Overview
You sell custom metal fabrication, HVAC components, and welding services to contractors, facilities managers, and industrial purchasing departments across Texas. This is account management plus new business hunting - you maintain relationships with existing customers who reorder regularly, while prospecting into new manufacturing facilities, construction companies, and industrial sites.
Role Snapshot
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Role Type | Hybrid AM/AE - Service existing + hunt new accounts |
| Sales Motion | Balanced - Inbound reorders + Outbound prospecting |
| Deal Complexity | Consultative transactional - Technical specs but shorter cycles |
| Sales Cycle | 2-8 weeks for new accounts, 1-3 days for reorders |
| Deal Size | $2K-50K per order (varies by project size) |
| Quota (est.) | $75-125K/quarter (mix of new + existing revenue) |
Company Context
Stage: Mature/Established (173 employees, likely decades-old manufacturer)
Size: 173 employees
Growth: Stable industrial manufacturing company - not hypergrowth but consistent business
Market Position: Regional player in custom metal fab and HVAC components - competing on relationships, lead times, and custom capabilities vs national distributors
GTM Reality
Pipeline Sources:
- 40% Existing Customer Reorders - Facilities managers calling back for repeat orders, seasonal HVAC work, ongoing project needs
- 35% Outbound Prospecting - Cold calling into industrial facilities, construction sites, manufacturing plants, mechanical contractors
- 25% Referrals/Word of Mouth - Existing customers referring you to other sites or sister facilities
SDR/AE Structure: Self-sourcing - You manage your own book and prospect for new business
SE Support: None - You handle technical specs yourself or loop in production/engineering team for complex custom work
Competitive Landscape
Main Competitors: Local metal fab shops, national HVAC distributors (Grainger, Ferguson), other regional manufacturers
How They Differentiate: Custom capabilities and service - can do specialized welding and fabrication that off-the-shelf distributors can't, faster than sending to national shops
Common Objections: "We already have a supplier", price concerns (custom is more expensive than catalog), lead time questions, minimum order requirements
Win Themes: Customization ability, responsive service, Texas-based production for faster delivery, engineering support for non-standard applications
What You'll Actually Do
Time Breakdown
Existing Accounts (35%) | New Business (40%) | Quoting/Internal (25%)
Key Activities
- Managing Existing Accounts: Taking reorder calls, following up on past customers who haven't ordered recently, checking in on ongoing projects, handling any quality or delivery issues. Some customers order monthly, others quarterly or project-based.
- Outbound Prospecting: Cold calling facilities managers, maintenance supervisors, general contractors, mechanical contractors. You're looking for companies doing construction, facility maintenance, or manufacturing that need custom metal work or HVAC components. Lots of "we're all set" responses.
- Technical Quoting: Working with customers to understand specs, dimensions, materials - then coordinating with your production team to price it out. Back and forth on revisions. Some quotes convert quickly, many die in committee or go with cheaper options.
- Site Visits: Occasional trips to customer facilities to see installations, understand their setup, meet new stakeholders. Most relationship building is over phone/email but face time matters in industrial sales.
The Honest Reality
What's Hard
- Industrial sales is relationship-heavy and slow to break in - accounts have existing suppliers they've used for years. You get a lot of "call me next time we're bidding" that may never come.
- You're juggling quote-heavy customers who need pricing on every little thing vs. repeat buyers who just reorder. The quoting takes time and many don't convert.
- Remote in Texas is a big territory - you can't easily visit customers on a whim. When you do travel, it's long drives between facilities.
- Custom fabrication means longer lead times than off-the-shelf products. You lose deals to Amazon/Grainger when customers need it tomorrow.
- Production issues happen - delays, quality concerns, material shortages. You're the messenger to unhappy customers.
What Success Looks Like
- Hit your quarterly revenue target (mix of new logos + expansion in existing accounts)
- Build a stable base of repeat customers who call you first for their needs
- Convert 20-30% of quotes into orders
- Maintain healthy margins (not just discounting to win)
Who You're Selling To
Primary Buyers:
- Facilities/Maintenance Managers at industrial plants, warehouses, manufacturing facilities
- General Contractors and Mechanical Contractors on commercial construction projects
- Purchasing Managers at companies with ongoing metal fabrication needs
What They Care About:
- Can you do the custom work they need (not just off-the-shelf catalog items)
- Lead times - when can they get it
- Price competitive vs other fab shops and distributors
- Quality and reliability - this stuff has to work and last
- Responsive service - returning calls, following up, solving problems
Requirements
- Proven sales experience (industrial, manufacturing, construction, or distribution sales preferred)
- Comfortable reading technical specs and blueprints (or learning quickly)
- Self-motivated to work remote without daily oversight
- Based in Texas and willing to travel occasionally for customer visits
- Able to handle transactional sales cycles (quick reorders) and longer consultative deals (new accounts, custom projects)
- CRM discipline to track quotes, follow-ups, and pipeline activity