Des Moines, Iowa, United States
I am an MBA graduate at Indiana University and graduate of Iowa State University with degrees in agricultural business and economics. I am currently a key account manager for the leading pig genetics company in the world managing several teams and a multi-million dollar account rollup. I originally grew up central Iowa on a diversified grain and livestock family farm. Being raised on the farm rooted a deep passion for agriculture within me and has helped guide me through life, education, and my career. It instilled a strong sense of diligence, ambition, and competitiveness in me that I carry over to my professional career. Academically, I have developed an understanding of business operations and the decisions behind them. I have been fortunate enough to apply many of the concepts learned in the classroom to the real world through various internships during my undergraduate years and now in the agricultural industry. I look forward to continuing the challenge of sales and account management with large B2B customers in a constantly changing business climate.
Manage western sales division comprising of 6 sales reps and several key accounts. In charge of growing profitability and improving customer value across 14 states and over 2 million sows.
I managed 5 key accounts representing roughly 11% of the US sow herd. I generate several million in sales each year while assisting in enhancing the performance of our product through best practices. I also manage a technical, customer service, and supply chain team to assist me in creating value for our customers.
This role included 9 months of intensive training focusing on industry knowledge, technical expertise, and sales tactics to work with customers. I participated in cross-functional training and a final review before being placed in North Carolina to work under an account manager and learn from him. Within a few months I was given my first key account and after about a year the largest account in North America.
I assisted in managing approximately 150 acres of hay ground, which is mowed and baled for cattle consumption and sale. I also facilitated in the daily management of approximately 160 head of cattle in a seed stock cow/calf operation along with 80 bred heifers.
As a part of the Beef Analytics Strategy team I conducted research on the effects of beef implants on feed efficiency. I accompanied sales reps on client calls and delivered the data to producers to help convince them to make a switch to an Elanco program. I also identified customer needs and created a processing cost sheet to resolve concerns raised over the price of re-implanting cattle.
During my second internship with Vermeer I focused on competitive intel tracking, win/loss analysis, and a pricing data base. These help compare pricing across brands and ensure that we stay competitively priced while maintaining a proper margin and good growth. With this data I helped my managers price new models for both the American and Canadian markets. I also helped in photo/video shoots for products and other marketing activities as well as sales training to better understand equipment and the full lifecycle of a product.
Conducted 86 interviews across Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and South Dakota where I discussed and collected information from customers and competitors regarding problems and constraints that they have in the forage production process and sought to find solutions to these issues. Developed an understanding of the need and use of technology in the forage industry, and identified the customers comfort level with, and want of, technological advancements in machinery and software. This information will be utilized by the company for product development within the forage department.