Mansfield
Sales Academy Program Guide
About Mansfield For over fifty-five years, Mansfield has served customers across a wide variety of industries with cutting edge energy products and services. As one of the largest private companies in the U.S., Mansfield offers unparalleled expertise to customers in the commercial, government, and retail sectors and serves as a trusted advisor to energy consumers across North America. Mansfield provides comprehensive energy supply, distribution, delivery, and risk management solutions to customers through an integrated network of refiners, terminals, carriers, and retailers. Working with all major and independent refiners and a majority of the nation's petroleum transportation companies, Mansfield provides customers with seamless fuel procurement and management solutions. Mansfield's expertise crosses nearly all channels of traditional and alternative transportation fuels, and the company delivers over 3 billion gallons of petroleum products, ethanol, biodiesel, and diesel exhaust fluid annually. Mansfield's customer base includes major airports, car rental companies, convenience stores, government agencies, retailers, manufacturers, marinas, mining companies, transportation fleets, trucking firms, utilities, and waste management companies. The company includes natural gas and electricity in its comprehensive product offering and has aggressive plans to continue to grow its market share organically as well through acquisition.
Through a network of carriers, Mansfield operates in all fifty states and in Canada.
“The largest non-major in the delivered commercial fuel space.� –Tom Kloza, Chief Oil Analyst, OPIS
The Company is headquartered just outside of Atlanta in Gainesville, Georgia, with regional offices in Chicago, IL, Denver, CO, Los Angeles, CA, Houston, TX, Calgary, Alberta, and Roseville, MN. Founded in 1957, Mansfield has grown into an $8 billion North American leader in the transportation fuels marketing industry. The Company has achieved annual double-digit growth for three decades and continuously pushes itself to evolve and pursue new opportunities and lines of business. Mansfield believes it will see continued success as a result of a thorough understanding of the industry, a focus on technology, a flexible, customer-centric approach, and a proven ability to quickly adapt to market changes. Mansfield is a people focused, technology driven, and data rich company, and our business technology team enables us to analyze large amounts of data to drive relationships with customers and make daily operational decisions.
Mansfield Sales Academy Objective
Mansfield Sales Academy Overview
Mansfield operates in the very dynamic energy industry. We neither explore for oil and gas nor refine crude oil into fuels – we supply and distribute those products to customers nationwide. Due to the uniqueness of our business, prior experience in the oil and gas industry or specific developmental experiences are required to prepare an individual to lead business development efforts on behalf of the company. The objective of the Mansfield Sales Academy is to take recent college graduates and guide them through a combination of experiential learning, classroom based training, and field sales mentoring to prepare them to successfully sell in our industry.
After successfully completing Mansfield's rigorous selection process, individuals possessing the appropriate educational background and qualifications (see Candidate Profile section) will be hired as a Business Development Specialist (BDS), and will join the Sales Academy. During the one year term of the program, new BDSs will relocate to Mansfield's corporate headquarters in Gainesville, GA just outside of Atlanta. Upon completion of the program, the BDS and the Sales Leadership team will agree upon the location for the BDS’s full time sales assignment.
Why Mansfield Sales Academy? Graduates of the Mansfield Academy Sales Development program benefit from having work location flexibility, with the chance to select a location of their preference. Another benefit that graduates of the program receive is high earnings potential. Our sales professionals are able to achieve high earnings by building and maintaining a customer base with no limit to upside earnings potential. Additionally, success within a sales role builds a foundation for future career development and advancement to many leadership positions within Mansfield. Finally, new graduates admitted to the program have an opportunity to learn directly from respected industry leaders.
Experiential Learning Opportunities Experiential learning opportunities are designed to help the new Business Development Specialist learn critical aspects of Mansfield's business by spending a specified amount of time learning two critical job roles. The experiential learning opportunities are comprised of an orientation, two important full time positions, and a mentorship session as outlined below.
Orientation The BDS will spend their first thirty days learning more about the industry and Mansfield as an organization. This time will be spent not only attending corporate orientation, but learning more about Credit and Collections, Business Technology, our Logistics department, and finally, the Fuel Systems and Services department. In this first month, the BDS will gain valuable knowledge about our company culture, our key values and principles, and how we conduct business.
Role 1: Sales Operations The BDS will spend nearly six months in a variety of roles within the Sales Operations group, where they will learn how to provide market driven pricing proposals in the role of Deal Desk Pricing Analyst, develop skills in data driven decision making with the Sales Analytics and Reporting team, gather requirements and process bids and RFP’s working with the Bid/RFP Team, and gain valuable experience in lead qualification and pipeline development in a Sales Development role. After completing this role, the BDS will have a good understanding of the fundamentals of the business, gain insights into customer acquisition strategies, learn products and services differentiation, and gain valuable experience executing various marketing programs.
Role 2: Commodity Supply Analyst The BDS will spend approximately six months in the role of a Commodity Supply Analyst. The Commodity Supply Analyst is responsible for analyzing and forecasting customer fuel demand, coordinating, negotiating, and contracting supply deals with refiners, optimizing the supply portfolio and contracts mix, identifying and executing on arbitrage opportunities, scheduling Mansfield pipeline shipments, monitoring terminal storage tank inventory and product allocations, conducting daily bids/auctions, and performing statistical supply chain analysis. In this position, the BDS will learn the fundamentals of the supply and logistics chain, and will have a thorough understanding of the commodities market.
Sales Instruction Programs The Sales training and development curriculum is a combination of classroom training delivered by MOC sales trainers, web based training, independent study, practical field sales experience, and key customer interaction with a sales mentor. Monthly projects will be assigned and evaluations will track progress and skill development, followed by a comprehensive assessment at the end of the year-long program. The following general topics will make up the sales training curriculum:
Sales Foundation Training Time Management for Sales
This introductory training module provides the BDS with a framework on effective time management skills. The course guides the BDS through the processes of planning and managing their priorities to achieve successful sales in preparation for the task juggling they will face upon program completion.
Habitudes
As young professionals, millennials face new challenges in the workplace as they move from a life of campus learning to a corporate setting. To ease this transition, Mansfield's President will spend time with the BDS to discuss how to build a reputation, develop leadership skills, and take the initiative. The discussions will revolve around unwritten rules, challenges, and what to expect in the office, as well as how to deal with the transition in the most effective and professional manner possible.
Sales Presentation Training
Presentation skills are one of the most highly valuable skills a salesperson can have, as they are the basis for communicating with prospective customers. In this module, the BDS will have the opportunity to give as well as critique sales presentations to an audience of peers. The BDS will gain insight on how to deliver an effective message in the proper amount of time and through the most appropriate methods to win a sale.
Cold Calling Strategies
A major part of early selling, cold calling can intimidate even the most veteran sales professionals. In this training, the BDS will learn fundamentals of cold calling strategy beyond the dreaded “script�. The course will focus on how to gauge customer needs and entice prospects into ways Mansfield can establish a meaningful relationship that results in a win-win for both parties.
Petroleum Products & Terminals
New to the industry, the BDS will get multiple opportunities to learn more about the oil and gas industries as it relates to our products, services, and logistical operations. The course provides in depth overview of the multitude of petroleum products Mansfield delivers, how customers use those products, and how we get the product to the customer. The BDS will even have the opportunity to ride along with a transport driver as he makes stops to customer sites to deliver product, as well as tour a local terminal and learn more about how product travels across the country via pipeline.
Sales Challenger Series
Based upon the CEB’s highly successful book, this class is focused on helping the BDS understand how to challenge customers and disrupt the status quo before even considering a sale. The class will focus on not only how to communicate with the customer, but also how to problem solve, negotiate, be assertive, and how to make a compelling argument. The class not only focuses on how to be strategic, but also how to be prepared, which will boost confidence when facing customers for the first time.
Alliances and Key Partnerships
Each customer Mansfield serves is vastly different with a variety of challenges and opportunities unlike any other customer. In this module, the BDS will explore the different verticals we serve and how they use petroleum products to support their business. From this course, the BDS will have an understanding of the opportunity Mansfield can provide to customers to help them worry less about refined products, and more about their business.
STORM methodology
In sales, it is crucial to not only have good communication skills, but also be well organized and capable of multitasking efficiently. The STORM method is all about prioritizing, organizing, and attacking sales in the most effective and efficient ways possible. In this module, the BDS will learn how to apply the STORM method to successfully track and manage a book of sales successfully.
Hedging and Derivatives
For many of our customers, refined products are one of their top expenses to keep their business running. Naturally, there is a lot of risk involved as refined products are a commodity and prices can change rapidly. One of Mansfield’s services for our customers revolves around reducing the risk of price volatility through hedging. The BDS will learn more about what hedging is and how to strategically help customers reduce risk through identifying the most effective hedging plan for their business. One of the most important aspects of the oil and gas industry is how pricing and purchasing works. The volatility in volume, timing, location, and method of delivery can even further complicate how we procure and deliver product to customers. In this class, the BDS will take a deep dive in refined products pricing structures, as well as how commodities are purchased through options, futures, or swap agreements among many others. The BDS will have a better understanding of the energy market and become well versed in discussing derivatives with suppliers and customers alike.
Sales Mentorship In addition to experience in key positions within the organization and a comprehensive sales training program, each candidate will spend time with veteran sales professionals who will provide mentoring to help incorporate all facets of the program into practical sales experience. The BDS will shadow his or her mentor as they prepare for sales presentations, visit customers, prepare proposals, participate in developing sales strategies, and more. The mentorship will give the BDS the opportunity to meet our customers and learn from the most successful sales professionals within Mansfield.
Candidate Profile The ideal candidate will possess the following qualifications and prior experience: • Graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in the last year with a GPA of at least 3.2 • Demonstrated leadership experience through campus programs, sports, or community-based involvement • Past internship or work experience
How to Apply The Sales Development Program is primarily targeted to college seniors or recent college graduates; therefore, Mansfield focuses much of the recruiting activity on the colleges and universities throughout the U.S. with which we have established relationships. The Mansfield Sales Academy Development program begins each year in June. The recruiting process for these positions begins in September of each year, and the program is limited to 10 candidates per class.
Selection Process The hiring manager will review applicant resumes and conduct phone screening interviews to gauge interest, knowledge, skills, and abilities. Qualified candidates will be contacted to schedule an interview with Mansfield Executives and Sales Leadership at our headquarters in Gainesville, Georgia. Successful applicants will then go on to take a variety of assessments to predict their future success with Mansfield. The top scoring candidates will be selected for the program.
For More Information In order to achieve continued success and deliver on our commitments to our employees, customers, and business partners, we at Mansfield believe that we must operate according to certain ideals. These ideals are captured in Mansfield's Core Principles: Conscientiousness, Personal Service, Integrity, Innovation, and Excellence. By upholding these principles, Mansfield is not only a remarkable business partner for our customers, but also a positive and rewarding workplace. We proudly offer a competitive salary and benefit package including medical, dental, vision, and 401K and life insurance options to our Mansfield team members. For more information, please visit http://mansfield.energy/divisions/careers/ mansfield-sales-academy/. If you are interested in this exciting opportunity and want to learn more, please contact Mansfield recruiter Dawn Pierce by email at dpierce@mansfieldoil.com or call 678.450.2134.
1025 Airport Parkway SW Gainesville, GA 30501 Š 2016 Mansfield Oil Company
http://mansfield.energy