National Account Manager--Supermarket Channel

Summary:

The primary function of the National Account Manager is to profitably grow sales in an established region within the Supermarket channel. Maintain and expand sales at assigned customer accounts and develop new business with current and new customers in the region. This role will focus on developing large national and mid-size retailers and distributors at the headquarter level in the Supermarket channel as well as other channels that may be assigned.

Responsibilities include Broker management, business planning and selling activities related to creating long-term valued business partnerships with customers and achieving mutually beneficial sales agreements through understanding the customer’s business needs. This position requires significant analysis of syndicated data and/or vendor portals for the purpose of selling, account promotional planning and forecasting.  Position will gather competitive information and report back on market trends to the company.

** To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Essential Functions:

Planning:

• Leverage insights and deploy supporting tactics to achieve financial objectives of the 1-to-3-year business plan.
• Develop and maintain annual account plans to drive every day and seasonal sales and achieve net sales and trade spend objectives. 
• Proactively develop strategies to enhance execution of new product roll outs.
• Build and maintain rolling monthly forecasts by customer by item, including promotional and non-promotional volume plans.
• Provide input for new product development and promotional programs that seek to maximize the likelihood of buyer acceptance and exceed retention or repeat thresholds for retail velocity.
• Participate in sales meetings and periodic field market visits with appropriate management.
• Complete monthly company expense reports in a timely manner to stay current.

Selling:

• Serve as the primary representative of the company and our brands and products to accounts.
• Work with all National and Regional Brokers to outline sales objectives, as well as priorities per account to continue to drive revenue.
• Meet with customers and communicate product and program features and benefits.
• Perform Market Visits to educate ourselves and customers on competitive landscape.
• Manage key accounts and generate new leads and interest in supplemental products from the existing product portfolio to achieve appropriate levels of account penetration.

• Maintain a listing of sales opportunities through a Customer Relationship Management system

(CRM), prioritize opportunities and provide updates on progress of pursuits. 

• Participate in industry trade shows including regional and national retailer or distributor events.

Analysis

• Develop and maintain solid relationships at assigned retailer headquarters, conduct Category Reviews and Business Reviews as part of strategic planning to grow annual sales.
• Review pre and post analysis on promo events, including promotional and baseline sales.
• Effectively utilize analytical tools to understand syndicated data (Nielsen, Circana, etc.) and customer provided point-of-sale data. 
• Provide category analysis and consumer insights to customers and become perceived as a business advisor to the account.
• Use insights from data and work with customers to develop and implement plans that drive profitable and predictable sales results. 
• Monitor and control customer expenses to minimize waste.
• Evaluate broker representation opportunities and broker effectiveness per account. 

Supervisory Responsibilities                                             
There may be supervisory responsibilities available down the road for management of junior sales professionals, depending on the size and number of accounts being managed or pursued.

Requirements / Qualifications:

 

• Outstanding presentation and public speaking skills.
• Strong analytical skills required and the ability to multi-task in a fast-paced environment.
• Overall ability to set, pursue and attain achievable goals, regardless of obstacles or circumstances.
• Demonstrates high level of customer service, identifying and responding actively and with sensitivity to the needs of all internal and external customers.
• Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as discounts, interest, commissions, proportions, percentages, and volume.
• Demonstrated experience and knowledge of business issues and revenue and profit impact beyond data collection and analytical knowledge.
• Gains trust of customers thru personal interactions and helps customer success with our brands.

Education:

Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent or relevant experience and a minimum of 10 years of experience in Supermarket Sales is required. MBA is a plus.

Experience: Retail channel experience with strong customer relationships preferred. Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) food experience preferred.                                         

Computer Skills  
Proficient in Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Word and Outlook. 
Maintain contacts and sales opportunity information in corporate Customer Relationship Management system.
 
Other
Travel may be required up to 40-50% of the time on a regional or national scale to attend and present at select sales calls, company meetings in York, PA and the West Coast manufacturing facility in Santa Ana, CA.  May work remotely.