Job Description
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The Inside Sales Manager at Upper Lakes Foods serves as the driving force behind the company's inside sales operation, leading a team dedicated to delivering exceptional customer service while supporting the organization's continued growth and profitability. This role goes beyond managing daily sales activities-it is about building a high-performing team, developing meaningful customer relationships, and creating an environment where employees can succeed.
Leading and Developing a High-Performing Team
Each day begins with a focus on people. By coaching, mentoring, and actively engaging with the inside sales team, the manager helps employees strengthen their sales skills, expand their product knowledge, and confidently manage customer accounts. Through regular feedback, ongoing training, and collaborative team meetings, the manager fosters professional growth while ensuring every team member understands the company's goals and expectations.
The manager is also responsible for recruiting, interviewing, hiring, onboarding, scheduling, and supporting team members while promoting a positive, productive, and collaborative work environment. By setting clear expectations and providing consistent leadership, they empower employees to achieve both individual and team success.
Building Exceptional Customer Relationships
Customer satisfaction is at the heart of this position. The Inside Sales Manager works closely with street and national accounts to ensure every customer receives responsive, knowledgeable, and reliable service. From supporting customers with the Pepper online ordering platform to coordinating new account startups and resolving service concerns, the manager helps create experiences that strengthen customer loyalty and trust.
Driving Operational Excellence
A significant part of the role involves overseeing the daily operations that keep the department running efficiently. This includes monitoring inventory, pricing, special orders, recalls, credits, returns, account transfers, accounts receivable, and sales performance. Through careful analysis of reports and continuous process improvement, the manager identifies opportunities to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance profitability.
Strategic Leadership and Business Growth
Beyond day-to-day operations, the Inside Sales Manager plays an important role in shaping the company's future. Working alongside executives, sales leaders, suppliers, and brokerage partners, they help identify new product opportunities, support profitability initiatives, and develop strategies that drive long-term growth. The manager also coordinates new product showcases, supports educational opportunities for the sales team, and shares best practices that strengthen the organization.
Qualifications for Success
The ideal candidate is a confident leader with experience supervising and developing employees while maintaining a strong customer focus. They possess excellent communication, organization, and problem-solving skills, along with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment. Experience in foodservice sales or distribution, strategic planning, account management, and project coordination is highly preferred.
Living the Upper Lakes Foods Values
Everything the Inside Sales Manager does reflects the core values of Upper Lakes Foods: a strong work ethic, a positive attitude, integrity, teamwork, professionalism, and respectful interaction. By leading with these values every day, the manager helps build a culture where employees thrive, customers succeed, and the company continues to grow.
The Opportunity
This role offers the opportunity to make a lasting impact by developing people, strengthening customer relationships, improving operational performance, and contributing to the continued success of Minnesota's largest independent wholesale food distributor. The Inside Sales Manager is more than a department leader-they are a mentor, strategist, collaborator, and champion for excellence across the organization.
"We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin."
Full job description located on the Upper Lakes Foods Website
Final candidates are required to successfully complete a background check, pre-employment lift evaluations (if applicable) and pre-employment drug screening prior to their employment start date.
All offers of employment are conditional and contingent upon the Company's receipt of satisfactory results from a comprehensive background investigation and a negative result on a pre-employment lift evaluation and drug screen.
Failure to successfully complete either requirement may result in withdrawal of the conditional offer of employment, to the extent permitted by applicable federal, state, and local law.