Head of Sales

Our client is seeking a Head of Sales to develop and implement sales strategies, methods, and processes, and integrate the organization’s resources to drive commercial and direct customer acquisition and retention efforts in specified territories for the organization to gain market share. This includes coordination with internal stakeholders to ensure the successful distribution of products and fulfilment of sales orders.

Responsibilities

• Conduct a potential customer and market intelligence analysis to inform the Business Unit Sales strategy.
• Develop customer management strategy and key customer account management plans.
• Develop and manage business unit sales strategies and the processes required to manage successful selling on an ongoing basis with the aim of improving customer reach and ultimately contribute to the organization’s market share gains in alignment within the Business overall Strategy, objectives, and target.
• Support the definition of frameworks, strategies and plans for product commercialization, revenue forecasting, and margin protection.
• Implement the Business Unit Sales strategy.
• Manage direct sales leads and opportunities by implementing a structured process to evaluate financial viability of potential customer and sales transactions.
• Negotiate contracts, pricing agreements, and terms of sale with Clients to maximize profitability while remaining competitive in the market.
• Manage customer contracts by ensuring and overseeing the necessary customer due diligence for trade customers, the development of legally sound customer contract and service terms and the development of comprehensive customer contract implementation plans and process.
• Determine legitimate use cases of customer data that are beneficial to the organization and facilitate the development and appropriate use of customer insights.
• Drive and oversee the required coordination with internal stakeholders and internal processes to efficiently fulfil customer orders.
• Implement and guide systematic order entry and follow-up activities such as inquiries and reporting of order transactions.
• Implement structured processes to define accurate order distribution requirements and customer delivery schedules and ensure consistent meeting of the customer delivery expectations.
• Continuously collaborate with the Agronomy Centre of Excellence (CoE) to provide expert guidance and support to the Sales function.
• Implement structured processes to provide effective farmer advisory and extension services as well as on-going farmer support and training.
• Ensure the integration and alignment of Agronomy Services as a value-added component within the Sales portfolio across all customer segments.
• Ensure the efficient management and fulfilment of customer orders (OTC) to drive revenue growth, enhance customer satisfaction, and maintain strong business relationships.
• Oversee the identification of customer sales leads and opportunities ensuring thorough management and conversion to sales.
• Plan and forecast product sales to allocate resources, optimize inventory management, and drive revenue growth, ensuring alignment with business objectives and market demand.
• Effectively manage customer accounts and relationships to cultivate long-term partnerships, drive customer satisfaction, and maximize revenue opportunities.
• Manage customer contracts to ensure compliance, mitigate risks, optimize terms, and foster mutually beneficial relationships.
• Manage order payments and revenue assurance to ensure accurate and timely processing of transactions.
• Ensure accurate and on-time processing of customer invoices.
• Development and implementation of trade customer management processes as well as timely follow-up of customer order payments to protect the recovery of the organization revenue.
• Monitor and evaluate sales activities and sales performance and prepare regular reports to track progress against targets and identify opportunities.
• Monitor and evaluate profitability performance by internal sales teams, channels and strategic alliances and partners.
• Ensure compliance with relevant regulations, laws, and industry standards governing the sale and distribution of fertilizer products.
• Identify sensitive customer data and establish data protection rules on how sensitive customer data must be handled throughout the customer data touch points in accordance with the organization’s guidelines and laws of the land.
• Ensure compliance with relevant regulations, laws, and industry standards governing the sale and distribution of fertilizer products.
• Identify and pursue strategic sales partnerships and alliances to enable sustainable growth on the long term.
• Supporting business sustainability by critically analysing sales performance against sales forecasts for future sales strategies and plans.
• Management and improvement of customer’s relationship with the intent of retaining customers and or increasing their sales volumes of the organization’s products/services.
• Develop sales forecasts and plans based on market trends and business objectives, and continuously adjust strategies as needed to meet changing market conditions.
• Identify and pursue new opportunities in alignment with the Strategy, Competitor landscape and Market trends.
• Provide input into the product development and enhancements to ensure alignment with existing and prospective customer needs.
• Ensure effective use of customer feedback in the development of customer products and customer facing operations.
• Evaluate customer service operations and customer satisfaction and drive continuous improvement efforts to close customer operations and customer satisfaction gaps.
• Ensure efficient resolution of customer problems, queries, and complaints.
• Implement robust management of proactive and responsive customer contact.
• Provide leadership, guidance, and support to the Sales function, setting sales targets, monitoring performance, and fostering a culture of high performance and accountability.
• Implement the individual performance management system to support the achievement of Business Unit strategies and plans.
• Manage the strategic use of data and its inherent value to explore opportunities, plan, and guide all decisions for execution.
• Accumulation and analysis of customer data and trends in the appropriate tools for the development of customer acquisition and retention strategies.
• Ensure appropriate capturing, storage, maintenance, access, revision and usage of customer information and commercial data to ensure data validity and accuracy.
• Contribute to the digital transformation conversation and identify opportunities for digitization within the Sales environment.

Skills

• Resilience and Tenacity.
• Integrity.
• Business Acumen.
• Analytical Thinking.
• Problem-solving.
• Customer Focus.
• Driving for Results.
• Building Partnerships.
• Strategy Implementation.
• Planning and Organizing.
• Sales Planning.
• Research & Analysis.
• Business Performance Management.
• Forecasting.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and/or Professional Qualifications Honorary Member – Zambia Institute of Marketing.
• 3 – 5 years experience, including a track record of 2 years in a team lead/people management or technical position.