Position title: Brompton Account Representative
Hours per week: 40 (flexible)
Reporting to: Ed Rae, North American Agent
Salary: $35,000 – $45,000 p.a., depending on experience/qualifications (Health Insurance and expenses additional)
About the Company
Brompton Bicycle Ltd manufactures in its factory in West London a bike that is generally considered the best portable bike there is. The Company is privately-owned, successful and profitable, and we have good relationships with our distributors and users.
Sales have grown steadily from the outset, and the Company won Queen’s Awards for Innovation and International Trade respectively in 2010. About 2/3 of output is exported, with Germany and the Netherlands historically being the largest overseas markets, but sales are growing strongly everywhere, especially in North America, Asia and other parts of Europe.
Demand often exceeds our ability to supply, though great efforts have been made to raise output over recent years; production stood at 26,000 bikes last year, but should exceed 30,000 this year.
Job purpose
The Brompton Representative, in conjunction with our existing North American Agent, represents a critical link between our UK-based HQ and our markets in Canada and the United States of America. The Brompton Representative is to support the North American Agent in his two principal roles: acting as intermediary between Brompton and our dealer base in those territories, and presenting our brand to consumers at national levels; the former will include dealer relations, technical support and acquisition; the latter will include market monitoring, customer consultation, co-ordinating with cycling organisations and exploitation of opportunities to present the brand to national audiences.
This is a wide-ranging brief and the candidate will need to be well organised, a self-starter and have some experience of sales and/or marketing. He/she should have a good knowledge of the bicycle industry, and mechanical competence is essential. The role will be flexible but will certainly require effective communication and IT skills, a good deal of transcontinental travel, and a willingness to spend some time in the UK every year for training and reporting.
Responsibilities
To identify, liaise with and visit prospective customers;
To maintain and develop relationships with existing customers via meetings, telephone calls and emails, gaining a clear understanding of their businesses and requirements;
Identifying and resolving customer queries
Advising on forthcoming product developments and discussing special promotions
To offer remote technical support on product maintenance and in-house training for sales staff and, especially, mechanics;
To represent the company at trade exhibitions, events, demonstrations and seminars in North America;
To communicate new product and service opportunities, special developments or feedback gathered through field activity to the relevant colleagues in the UK; to be communicated as appropriate.
To communicate product news and sales/marketing opportunities from colleagues in the UK to trade customers in North America;
To act as a contact for press and PR enquiries in North America;
To act as a contact for enquiries in North America from cycling organisations and in response to any other advantageous opportunities that present themselves (viz. film and television appearances);
To conduct or support, as directed by Brompton, market research amongst trade;
To complete and submit reports as directed by Brompton/the North American Agent.
Knowledge/Qualifications Required
Passport
Driving licence
Skills/Experience Required
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, to include experience of report writing
Attention to detail and accuracy in all communications
Good working knowledge of Windows-based packages (particularly Word, Excel and PowerPoint)
Problem solving and lateral thinking
Experience of the bike industry
Mechanical aptitude
Personal Qualities
The successful candidate will also be:
Well organised, keen and able to learn about the company quickly
Passionate about working with people and empathetic to their needs
A good team player, able to build rapport with people at all organisational levels
Able to work on own initiative
Customer-focused
Culturally aware and able to interface well with customers and consumers from around the world
Able to work and thrive in a small-company environment that can be hectic
Professional in both their attitude and manner
Flexible in terms of variety of tasks asked of post holder and of hours worked (social engagements with dealers/distributors, weekend bike fairs, etc.); overseas travel will occasionally be required.
To apply, please send your resume, together with a letter application, to: michelle [at] bromptonbicycle [dot] com.
Should you have any queries regarding the role, please contact Ed Rae, North American Agent: 503 236 1313 or 503 703 7626
Application deadline: 25th September 2011
Interviews: Expected to take place at Interbike Show, Las Vegas where possible.
