New

Sales- Key Account Manager

The Sherwin-Williams Company
$108,531.02 - $140,086.17 Annually
United States, Minnesota, Minneapolis
Jan 22, 2026
About the Role As a Key Account Manager, you will: Deliver Excellence: Ensure customer quality and service expectations are consistently met, reducing complaints and enhancing satisfaction. Drive Growth: Maintain and optimize existing sales and profitability targets through strategic account management and consistent execution. Expand Opportunities: Identify and develop new business opportunities with the key account and prospective customers. This position combines strategic account leadership with team collaboration, ensuring effective execution of retention strategies and new business development initiatives. Build and maintain strong relationships at corporate and plant level with key decision-makers, purchasing contacts, and technical teams to deliver maximum customer value. Achieve commercial targets aligned with business strategies, including new business development, pricing, claims resolution, inventory control, and accurate forecasting. Serve as the primary liaison between the key account and Sherwin-Williams to ensure timely resolution of complaints, technical issues, and product performance concerns. Provide proactive feedback to Sherwin-Williams and customer paint manufacturing facilities, including coordinating technical assistance, troubleshooting, and facilitating product trials to ensure smooth operations and optimal coating performance. Collaborate with Technical Service teams to support product implementation and line trials. Develop and execute annual sales and strategic account plans in partnership with leadership and cross-functional teams. Support scale-up trials for new technologies to ensure successful market entry. Manage product complaints, coordinate resolutions, and ensure customer satisfaction through efficient communication and follow-up. Own financial performance of assigned portfolio, ensuring alignment with revenue and margin targets. Shape and execute sales strategies that align with broader business goals and customer needs. Collaborate with Marketing, Finance, and Pricing teams. Act as a senior escalation point for customer concerns, ensuring timely and effective resolution. Foster a customer-first mindset across the team, ensuring responsiveness and proactive engagement. Oversee inventory flow and cost management for assigned account. Navigate complex coating technologies (e.g., PVDF, SMP, Polyester, Acrylic, PVC, Epoxy, Alkyd) and multi-site operations. Ensure seamless communication and collaboration across stakeholders to maintain strong, long-term partnerships. Participate in Quarterly Business and Technical Review meetings with key account leadership to assess partnership status, address concerns, outline next steps, and identify improvement opportunities. FORMAL EDUCATION: Bachelor degree required; preferably in sales leadership, business management, sciences, engineering or liberal arts KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE: Eight or more years of B2B industrial environment product/service sales experience Five or more years of direct coatings or adjacent industry sales experience Industrial coatings product and application familiarity Background in technology, technical service and/or customer service Experience with complex selling cycle experience strongly preferred; ability to think strategically and creatively with regards to complex selling situations Possess solid project management skills to ensure proper defining of sales opportunities with specific and realistic requirements and timelines to ensure project success Exhibits strong business acumen and skill set Ability and experience collaborating with high-level decision makers Significant ability to move initiatives and customer servicing needs forward within our organization as well as the customers' organization and across multiple internal functions Exhibited ability to work cooperatively across all functions within the organization and successfully influence and persuade fellow employees to take action versus depending on position authority Ability to communicate assertively, effectively and credibly across multiple levels of the organization; ability to present proposals with confidence Exhibit excellent interpersonal skills and ability to build strong relations across a wide range of organizations and cultures Proficiency in Word, Excel, Power Point, IBM iNotes, CRM (Salesforce preferred), etc. TECHNICAL/SKILL REQUIREMENTS: Effective written and verbal communication with team members and customers Establishing and maintaining organization of schedules, meetings, time sheets, and resources Customer orientation Diplomatic attitude Influencing customers Negotiating with customers Honesty/integrity Adaptability/flexibility Open-mindedness, willingness to accept change and new ideas Decision-making Self-motivation to work independently (with minimal supervision) Problem-solving to address issues or concerns in a logical manner Time management (prioritizing urgent matters) Maintaining positive attitude, especially in the face of challenges Personal accountability TRAVEL REQUIREMENT: 50% or more