Elmore Roots Fruit Tree & Berry Nursery: Customer Service/Sales Rep

Elmore Roots Nursery
759 Symonds Mill Road
Elmore, VT 05680

Job Opening – Customer Service and Sales Representative

Our goal is to create a healthy, respectful place to learn and do work that helps make the world better. We value being part of a team that is considerate, communicative, quality-oriented, reliable, hardworking, and “can-do.”

Job Description:

Tasks vary from season-to-season and day-to-day based on weather, customer needs and more. The job is never boring or too repetitive!

The Customer Service and Sales Manager works closely with our seasoned staff people to perform a variety of the following tasks:

1. Being welcoming and available for customers in person, by phone and online.
2. Responding in a timely and helpful manner to customer questions. Offering clarity around Elmore Roots policies in regards to returns, deliveries, pricing and more. Working to problem solve with staff when issues arise. Sharing input to improve our service and systems.
3. Offering resources such as our digital planting guides, books, our catalog, etc to help customers build their dream orchards and berry patches.
4. Ringing up sales using the Elmore Roots online store via ipad.
5. Assisting customers in loading up their vehicles with trees, plants, tools and other materials. These items could occasionally weigh up to 50 lbs.
6. Becoming familiar with our online inventory to better assist customers in finding plants.
7. Becoming familiar with the many plant areas of our farm to help find plants for customers, or to show customers what the plants we sell look like at maturity.
8. Working closely with the Operations Manager to keep track of incoming online and phone orders. Assuring those orders are filled in a timely and organized manner.
9. Keeping customers informed on tools and plant care materials that we carry. Keep David informed on when stock of these items need to be re-ordered before they get too low.
10. General upkeep of the “Valley Roots” customer zone with tasks such as watering plants and tidying.
11. Assisting the field crew with projects as needed (when we are not busy with customers) such as potting plants, using a string trimmer, harvesting fruit, and more.

Qualifications:

1. You are reliable. We count on you to be on time and ready for work.
2. You have experience working in customer service, and are comfortable communicating in person, by phone and email.
3. You pay attention to detail and can keep well organized records. Familiarity with Shopify or similar sales platforms is a plus.
4. You are gentle with people, plants, wildlife and the hillside where we all work.
5. You are comfortable working both independently and collaboratively as part of a team.
6. You are comfortable working outdoors in all weather conditions – rain, cold, heat, humidity.
7. You are physically capable of assisting customers load plants and/or bags of planting materials (up to 50 lbs.) into their vehicles.

2023 Season Dates and Work Schedule:

1. 2023 Season starts approximately March 27 and ends approximately December 1.
2. A full work week is usually* 4 days and 30-35 hours per week – Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and some Sundays. Hours are typically 9:30AM to 5:00PM**. Lunch is 1⁄2 hour.*** Elmore Roots is closed on Saturday.
3. *Sundays are an important day in the spring months of April, May and June and you will definitely be asked to work most Sundays.
4. **Workday hours 9:30AM to 5:00 PM – Some flexibility is required due to the nature of farming, weather, and a customer-centered seasonal business.
5. ***Lunch is unpaid time.

Compensation and Benefits:

The Customer Service and Sales Manager is making a commitment to work full-time for the entire 2023 season.

1. $17/hour for the first month of employment. $17.50/hour after a successful first month.
2. 0% discount on plants and 10% discount on other nursery items such as tools.
3. One paid day off of their choosing in September. Needs to be scheduled.
4. Full-time employees receive a large amount of certified organic locally grown winter storage vegetables towards the end of the season.
5. Full-time employees are eligible for unemployment benefits during the off season.

Equal Opportunity Employer: Elmore Roots is an Equal Opportunity Employer that supports diversity and inclusion.

About Elmore Roots

We are a small organic nursery with a big heart and over 40 years of experience. The farm is family owned and operated along with a devoted, friendly crew of plant lovers. The nursery, located in the rolling hills of Elmore, is a unique landscape made up of food forests, fruit groves, a high tunnel, state-of-the-art gravel beds and more.

Our mission is “To be a nourishing place for the earth, the customer, our crew, and the life all around us by growing and offering the hardiest and most productive plants possible.” In our efforts to help customers realize their vision of a home orchard or berry patch, we’ve sourced, tested and propagated the cultivars that do best in our northern climate. We propagate many of our plants from our own orchards, as well as partner with trusted distributors.

How to Apply:

Please send a brief cover letter, resume, and three references by email to elmorerootsishiring@gmail.com. Position is open until filled.

No phone calls please.