Account Manager - Specialty Coffee

At La Colombe we believe that being a good coffee partner means more than just offering a great cup of coffee! The Wholesale Team continually supports the city's most dedicated chefs, restaurateurs, cafes, offices and hotels to ensure they can offer consistent, high quality coffee programs.

The Account Manager plays a crucial role in this mission, offering day-to-day support in a variety of ways to their clients. They proactively own a portfolio of new and legacy clients, developing positive relationships, to help the market achieve an outstanding customer experience. Account Managers share their passion for coffee and hospitality when they train and educate client's staff on a routine basis in line with specialty coffee techniques. They visit clients, providing preventative maintenance and quality control on a regular cadence.

The Account Manager will display perseverance under pressure, eagerness to undertake difficult tasks, and operate with a sense of urgency. At La Colombe, we believe no task is too small, and the Account Manager should embody this in all client interactions.

*Eligible candidates must be located in the New York City area.

Retention & Relationship Building

• Respond to client inquiries and internal requests by identifying client concerns, researching issues and troubleshooting, working with appropriate departments to develop a resolution, and communicating an action plan to client and appropriate personnel promptly.
• Anticipate and proactively take charge of difficult situations to deliver industry leading customer service at every stage in the customer experience by providing thorough, reliable, and timely solutions in line with La Colombe's resources.
• Implement strategy to grow business of the assigned client list by introducing new products, improvements in quality, and marketing efforts.
• Support key clients and potential new client events in your local market. All event requests should be discussed with the Market Sales Manager and Regional Sales Director to determine our level of participation.
• Establish relationships with chefs, managers, and hospitality staff to develop your network.
• Use data resources to monitor and track potential churned accounts.
• Communicate in a kind and professional manner during every interaction with clients.
• Actively work to become the first point of contact for clients.
• Make sure all Grand Accounts have the proper La Colombe Coffee branding in their coffee stations.

Training, Education & Quality Control

• Assist with onboarding of new clients by providing comprehensive in person hands-on training, product presentations, and continuing education for groups of all sizes.
• Train baristas, service staff, and management on brewing techniques, extraction theory, hospitality professionalism, and equipment troubleshooting.
• Participate in coffee cuppings with your local team on a regular cadence to ensure quality standards are consistently maintained.
• Regular visits to our wholesale partners in accordance with the Account Touch Metric to assess coffee quality, equipment needs and make recommendations for improvement where necessary.
• Log all routine and emergency client communication and visits into the CRM system, providing information on updated contacts, follow ups required from visit, product quality and customer interactions.
• Email a recap of visits to leadership at Grand Accounts. The email should highlight the current state of the coffee program and recommend any action to improve the coffee program.
• Maintain inventory of emergency coffee and key equipment parts for routine maintenance at local market lab or office.
• Utilize training QR codes to make sure properties in your book of business have access to them on their machines.

Technical Support

• Assist technicians and sales team with installations and minor technical service requests.
• Build relationships with each of your accounts so you can be the point person for any approved equipment upgrades or equipment swaps with existing customers. Equipment swaps should always be completed with La Colombe or Third-party technician.
• Conduct routine visits of clients to calibrate coffee, set recipes and perform preventative maintenance on coffee equipment.
• Troubleshooting larger equipment issues, liaising between La Colombe's technical service team and client to ensure timely and effective servicing of coffee equipment.
• Small parts ordering, delivery and installation

Requirements:

• Passionate about coffee and hospitality
• Professional communication skills, both verbal and written
• Enjoys interacting with clients and building relationships
• Eagerness to grow as a coffee professional. Ability to give and take critical feedback to grow
• Occasionally work non-traditional hours and weekends
• Ability to lift, move, and/or carry coffee equipment up to 30 - 40lbs
• Ability to stand, bend, reach, and twist
• Ability to travel locally (50 miles) and regionally (50+ miles), (70%, 30%, respectively)
• Client facing role approximately 90% of the time.
• Ability to travel for 2 consecutive nights once or twice per month
• Valid driver's license

Preferred Qualifications:

• 2 years' experience in the hospitality, foodservice, or specialty coffee industry
• Proven track record of success in your professional career
• Strong interpersonal skills; ability to interact with all levels of internal and external contacts
• Must be a self-starter, a quick learner, and will have the ability to efficiently manage various high-priority responsibilities while keeping management informed
• Fine dining, specialty coffee, or 4-star hotel experience
• Experience using sales tools (Salesforce, Hubspot, etc.)
• Experience with Microsoft (Excel, Word, PowerPoint)
• Problem-solving, technical acumen, and desire to learn