SALES COORDINATOR – Mandarin Speaking – Fresh Produce
Company: Monco Produce Inc.
Location: Etobicoke, Ontario
Department: Sales
Reports To: Sales Manager / Management
Employment Type: Full-Time, Permanent
Work Location: In Person
Compensation: $21.00–$23.50 per hour, depending on experience, plus performance bonus
ABOUT THE ROLE
Monco Produce is looking for a highly organized, energetic and customer-focused Sales Coordinator to support our sales team and help ensure customer orders, pricing, inventory and service requests are handled accurately and efficiently.
The primary purpose of this position is to allow our salespeople to spend more time selling and developing customer relationships by taking ownership of the customer service, order administration, inventory coordination and follow-up required to service their accounts effectively.
This is a fast-paced role in the fresh produce industry. Product availability, customer requirements and priorities can change quickly throughout the day. The successful candidate must be comfortable multitasking, communicating with multiple departments and taking ownership of issues until they are resolved.
The Sales Coordinator will work closely with sales representatives, customers, purchasing, warehouse, operations, quality assurance and accounting.
Mandarin proficiency is required because this role regularly communicates with Mandarin-speaking customers, suppliers and business partners. Strong professional English communication skills are also required.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Sales & Customer Support
- Provide day-to-day support to sales representatives and their customer accounts.
- Respond professionally and promptly to customer inquiries, order requests and product questions.
- Prepare and send quotations, price lists, product information and sales materials.
- Enter customer orders accurately and promptly.
- Monitor orders from entry through picking, shipping and delivery.
- Follow-up on outstanding customer requests and ensure issues are resolved.
- Communicate changes, shortages, substitutions, delays and other issues to customers and sales representatives.
- Maintain positive and professional working relationships with customers.
- Follow up after customer problems or complaints to ensure the issue has been properly resolved.
- Escalate significant customer complaints, pricing issues or service problems to the appropriate salesperson or manager.
- Help maintain customer-specific information, including pricing, products, pack requirements, delivery instructions, promotions and other account requirements.
Order & Operations Coordination
- Coordinate closely with warehouse and operations to ensure customer orders are picked and shipped correctly and on time.
- Confirm inventory availability before committing product to customers.
- Communicate special customer requirements clearly to warehouse, operations and quality assurance.
- Track urgent, special or time-sensitive orders and communicate their status to the sales team.
- Coordinate with purchasing when inventory is unavailable or additional product may be required.
- Follow up on shortages, damages, substitutions, delivery problems and other order discrepancies.
- Ensure order changes are communicated promptly to all affected departments.
- Review orders for obvious discrepancies before release, including: customer, product, pack/size, quantity, pricing, delivery or pickup date, special instructions, customer-specific requirements
- Help prevent last-minute shipping problems by proactively identifying order, inventory or communication issues.
Inventory & Lot Coordination
- Check inventory levels and communicate product availability to the sales team.
- Update lot allocations in the ERP after orders are picked to ensure the system reflects the actual lots and quantities being shipped.
- Correct lot allocations when the warehouse picks a different lot than originally assigned.
- Complete required inventory transfers and adjustments accurately and promptly.
- Follow up on inventory discrepancies and communicate concerns to the appropriate department.
- Help ensure inventory records remain accurate following customer pickups, shipments and internal transfers.
- Proactively identify aging, short-life, slow-moving or excess inventory and alert the sales team so action can be taken before product deteriorates.
- Communicate significant changes in product availability to sales representatives.
- Coordinate with purchasing, warehouse and sales when available inventory is insufficient to fulfill customer orders.
Product Information
Maintain accurate and current product information, including where applicable:
- Product descriptions
- Pack sizes
- Case weights
- Counts and sizes
- Country of origin
- Product specifications
- Pricing
- Availability
- Seasonality
- Customer-specific requirements
Assist sales representatives with product information needed to respond to customers accurately and quickly.
Pricing & Quotations
- Prepare customer quotations as directed by sales representatives or management.
- Maintain accurate and current customer pricing information.
- Ensure approved pricing is entered correctly into orders and communicated accurately to customers.
- Review orders for obvious pricing discrepancies.
- Flag unusual pricing, margins, discounts or customer requests to sales or management before proceeding.
- Help maintain customer-specific pricing and promotional information.
- Do not commit unapproved pricing, credits, discounts, substitutions or special commercial terms without authorization from the appropriate salesperson or management.
Customer Claims, Credits & Problem Resolution
- Assist in coordinating customer complaints, shortages, quality claims, returns and credit requests.
- Gather the information and documentation required to investigate claims.
- Coordinate with sales, warehouse, operations, quality assurance and accounting as required.
- Track outstanding issues and ensure they are followed through to completion.
- Keep customers and sales representatives informed regarding the status of unresolved issues.
- Escalate significant or recurring problems to management.
Administrative Responsibilities
- Maintain organized and accurate customer and sales records.
- Maintain sales files, price lists and account information.
- Assist with customer statements, invoices and account inquiries when required.
- Coordinate with accounting regarding customer account issues, credits and payment-related questions.
- Prepare sales reports, customer information and other reports requested by management.
- Assist management and the sales team with sales-related projects.
- Maintain accurate notes regarding important customer requirements, commitments and follow-up items.
- Ensure outstanding tasks are followed up without requiring constant reminders.
Sales Development Support
As time permits, assist the sales team with business development activities, including:
- Researching potential customers.
- Maintaining prospect and customer databases.
- Preparing product information and introductory materials for prospective customers.
- Assisting with customer presentations and product lists.
- Gathering information required for sales representatives to pursue new opportunities.
The primary focus of this role remains supporting existing sales activity, customers and order execution.
KEY PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Success in this position will be measured by the Sales Coordinator's ability to:
- Process orders accurately and efficiently.
- Maintain a very low level of preventable order-entry errors.
- Maintain accurate customer pricing.
- Ensure ERP lot allocations accurately reflect the product actually shipped.
- Complete inventory transfers and adjustments promptly and accurately.
- Respond promptly to customer and salesperson requests.
- Communicate order changes quickly to all affected departments.
- Follow up on outstanding problems without requiring constant supervision.
- Track customer claims and service issues through resolution.
- Identify aging, excess or short-life inventory early enough for the sales team to take action.
- Maintain accurate and organized customer and product information.
- Provide professional and friendly customer service.
- Take ownership of problems and see them through to resolution.
- Maintain strong communication between sales, purchasing, warehouse, operations, quality assurance and accounting.
- Help sales representatives spend more of their time selling, developing customers and growing accounts.
QUALIFICATIONS
Required
- Fluent or professional working proficiency in Mandarin.
- Strong professional English communication skills, both verbal and written.
- Strong organizational and time-management skills.
- Excellent attention to detail.
- Ability to multitask and prioritize in a fast-paced environment.
- Comfortable working with numbers, prices, quantities, weights and customer orders.
- Strong computer skills.
- Working knowledge of Microsoft Office, including Excel and Outlook.
- Ability to communicate effectively with customers and internal departments.
- Ability to work independently while also functioning effectively as part of a team.
- Strong follow-through and willingness to take ownership of assigned responsibilities.
- Positive attitude and willingness to learn.
Preferred
- 1+ year of experience in sales support, sales coordination, customer service, administration, food distribution or a related position.
- Experience in the fresh produce, food distribution, grocery or wholesale industry.
- Experience with ERP, inventory management, order management or CRM systems.
- Experience handling customer orders, inventory, pricing or logistics.
- Experience communicating with customers and suppliers in a business environment.
Experience is preferred, but we are willing to consider a strong, motivated candidate with less experience who demonstrates excellent organization, communication skills and the ability to learn quickly.
Who Will Do Well in This Position
This role is well suited to someone who:
- Likes being busy and managing several priorities at once.
- Notices small errors before they become larger problems.
- Is comfortable following up repeatedly until something gets done.
- Does not assume someone else will take care of a problem.
- Communicates clearly with both customers and coworkers.
- Remains organized when priorities change.
- Understands that fresh produce is time-sensitive and problems sometimes need to be resolved quickly.
- Enjoys helping a sales team operate more efficiently.
- Takes pride in providing excellent customer service.
- Is comfortable working in an entrepreneurial, fast-moving business environment.
COMPENSATION
Starting wage: $21.00–$23.50 per hour, depending on qualifications and experience.
The position is also eligible for a performance bonus based on individual and company performance.
Performance considerations may include:
- Order accuracy
- Pricing accuracy
- Inventory and lot accuracy
- Responsiveness
- Customer service
- Follow-through
- Communication
- Reliability
- Overall contribution to the effectiveness of the sales team
Candidates with strong fresh produce, food distribution, ERP, customer service or sales coordination experience may qualify for compensation toward the upper end of the range.
WORK ENVIRONMENT
- Full-time, permanent position.
- In-person position at our Etobicoke location.
- Fast-paced fresh produce distribution environment.
- Regular interaction with sales, warehouse, operations, purchasing, quality assurance and accounting.
- Priorities may change throughout the day based on customer requirements, inventory availability and operational needs.
- Regular working hours: Monday to Friday (possibly Sundays), 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m
- Some flexibility to work additional hours during busy periods may occasionally be required.
Pay: $21.00-$23.50 per hour
Expected hours: 40.0 – 44.0 per week
Application question(s):
- Have you reviewed and understand the compensation for this role?
Work Location: In person
