National Sales at VVF

Job description

Primary purpose of job

• Responsible for developing and delivering the company’s :
• distribution (weighted and numeric) strategies and targets
• sales (volume, value, gross contribution & market share)
• trade marketing
• sales organisation, and product offering/ assortment
• strategies and targets in South Africa and agreed export markets and, in so doing, to build the company’s brands and product basket in the Region.

What are your main tasks that you do to achieve your outputs?

• manage third party distributors, sales agents and merchandising agencies (as relevant/ applicable)
• manage agreed trade marketing and trade promotions strategy and plan to achieve set objectives (including post-activity reviews)
• develop and grow a strong and successful sales organisation, including internal and external resources
• monitor category trends and competitor activities, and use these to make relevant NPD recommendations
• prepare, manage and monitor sales performance through sourcing and analysis of data, and propose sales-driving activities
• prepare monthly rolling forecasts and use these to manage and maintain adequate stock levels and efficient stock-holding
• What are the key outputs of the Job? (What results do you leave behind?)
• Business Plan and Sales Strategy
• maintain up-to-date knowledge of the personal care market, including trade channels and customers, competitors and consumers
• develop and, on approval, execute strategic plan to achieve sales, distribution, share growth and gross contribution targets
• prepare, own and achieve/ exceed sales targets
• develop, implement and manage sales strategy and tactical plans

Third Party Management

• build and maintain strong, long-lasting and mutually beneficial relationships with third party distributors, sales and merchandising agents
• communicate regularly with distributors and third party agents on brand standards, activities, expectations, promotions, etc.
• monitor and manage the performance of distributors and third party agents through regular trade visits and by means of mutually agreed scorecards, taking corrective action when necessary
• People Management and Sales Team Development
• build and lead a high performance sales team – internally and externally (within third party agents and distributors)
• What are the success measures of the job? (How will you know if you have done well?)
• Business Plan and Sales Strategy
• shares relevant category, customer and competitor insights regularly and uses these effectively to drive sales growth and NPD proposals
• prepares realistic, achievable and challenging sales plans, and achieves or exceeds targets set (with focus on volume, share, revenue and gross contribution)
• Third Party Management
• efficient and effective communication with and management of distributors and third party agents
• People Management and Sales Team Development
• effective and motivated sales team that
• delivers and exceeds set targets
• is proactive and takes ownership

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Ideal requirement:

Education

• Matric/ Grade 12 + tertiary sales or marketing qualification
• Matric/ Grade 12 + Business Degree

Experience

• 6 – 8 years Sales experience in an FMCG company in South Africa
• 8+ years FMCG Sales experience that includes experience in Personal Care, Export Sales & opening new markets

Knowledge

• In depth knowledge of market dynamics in sales, distribution, competitor activity and consumer behaviour in an FMCG context, especially in South Africa
• Ability to craft sales strategies in a multifunctional context (sales, marketing, trade marketing, NPD, production), and implement them successfully through third party Agencies & Distributors
• Proficient in MS Office (esp. Excel)
• In depth knowledge of market dynamics in sales, distribution, competitor activity and consumer behaviour in Personal Care, especially in Southern Africa
• Ability to craft sales strategies in a multi-functional context (sales, marketing, trade marketing, NPD, production), and implement them successfully through third party Agencies & Distributors
• Advanced in MS Office (esp. Excel)

Skills & Attitude

• Analyse and interpret data, trends and information quickly and effectively
• Effective negotiation and interpersonal skills
• Able to focus and follow through on priorities and deliver quality results
• High standard of integrity
• Understands and is passionate about brands and brand-building
• An entrepreneurial ’can do’ attitude facilitated by continuous learning and application of appropriate ’best practices’
• Strong people & team management skills
• Fluency in spoken & written English
• Comfortable in a fast paced, performance oriented environment
• Analyse and interpret data, trends and information quickly and effectively
• Effective negotiation and interpersonal skills
• Able to focus and follow through on priorities and deliver quality results
• High standard of integrity
• Understands and is passionate about brands and brand-building
• An entrepreneurial ’can do’ attitude facilitated by continuous learning and application of appropriate ’best practices’
• Strong people & team management skills
• Fluency in spoken & written English and one other local language
• Thrives in a fast paced, performance oriented environment