Staples is business to business. You’re what binds us together.  

Our world class sales and sales support teams work directly with businesses of all sizes to offer products and services to meet our customers’ unique needs. We are committed to understanding our customers and use best-in-class sales tools and technology to find the best solutions. We’re constantly discovering new ways to reach our goals, taking time to develop our skills, and investing in our career growth, so we can enjoy lucrative opportunities and grow our careers both within and beyond sales 

The Account Specialist Team is a dynamic group focused on driving exceptional customer satisfaction and profitable print sales growth within Staples’ contract-based print services. Dedicated to providing seamless support for all customer accounts to include small, large, and complex, the team is responsible for managing both programmatic and transactional print business. Working closely across departments—including Sales, Implementations, and Sourcing - our team is committed to maintaining high service standards while delivering precise, timely, and customer-focused solutions. 

This position is dedicated to grow profitable print sales in contract through direct support for internal and external print customers and works to ensure the highest levels of customer satisfaction for programmatic and transactional print business. This role requires collaboration cross-functionally with sales, Implementations, Sourcing, Print Support, Suppliers, and other internal teams. It works in a fast environment coordinating multiple customer inquiries, responding to customers promptly with accurate information and collecting and consolidating various reports to manage customer accounts. In addition, the Account Specialist is accountable for identifying program improvements, both driving sales and operational efficiencies, presenting those improvements to sales leadership and providing training as needed 

What you’ll be doing: 

• Manage transactional and programmatic custom orders, projects and warehouse replenishment (specialty accounts) 

• Proficiently manage support queues as well as a pipeline of opportunities from transactional and programmatic requests and convert them into print sales and provide high levels of customer satisfaction 

• Provide primary customer and sales support through a variety of contact methods for all print customers to help drive sales and retention 

• Professionally intake, analyze and resolve issues through execution of corrective action and/or coordination of cross functional communication and take proactive measures to prevent recurrence 

• Plan and prioritize a high volume of tasks to meet customer-driven deadlines 

• Customer obsessed with the ability to quickly understand business requirements and act promptly with strong decision-making skills to provide an exceptional customer experience 

• Provide timely communication and follow-up to external and internal customers throughout the various stages of an order lifecycle (quotation, proofing, production, fulfillment, and delivery) 

• Accurately collect and communicate custom print order specifications for transactional and programmatic sourcing opportunities, work to secure order commitments from customers, and maintain accurate detailed records. 

• Collaboration and planning with the team, the Sales organization, and customers to ensure programs are managed effectively in order to enable retention and growth opportunities 

• Leverage analysis of various reports, extract opportunities specific to your support group and geography, present recommendations to Print Sales team for changes to grow sales and improve operational efficiencies of accounts 

• Maintain high level of understanding of all print database and systems knowledge required to support our customer and provide product and solution based recommendations 

• Maintain customer-branded website and facilitate requests for new program item adds and changes 

• Organize and maintain up-to-date files, reports and records to capture critical business intelligence 

• Drive retention and sales through customer interaction and professionalism 

• Maintain effective follow-through in-line with standard operating procedures throughout the process 

• Identify opportunities for process improvements, assisting in the development of effective strategies to implement them 

• Attain Key Performance indicators, including win rate, customer engagement, SLA’s and adhere to all process guidelines.  

• Assess when to engage with vendors/suppliers to advocate for the best interests of the company and our customers, making informed decisions on when additional support may be needed and communicating issues to team managers 

What you bring to the table: 

• Decision-Making: Evaluate and adjust sales margins within established guidelines to secure wins and drive increased sales and print orders. 

• Situational Judgment: Make independent decisions based on specific situations to resolve issues or prevent escalations related to print orders. 

• Supplier Relations: Assess when to engage with vendors to advocate for the best interests of the company and our customers, making informed decisions on pushback as needed. 

• Account Management: Analyze individual Enterprise/MidMarket account orders and make decisions geared towards improving processes, enhancing sales, and retaining customers. 

• Credit and Rebill Decisions: Assess and decide on small and large dollar credits and rebills within established guidelines, communicating the rationale behind these decisions to the Team Manager. 

• Customer Service Excellence: Work independently to service all print customers, empowered to take necessary actions to ensure optimal customer satisfaction. 

• Special Projects: Collaborate with customers on special accounts/projects, making decisions that support the implementation of process from a transactional and programmatic standpoint for print products. 

• Negotiation Skills: Negotiate sales margins independently with customers, ensuring that both client needs and business objectives are met. 

• Order Classification: Determine whether a print item should be processed as a transactional order or converted to a programmatic SKU based on annual usage. 

• Strong relationship building and interpersonal skills 

• Professional and effective telephone and written communication skills 

• Competency in MS Office suite and PC Skills 

• Flexible team player with ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously, functioning in a fast-paced environment under regular time pressures 

• Ability to build relationships and tailor communication to a variety of customers and stakeholders 

• Basic mathematical aptitude 

What’s needed- Basic Qualifications: 

• High School diploma or equivalent 

• 2+ Years Relevant Print/digital copy experience (customer service, sales, project management)

What’s needed- Preferred Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration or related field 
• Strong Customer Service/ Print Background

• Strong computer and web skills with an ability to learn new systems and tools quickly 

• Capable of working efficiently in team and independent situations 

• Ability to consistently communicate effectively with customer, suppliers, and associates