Title:  Customer Service Representative

DESCRIPTION

The Customer Service Representative focuses on the preparation, processing, tracking and management of offers and orders acquired by Sales Directors, Sales Managers and Account Managers, making sure that all necessary data is correctly entered into the appropriate systems and that the appropriate Group policies, routines and guidelines are followed.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following. Other duties may be assigned as applicable. 

• Direct interaction with the customer might be frequent but generally focused on retrieving all  necessary data and issues related to general terms and conditions, technical requirements, specifications, test methods, delivery terms, payment terms, order status tracking, logistics and similar topics.
• The  Customer Service Representative is required to follow the guidelines received from the Sales Directors, Sales Managers or Account Managers, who remain ultimately and fully responsible for the entire sales action.

Create new Business Partners(BP):

• Gather essential new BP’s information through appropriate forms.
• By correctly using the available IT systems, performs all activities necessary and uploads documents necessary to initiate a new Business Partner.
• Communicate with SD’s, AM’s, SM’s, Finance, Credit, Administration and other applicable Departments for the definition and implementation of the payment terms agreed with the customer

Request for Quotation (RFQ):

• Receives and collects Requests for Quotation (RFQ) from Sales Managers (SM), Sales Directors (SD), Account Managers (AM) and Chief Commercial Officer (COO) or external (actual or potential customers), including customer forecast and EDI sources
• Prioritize RFQ’s on the basis of elements including, but not limited to, date of receipt, potential amount of the offer, overall plant workload, award probability and customer-specific factors.
• Performs a preliminary, initial verification of potential technical feasibility of the RFQ’s with the technologies used by the different Companies of the FOMAS Group. Communicates to Sales Directors, Sales Managers and Account Managers on RFQ’s that do not fall within the technical production scope of the FOMAS Group or that are not in line with the commercial acceptability guidelines.
• Implement guidelines received from CCO, SD and SM regarding the commercial acceptability of RFQ’s (verification of commercial interest)
• Loads accepted RFQ’s in the required IT systems and tools, assigning the necessary tasks to the different Departments, in accordance with Group procedures and processes.
• Follows up and coordinates the quotation process, triggering escalation and expediting processes when necessary and applicable.
• Using the lead time matrix and raw material inventory apply the lead time to the RFQ.
• Only where allowed by Group processes and procedures and only in presence of appropriate and documented authorization (blanket or case-specific), may be responsible for applying to the offered items margin, markup and/or prices as defined and communicated by CCO, SD’s, AM’s and SM’s
• After having received appropriate and adequate input from other involved Departments (including but not limited to applicable authorization levels, Product Engineering, Production, Production Planning, Procurement, Logistics, Administration) prepares the offer in the Group approved format and sends it to the customers (to SD’s, AM’s or SM’s where applicable)
• Verifies and obtains the necessary authorization level in accordance with Group policies, prior to sending the offer, as instructed by SD’s, AM’s and SM’s
• Receives customer’s, SD’s, AM’s or SM’s feedback on the offer issued and keeps record of such information in SAP.

Order Entry:

• Enters the acquired orders in the systems, appropriately assigning the necessary and applicable tasks also to other Departments, performing the Sales Contract Reviews verifying correctness of the order and its compliance with the original offer.
• By correctly using the available IT systems, performs all activities necessary and uploads documents necessary to initiate Technical Contract Review process.
• Identifies issues with orders blocked due to insufficient credit line, promptly informing SD’s, AM’s or SM’s and Credit
• In case significant changes versus the original offer are detected in Sales or Technical Contract Review, the issue escalates to SD’s, AM’s and SM’s for prompt resolution.
• Coordinates with Production Planning, Supply Chain and Logistics to verify the feasibility of delivery date requested by customer or to define the most suitable delivery date to be offered.

• Upon positive completion of Contract Review, issues Order Acknowledgement.
• Tracks status of open orders, identifying possible issues or problems, implementing corrective actions where possible, based on Productions input.
• Provides Group Management, SD’s, AM’s and SM’s with status and details of ongoing offers, open orders, past orders and in general with all relevant information regarding specific sales activities, as needed.
• Liaises with customers, keeping them informed about order status and possible changes and roadblocks.
• Gathers relevant commercial and logistic information from customers, sharing it with the rest of commercial team.
• This list is not all inclusive and other duties may be assigned pertaining to the Sales department. 

QUALIFICATIONS

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.  The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required.  Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE

High school diploma or general education degree (GED); 2-3 years of related experience; or equivalent combination of education, training and experience.

LANGUAGE SKILLS

Ability to read, analyze, and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures, or governmental regulations. Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals. Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, clients, customers, and the general public.

MATHEMATICAL SKILLS

Ability to work with mathematical concepts such as probability and statistical inference, and fundamentals of plane and solid geometry and trigonometry. Ability to apply concepts such as fractions, percentages, ratios, and proportions to practical.

REASONING ABILITY

Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions. Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagram form and deal with several abstract and concrete variables.

TECHNOLOGY SKILLS

Intermediate competency in Windows operating environment using MS Office applications, e-mail, internet programs, and the FOMAS ERP/reporting systems.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS 

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to stand, walk, sit and use hands to perform routine office tasks. The employee is occasionally required to reach with hands and arms. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 15 pounds.

WORK ENVIRONMENT 

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.

The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. 

Travel:  less than 10%

Certain deadlines and unanticipated developments may require work during evenings, weekends or holidays.