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Position Summary: 

The Advisor, Relations is accountable for delivering an outstanding member experience, engaging with members year-round and connecting members with the resources they need. They serve as a central point of contact for members, helping to answer questions on all topics, route their requests throughout the organization to ensure we provide efficient service, and help with logistical questions related to the Fancy Food Show. This position establishes strong relationships with members in their territory as well as across the organization with a variety of staff. The incumbent will also be responsible for prospecting new members and bringing them into the organization. 

This individual should be goal-oriented, able to work independently and as a team player that can maintain positive relations inside and outside the organization. The incumbent must be detail-oriented, organized and willing to be on the phone for most of a typical workday. Excellent listening skills are also a must to better understand others' needs and make recommendations aligned with fulfilling them. 

Essential Functions & Responsibilities: 

• Recruit new members and retain existing members from assigned territory.  Achieve or exceed territory new member and retention goals set by Membership team and SFA leadership. 
• Proactively collaborate and coordinate across multiple departments to ensure clear communication, sharing of information and effective planning to best support member questions about programming and industry support.?Answer general questions and/or help route members to the team member best suited to assist with their needs.   

• Prospect new members who would be likely to join our organization from leads supplied and self-directed prospecting and research. 

• Capture and enter member interactions that provide actionable insights into the CRM system.?Track relationship engagement and interactions for data and understanding of members. 

• Attend Fancy Food Shows, other industry trade shows and related industry events to connect with prospects and members. 

• Participate in member needs assessment by providing insights around member engagement that will inform and direct SFA as to which benefits are working/not working and which are missing. Support Membership department development of new benefits or tweaking of current benefits, as needed.? 

• Connect members with other members based on location, business type, area of interest, etc. to create a sense of community and support.? 

• Serve as first contact for new members in the onboarding process that will include email and phone communications, quarterly check-in conversations and creating member journeys. 

• Participate in and conduct frequent touchpoints with current members throughout the year via phone and email as part of overall retention strategy set by Director, Member Relations and VP, Membership. 

• Assist members in territory with logistical questions related to the Fancy Food Shows. 

• Engage members with information and resources that are suited to their stage in development (start-up, growing, mature).? 

• Conduct lapsed member outreach within territory to bring members back to the association. 

• Participate in dues renewal process and retention strategy to prevent members from cancelling.? 

• Conduct outreach to first-time Fancy Food Show members in your territory before, during and after the shows to ensure their experience was positive. 

• Support data hygiene by making necessary updates to member records in Salesforce, collaborating with Member Operations and Technology departments to ensure SFA data is clean and records are merged, duplicates deleted, etc.  

• Conduct outreach to members for special projects if requested/needed including but not limited to:? 

• Dues? 

• Booth payments? 

• Other duties as assigned. 

Performance Metrics: 

• Number of new members per year generated by territory (measured quarterly and annually). 

• Average retention of members by territory (measured quarterly and annually). 

• Minimum number of phone calls per week to touch base with member on general membership, programs questions, etc. (measured monthly). 

Position Qualifications: 

•  5+ years’ experience in a membership or customer service role. Previous association experience preferred. 
• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent training and professional experience required. 

• Strong written and oral communication skills. 

• Working knowledge of Microsoft Office Products including Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 

• Project Management type of approach preferred, with high level of organizational skill; ability to create, execute, and operationalize new processes. 

• Technology savvy. 

About Specialty Food Association

Welcome to the Specialty Food Association, where we create, connect, support, and share the extraordinary experience of specialty food with the world.

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