Job Purpose

To manage and lead the Wholesale Team to implement a market driven differentiated service that builds sustainable competitiveness within clearly identified channels, thereby delivering sustainable growth in brand equity, sales volume, market share, competitive advantage and corporate reputation.  Required to supervise and coordinate the schedules of the sales representatives to meet and exceed sales quotas.

Key Accountabilities and Outputs

Duties and Responsibilities

• Understand customer needs and offer solutions and support
• Organize and coordinate sales representative’s schedules
• Research potential leads from business directories, web searches, or digital resources
• Recruit, hire, and train new sales representatives
• Receive and report on all sales leads
• Supervise sales representatives and assistants
• Answer potential customer questions and follow-up call questions
• Work with sales team when closing sales
• Track weekly, monthly, and quarterly performance and sales metrics
• Meet all sales quotas and goals
• Assist sales representatives and team to meet and exceed goals

Performance Management

• Determines and communicates business direction and work priorities
• Regularly assess progress against directives
• Reacts promptly to performance challenges
• Provides meaningful interim and year-end Performance Reviews
• Drives a high performance culture
• Delivers sustainable results

Customer Development

• Manage and build customer relationships with Outlet owners
• Drive weekly customer calls per outlet to build effective partnerships and resolve customer issues
• Ensure all current, correct customer master data captured onto Rapid Trade and is maintained
• Achieve customer sales volume targets
• Ensure each outlet buys directly from the Company consistently on a weekly basis

Execution Guidelines

• Ensure the delivery of product availability, merchandising, promotions, pricing and space in outlets
• Monitor volumes by outlet to ensure 100% availability of key brands and packs through forward planning
• Manage stock rotation to ensure 100% availability
• Drive the effective execution of selective merchandising implementation in the consumption and purchase zones
• Negotiate and execute interior and exterior price communication; capture price priorities; ensure price point compliance and execute on the overall price and promotion campaigns throughout the year

Asset Management

• Manage the Company refrigeration assets by driving governance and compliance
• Manage all the Company assets in the outlets including permanent merchandising and signage
• Ensure the Company products are stocked in fridges as per guidelines
• Conduct asset verification surveys (Fridges, etc.)
• Assist customers with managing stock replenishment to minimise stock outs
• Manage stock rotation and quality

Qualifications and Experience

• Grade 12 / Matric / NQF level 4
• At least 3 years’ experience (Operational Execution) Experience in  a sales/marketing/FMCG environment – preferably CSD
• Intermediate knowledge of PC and experience with tracking and recording call information, on Microsoft Office and /or similar software
• Demonstrated and proven sales results
• Ability to multitaks, prioritize and manage time efficiently
• Excellent Customer Care and focus
• Excellent verbal and written comunication skills
• Persuasive and goal orientated

Key Qualities

Critical Success Factors

• Customer Perspective

Communication

• Routine communication with customers / clients and Management

Problem Solving

• Proactive identification of functional problems related to a specific process or policy, determine cause and impact, and choose the best alternative to solve the problem based on guidelines provided and an understanding of the theory or practices underpinning the problem.

Relationships Maintained

• Others outside of own work area but inside the organisation

Behavioural Competencies

Customer Relations

• Asks questions to identify customer needs or expectations
• Shows a strong commitment to exceeding customer expectations

Negotiation

• Able to recognise a situation in which negations are required
• Able to refer to facts presented by the opposition to strengthen argument
• Possesses the interpersonal skills necessary to negotiate an effective outcome

Planning and Organising

• Manages time effectively, ensuring effective completion of tasks under stressful deadlines.
• Able to prioritise activities and resources, ensuring that results are achieved effectively.
• Able to evaluate progress and make appropriate adjustments to initial plans, ensuring a successful outcome.

Knowledge of Business

• Uses business understanding to make sound decisions and influence the decisions of others

Continuous Improvement

• Seeks out sources of information, including trade associations, “best practice” companies, customers, peers, subordinates, etc.
• Finds ways to fast-adapt improvement ideas to work processes