Regional Sales Manager at OUTsurance

Purpose and Overview of the role:

• Our business product offering has grown significantly over the years which lead to the development of the face to face distribution channel. To facilitate this model the position for Regional General Manager: Sales (Face to Face) has emerged.
• The incumbent of this newly created position will head up a team of Managers including OUTsurance Agents / Agents / advisors located in their designated region/s

Minimum Requirements:

Qualification and Experience

• EssentialRelevant B Degree and/or equivalent NQF7
• Higher Certificate / Diploma in the insurance industry
• Minimum 5 years’ experience as a key stakeholder/manager in insurance Sales and Business Development
• Minimum of 3 years’ experience in a Sales Management role with emphasis on people management
• Strong flair for numbers and an ability to augment business rationale with supporting calculations
• Strong understanding of the Face to Face Distribution model in a direct insurer/ tied agency environment
• Excellent people management skills, including a track record of successfully leading large sales teams
• Solid Business Development understanding with specific focus to sales optimization as well as performance drive of the OUTsurance Financial Agents / advisors (’s)

Experience

• A Proven track record of your sales experience and your ability to lead a team of successful Face to Face Sales staff.

Competencies

• Self starter
• Influential, concise, rational and practical communicator
• Creative flair and innovative thinker
• Sound understanding of business
• Incredibly well spoken with strong interpersonal and negotiation skills
• Relationship management
• Strategy and project management skills
• The ability to manage multiple projects within tight deadlines
• Self-motivated team player, able to inspire colleagues and display leadership by example
• Discretion, judgment and high levels of trust

The Regional General Manager: Face to Face Distribution must align themselves with the OUTsurance culture and values of Awesome Service, Passionate, Honest, Human, Dynamic and Recognition.

Responsibilities:

Targets and Business Management

• Support the achievement of OUTsurance Agents / Agents / advisors by giving input on all strategic initiatives within the company in order to enhance sales volumes
• Facilitate target setting between the region and relevant strategic partners by presenting targets to the agents / advisors and managing their relevant relationships within the regions in order to provide support
• Facilitate the communication of agreed targets to OUTsurance Financial Agents / advisors (’s)and strategic partners within the regions
• Communicate the necessary expectations of all parties involved in order to meet collaborative goals
• Report, to the agents /agents / advisors , changes in strategic direction, structures and operating models in order to ensure transparent communication and effective operation within the region
• Explain and agree targets with individual agents /agents / advisors , communicate to all levels and take accountability for the overall achievement of performance objectives in the business area in terms of employee satisfaction, customer experience, cost performance and return on investment 
• Provide clear direction to team members on the OUTsurance Agents / Agents / advisors strategic plan and key focus areas and ensure their understanding and buy-in by explaining their expected contribution to achievement of business objectives
• Manage and drive the turnaround time in terms of targets to ensure a high sales performance within the region
• Manage the delivery of deviance reporting to the Head of Sales monthly/as and when requested in order to provide recommendations and mitigating solution to deviances that have occurred (e.g. sales targets not met etc.)
• Re-balance resources between different areas e.g. reallocating headcount or budgets, but within overall allocated resources for the year
• Manage regional budgets including signing off of invoices and quotes within mandate. Escalate out of budget items to the Head of Sales for approval
• Review performance against balanced score card components as prescribed by the Head of Sales , discuss gaps and agree action plans to close gaps
• Benchmark productivity of the region against industry standards and create measures to improve productivity
• Assist agents / advisors, as necessary, by interacting with clients in order to facilitate sales and/or client concerns/complaints

Coaching

• Coaching all OUTsurance Agents / Agents / advisors within the region to promote a productive sales environment to ensure sales targets are reached
• Meet with agents / advisors in the regional team on a regular basis in on a one on one basis to coach them on best practice sales processes
• Coach the agents / agents / advisors on issues and challenges they are experiencing in the region and provide guidance to them on resolving the issues by e.g. brainstorming around the issues / challenges or creating support network for the agents / advisors to align to
• Coach agents / agents / advisors (one on one and / or in groups)on how to use the relevant OUTsurance Face to Face Distribution systems and advise them on diary management in order to upgrade their sales skills
• Coach aagents /dvisors in instances where new projects, campaigns and products are launched into the regions and provide them with all relevant, updated information to enable them to produce sales
• Coach agents / agents / advisors on all compliance-related processes, procedures and documentation and monitor their adherence to the same

People Management

• Actively participate in the recruitment and selection process of all OUTsurance agents / advisors by interviewing new team members including determining appropriate compensation levels per the relevant remuneration model for agents / advisors
• Establish and maintain a succession plan for the regional team of agents /agents / advisors by seeking and attracting agents / advisors on an ongoing basis
• Create effective workforce plans and recruitment demand plans for own region to ensure that current and future business requirements can be met. Plans should be revised at least twice a year or as and when required
• Work with agents / advisors in the team to achieve excellent business results through continuous people development and mentoring activities
• Conduct meaningful performance development discussions with agents / advisors and ensure that agreed action plans are implemented
• Determine and analyse training and development needs for agents / advisors. Ensure that identified training is budgeted for and executed
• Motivate agents / advisors in allocated regions and ensure that their efforts are recognized
• Ensure that poor performance is addressed and that continued poor performance is dealt with in line with the company/department standards
• Approve leave requests for OUTsurance Financial Agents / advisors and manage the leave planning for own team of OUTsurance Financial Agents / advisors (’s) effectively
• Act as first level escalation point for all grievances raised by agents / advisors in the region

Risk management

• Communicate processes, control requirements and risk management frameworks that impact the sales process in own region and provide documented support to ensure understanding and for reference by agents / advisors
• Coach team members on all the processes and controls that they have to execute in their daily work and ensure that they understand the reasons for the controls and the consequences for failing to adhere to the prescribed processes
• Own and agree corrective action items arising from Compliance, Internal Audit and / or Management assurance findings related to the functional area under management
• Ensure that agents / advisors in own region complete all required compliance exams and attestations within specified timeframes. Do not allow agents / advisors to work until they have completed pre-requisite compliance training
• Ensure team understands all compliance requirements and call for the area’s Compliance Officer to conduct briefing sessions if gaps are identified
• Ensure that all regulatory requirements are adhered to by facilitating knowledge acquisition by agents / advisors. Provide information on all changes to policies, processes and procedures that are being planned and ensure that team members read circulars that are relevant to the area and answer questions they may have

Identify Business Opportunities

• Identify and manage the creation of new business opportunities for the region in order to expand the market size for OUTsurance agents / advisors (’s) and support the agents / advisors with new sales opportunities
• Identify new business offerings for the agents / advisors in order to provide additional sales opportunities

Reporting Lines:

• The Regional General Manager Sales: Face to Face Distribution report directly to the Head of Sales: Face to Face Distribution, as well as other internal and external stakeholders, including: the Actuaries, Training, Marketing, Compliance and HR departments.