About the position
Sales Representative
Specialised Cleaning & Hygiene Solutions
About the Role
A vibrant, growing company in the specialised cleaning industry is looking for a driven, consultative Sales Representative to grow its footprint across specialised cleaning, contract cleaning, deep cleaning and food-sector hygiene solutions. This is a hunter-farmer role focused on building a healthy pipeline, managing opportunities to close, and becoming a trusted advisor to clients tackling complex cleaning and hygiene challenges — particularly those operating in ISO 22000-regulated food environments.
You’ll work closely with operations, technical and account management teams to translate customer pain points into tailored solutions that demonstrably reduce risk, improve compliance and protect brand reputation.
Key Responsibilities
Pipeline Development
- Identify, research and qualify new business opportunities across food production, manufacturing, healthcare, commercial property and hospitality sectors.
- Build and maintain a robust, multi-channel sales pipeline through prospecting, networking, industry events, referrals and digital outreach.
- Conduct site visits and discovery sessions to uncover customer challenges and pain points related to hygiene, contamination risk and cleaning standards.
- Maintain accurate pipeline data in the CRM with realistic forecasts, weighted values and clear next steps.
Opportunity Management
- Own opportunities end-to-end — from initial lead through scoping, proposal, negotiation, contract signature and successful handover to operations.
- Lead solution design in collaboration with technical and operations teams, ensuring proposals address the customer’s specific compliance, risk and operational realities.
- Prepare costings, tenders and proposals that are commercially competitive and clearly articulate the company’s value proposition.
- Negotiate contracts, SLAs and pricing in line with company commercial guidelines.
- Drive deals to close by managing stakeholders, addressing objections and removing blockers.
Client Liaison & Account Growth
- Act as the primary commercial point of contact during the sales cycle and the early stages of contract delivery.
- Build long-term, trust-based relationships with decision-makers — procurement, quality, food safety, operations and facilities leaders.
- Conduct regular reviews with existing accounts to identify upsell and cross-sell opportunities (deep cleans, specialised projects, additional sites).
- Resolve client concerns swiftly by coordinating internally with operations and technical teams.
Sector & Solution Expertise
- Develop deep, consultative knowledge of the company’s service portfolio: specialised cleaning, contract cleaning, deep cleaning, and food-sector hygiene solutions.
- Position the company’s ISO 22000 certification as a differentiator when engaging food manufacturers, processors, packers and retailers.
- Stay current on regulatory developments (HACCP, FSSC 22000, R638, OHS Act) and translate them into customer-relevant conversations.
- Provide market intelligence and competitor insights back into the business to inform pricing, service development and go-to-market strategy.
Reporting & Collaboration
- Report weekly on pipeline progress, conversion rates, win/loss reasons and revenue forecasts.
- Collaborate with marketing on lead-generation campaigns, case studies and sector-specific collateral.
- Work with operations to ensure smooth mobilisation of new contracts and consistent service delivery.
Key Performance Indicators
- Monthly and annual new-business revenue against target.
- Pipeline coverage ratio (typically 3–4x of target).
- Number of qualified opportunities created per month.
- Win rate and average deal size.
- Sales cycle length and forecast accuracy.
- Retention and growth of existing accounts handed over to account management.
- Customer satisfaction during the sales and onboarding cycle.
Minimum Requirements
Experience & Qualifications
- 3–6 years of B2B sales / business development experience, ideally in cleaning, hygiene, FM, food safety, industrial services or a related solution-selling environment.
- Demonstrable track record of meeting or exceeding sales targets and building pipelines from scratch.
- Matric required; tertiary qualification in Sales, Marketing, Business or related field advantageous.
- Exposure to food-sector clients and familiarity with ISO 22000 / HACCP / FSSC 22000 is a strong advantage.
- Valid driver’s licence and own reliable transport (role involves regular site visits).
Skills & Competencies
- Consultative, solution-selling approach — strong at uncovering pain points and crafting tailored proposals.
- Excellent commercial acumen: costing, margin, contract structure and negotiation.
- Confident communicator and presenter across all levels, from site supervisors to C-suite.
- Disciplined pipeline and CRM management; comfortable with data-driven forecasting.
- Self-starter who is organised, resilient and able to manage a high-activity desk independently.
- Strong technical writing skills for proposals, tenders and client correspondence.
Remuneration & Benefits
Details on the offer and benefits will be discussed with shortlisted candidates.
We are committed to locating the ideal job for you, so we kindly advise against paying for this service. There are no costs associated with securing employment with us.
Desired Skills:
- sales
- marketing
- Specialised cleaning & hygiene solutions
