Area Sales Manager (Cylinder Sales)

About the role

The Area Sales Manager (ASM) leads cylinder sales in the assigned area, driving market growth and responding to competition and market developments. The role ensures effective distributor and stakeholder management to grow Proto's market share and sales volumes, while building sales capability within the assigned team.

Key responsibilities

• Run daily morning market plans with the distributor and ensure daily morning presence at the distributor's premises
• Visit existing and potential outlets in the territory to meet planned sales targets and sustain business growth
• Ensure product availability targets are met through liaison with distributors and effective management of the sales representative (SR)
• Sell the key features and customer benefits of Proto's brands and products, using customer insights to unlock growth with distributors, retailers and sales representatives
• Map the market universe into territories according to segmentation guidelines
• Plan and sell joint customer plans with distributors, including performance measures reviewed weekly or monthly
• Define daily minimum execution standards for distributors and teams, applying the 365 Essentials principles
• Coach and mentor the TSR team and distributors to comply with standards and achieve targets
• Build longer-term execution plans with customers, supervise them and set course corrections where needed
• Monitor and own the activation of all promotions so they run on time and in full
• Work with distributors to develop their sales capability and update trade coverage plans
• Drive a culture of sales excellence, compliance and adherence to the Code of Ethics, global and local standards, health and safety requirements and audit controls
• Partner with the Commercial and Operations teams on compliance matters and policy changes

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree, preferably in business management, sales or marketing
• Experience in sales and marketing achieving stretched targets, preferably in FMCG channel or distributor management
• Experience in RTM development, selling and negotiation, marketing strategy and customer relationship management

Required skills

• Identifying commercial opportunities
• Strategy development and execution
• Performance management
• Adherence to controls and guidelines
• High integrity