Interested in a Career in Sales?

A career as a sales representative in the forest products industry could be for you if:

 

  • Your skills include speaking, negotiation and persuasion.
  • Your interests can be described as conventional and enterprising.
  • Your values include relationship, achievement, and independence.

To be successful in sales in the forest products industry, you must be driven, disciplined, and focused. You will be expected to plan daily sales activities and seek out sales through cold calls, door-to-door contact, networking, and marketing efforts. You will also be expected to have a solid understanding of the forest products industry and the innovative products it produces.

Here are some comments from customers in the forest products industry that help outline the value they find in partnerships with their sales representatives:

“My lumber guy is awesome because he isn’t too “salesy”. He answers the phone when I call, is friendly and in a good mood, talks about loving his job, and gets lumber shipped out quickly. Whatever I need, he’s Johnny on the spot. He also knows the products really well. I do a lot of things using better materials than is typical, and he says ‘because you care about this detail/product, I care about this detail/product.’”

“My advice for someone in sales is to 1) be responsive 2) be knowledgeable, and 3) find ways to help your customer save money or meet business needs. And make sure that lumber is good and straight!”

“Be really responsive. Get quotes out quickly.”

Want to learn more about forest product sales careers? Here are some resources!

If you have more questions, please reach out to IFG Director of Lumber Sales, Andy Dunham at adunham@ifg.com. Please note: IFG does not have any available sales positions at this time.