Water Treatment Sales Representative
Hardness, iron, pH, TDS, bacteria — you read a test result and see the whole system behind it. You can stand in a homeowner’s basement, look at the water chemistry, plumbing and existing equipment, and explain what’s happening in a way that finally makes sense.
That knowledge took years to build.
We’re looking for a place where you can actually use it.
It’s a company that pays you for it.
Patterson’s Water & Plumbing has spent 46 years serving Central New Jersey. We do this differently: we test first. We identify what’s actually happening with the water, explain it to the customer, and recommend treatment based on facts — not on what equipment we happen to want to sell that day.
We’re hiring the person who owns sales growth here.
Catherine Klimek, the owner of Patterson’s Water & Plumbing, has been running many of the sales calls herself.
She’s handing them over.
Our business development efforts are already generating new opportunities and opening doors. What’s been missing is the person who closes those opportunities, recognizes the larger opportunity when it genuinely exists, follows up until there is an answer, and then goes out and builds what comes next.
A strong part of this position starts with inbound residential opportunities. You’ll meet homeowners who already know they have a water problem. Your job is to diagnose it correctly, educate them, present the right options and ask for the business.
But inbound leads are only the beginning.
The other side of this job doesn’t fully exist yet.
Nursing homes. Property management groups. Commercial buildings. Restaurants and commercial kitchens. Hotels. HOAs. Engineering Facilities.
There is no mature commercial account list waiting for you. No established territory map. Nobody else in this company is dedicated to building that book.
Whatever you go get, you build.
Commercial water treatment opportunities can run $30,000 to $150,000 and beyond. Some accounts may take months to develop. Residential sales keep opportunities moving while you build a commercial pipeline that can become significant.
You’ll also help own the referral network.
Catherine regularly educates rooms full of realtors and other professionals about water quality, plumbing and well-water testing. Those relationships create opportunities.
They shouldn’t sit in a folder.
They should be on your calendar.
Nobody is going to tell you which opportunity to go after first.
That’s the job.
Who This Is NOT For
Anyone who needs to be chased.
We track KPIs — pipeline, follow-up, close rate, average sale and revenue — because professionals measure performance.
What we won’t do is build your week for you, remind you to call an open estimate, or repeatedly tell you where the next opportunity is.
If you quietly rely on someone else to create your urgency, you’ll be underwater by week three.
Anyone who thinks the estimate is the end of the sales call.
Some customers buy in the basement. Others buy after the second, third or fourth conversation.
If an open estimate disappears from your attention because the homeowner didn’t answer your first follow-up, this job will expose you quickly.
Your pipeline is yours until the customer buys, declines, or gives you a clear reason to close it out.
“No answer” is not the same thing as “no.”
Anyone who has to learn water from scratch. We can teach you our equipment, our pricing, our processes and the Patterson’s way of doing business.
We are not looking to teach a salesperson the fundamentals of water treatment.
You should already understand hardness, iron, pH, TDS, bacteria and common water-quality problems. You should be comfortable interpreting a water test, asking the right questions, looking at the plumbing and mechanical space, and beginning to determine the appropriate treatment solution.
You don’t need to know every piece of equipment we sell on day one. But you need to know water.
Anyone waiting for the commercial book to already exist.
It doesn’t.
You’re the person we’re hiring to help build it.
If you were hoping to inherit a mature commercial book somebody else built, there isn’t one.
Anyone who sells on volume instead of trust.
Our commission reverses on any sale that gets unwound.
We made the honest answer the profitable answer on purpose. If the customer doesn’t need something, tell them. If the test results don’t justify it, don’t sell it.
If there’s a larger problem that genuinely needs to be addressed, have the knowledge and confidence to explain why.
If you’ve ever lost a deal because you told a customer the truth about what they actually needed, you’ll fit in here.
If any part of your current income depends on customers not fully understanding what they’re buying, this will probably be a pay cut.
Anyone who wants all the money guaranteed in the base.
There is a real weekly base. It’s guaranteed and not drawn against commission.
But the base isn’t where the money is.
There is no commission cap.
Build a larger book, close larger opportunities and your compensation grows with it.
The commercial side gives you the opportunity to build something that currently has very little ceiling because the market is largely untouched.
Still Reading?
Good.
Then don’t send us a generic cover letter telling us you’re a “motivated self-starter.”
Show us.
When you apply, tell us two things:
1. Tell us about one difficult water problem you diagnosed.
What did the water test show? What did you determine was happening? What treatment did you recommend, and why?
2. Tell us about one account or customer you went out and got yourself.
Not a lead someone handed you. Tell us how you found the opportunity, how you opened the door and how you closed it.
If you can answer both of those easily, we should probably talk.
If you can’t, this probably isn’t your job.
And that’s okay.
This posting is supposed to cost us applicants.
