environment (Food & Beverage) is essential in this role, as well as a strong technical background;
• You hold a master or a bachelor degree with a technical orientation;
• If you do not have knowledge about Krones’ technology, you are willing to take a deep dive into our world and familiarize with all aspects of our business and our customer solutions, in order to win our customer’s trust by your technical expertise;
• You will be working out of Belgium but will be travelling in Belgium, France, the neighboring countries as well as Africa;
• You are capable to keep a broad overview of each of your projects but at the same time you are able to deep dive into technical discussions ;
• Entrepreneurship and being self-driven is part of your DNA;
• Following the larger international context in which Krones FBL acts, you must speak fluently English, and French. Knowledge of German is a big plus for accessing internal stakeholders at Krones’ Headquarters;
• Stakeholder management, thinking along with customers, maximizing the customer satisfaction, negotiating and out-of-the box thinking, give you wings;
• You have a strong focus on customer satisfaction & high teamwork abilities;
• You are proficient in SAP & Salesforce;
• You have experience in utilizing data to come up with new commercial opportunities;
• Although sometimes customers seem to rule your agenda, you are good in time and self management, remain precise and efficient and are always well organized;
• Strong communication skills (listening & understanding) and networking ;
• You are a team player and strong in building and maintaining strong and long-lasting business relationships, quickly and professionally;
• You are willing to understand and follow up on business administration & exportation processes, laws, directives, guidelines and industry standards and will use this knowledge in the writing of sales agreements.

We look forward to welcoming you in a dynamic open-minded company with a strong market position and lots of international ties. Krones FBL offers attractive working conditions and benefits, a modern working environment, and a high level of independence in the job. At Krones we value our employees and their development highly, so we offer professional and personal development opportunities both locally and within our international corporation. If you decide to join us, our team is dedicated to making you feel at ease and helping you settle-in well with a tailored onboarding program.

Are you looking for a position where you can combine your passion for technics, people and travel?

Please send your application to inge.vandeurzen@ext.krones.com with the job title in the subject line. Reaching out via LinkedIn is also an option.