National Account Manager

National Account Manager

Full-Time, Exempt • Austin, TX • Reports to Vice President, National Accounts • Blake's Beverage Company

THE RISING TIDE LIFTS MORE GLASSES. When the apples align, greatness emerges. Introducing Blake's Beverage Co., a force born from the union of Avid Cider Co., Blake's Hard Cider, and Austin Eastciders. Our united mission: To reclaim cider's rightful place as America's drink. With a passion for bold, fruit-forward flavors, we craft beverages that resonate with a diverse audience. Fresh ingredients, a commitment to craft, and a rich 78-year history of family farming fuel our relentless dedication to the cider cause. With our feet firmly grounded in the soils of MI, TX, OR, and NY, we press on.

The National Account Manager's main function with Blake's Beverage Co. is to help lead the overall national chain strategy including selling and executing the sales and marketing programs for priority chain accounts. Responsibilities include planning, forecasting, and executing business plans with key chain accounts, and coordinating with other business functions and distributors to deliver on the plan. The role will serve as a steward of the Blake's Beverage Co. business across the US and work in alignment with the Vice President, National Accounts.

Your Role With Blake's: Key Responsibilities

National Chain Strategy & Account Leadership

• Develop and execute national chain account strategies that drive sales growth, increase distribution, and expand brand presence with a focus on customer needs, company sales objectives, and revenue growth goals.

• Secure new and expanded distribution opportunities for Blake's Beverage Co. products within assigned retail accounts.

• Build and maintain strong relationships with current and prospective retail partners through regular meetings, presentations, and business reviews.

• Lead planning, communication, and execution of national chain meetings and key customer engagements.

• Understand how to navigate the current climate of the hard cider segment by positioning Blake's Beverage Co. as the pre-eminent independent craft hard cider and be able to provide the highest quality products to suit the needs of the retail customer and their consumers.

Distributor & Field Partnership

• Partner with Sales Leadership, Regional Sales Managers, Field Sales teams, and Operations to ensure successful execution of sales initiatives and priorities.

• Collaborate with distributor partners and regional sales teams to identify new growth opportunities and increase sales volume.

• Work closely with Sales Directors, Regional Sales Managers & distributors to ensure proper inventories to support all key account programming activity.

• Share monthly gap reports with distributors for assigned chain accounts and work to maintain 100% compliance.

• Assist with and participate in annual distributor ABP Meetings.

Planning, Forecasting & Reporting

• Work closely with the Vice President, National Accounts in forecasting, goal setting, tracking and auditing authorized and mandated PODs and programming.

• Conduct regular business reviews for retailer account base to evaluate sales performance (distribution, volume, and budgets) against goals and identify opportunities for improvement.

• Communicate ads, displays, promotional pricing, sales results, and distribution results to distributors, sales leaders, and regional teams to track execution and ROI on a regular basis.

• Develop and maintain a shared master calendar of all presentation dates, reset dates, programming, ads, promotional/sampling opportunities etc.

• Organize, manage and update all individual account and retail banner profiles including all points of communication for all retail partners.

• Effectively communicate all relevant National Account information to BBC stakeholders.

Representing Blake's

• Model and always adhere to the Blake's Beverage Co. Servant Leadership philosophy and values, including our commitment to inclusion, quality, profitability, our co-workers, and our community.

• Represent BBC at various events & meetings that support the company at large.

What Great Looks Like: Qualifications

Required

• 3-5+ years of National Account Management experience in the alcohol space is required.

• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent in relevant experience or related field.

• Established relationship/contact base for national accounts and demonstrated track record of success in Key Accounts.

• Distributor management experience.

• Thorough understanding of distribution and the 3-tier system.

• Ability to successfully manage and utilize budgets to support BBC sales volume & distribution goals.

• Ability to build effective presentations that tell the one-of-a-kind story of Blake's Beverage Co.

• Advanced knowledge of VIP, Circana (formerly IRI) and/or Nielsen and the ability to analyze statistical data, identify trends and simply convey nuanced and specific relevant information into actionable objectives & goals.

• Computer proficiency in Microsoft Office Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.

Travel & Transportation

• Ability to travel extensively if necessary while working a flexible schedule.

• Ability to regularly travel to all assigned territories/headquarter calls.

• Valid driver's license, clean driving record and comprehensive auto insurance for a reliable source of transportation.

What We Look For in a Teammate

• The desire and willingness to do "whatever it takes", "help each other be successful", to have "full accountability to each other" and to "treat our customers like guests in our home and our fellow employees like family".

• A passion for our business, our partners, our customers, our consumers and all members of our Blake's Beverage Family.

How You're Rewarded: Benefits

• Competitive Compensation Structure

• Medical/Dental/Long Term Disability/Vision benefits

• 401(k) retirement plan with company match

• Paid Time Off

• Paid holidays

Blake's Beverage Company is an equal opportunity employer.