Associate Sales Manager

Description

General Summary: Storck USA is seeking a proactive and detail-oriented individual who has the desire for a career in Sales/Account Management with direct account responsibility to support the continued growth of our business. This dynamic role will interact with various business functions, including Sales, Category Insights, Trade Marketing, and Supply Planning, which involves managing both strategic and administrative responsibilities. 

The main responsibility of the role is to assist in managing and strengthening the day-to-day relationship with assigned Strategic Retail Customers and internal stakeholders. The ideal candidate will have a customer-focused and entrepreneurial mindset, a problem-solving attitude, be highly detail-oriented, and have the desire to grow into a direct sales role. This role is a perfect opportunity to expand your business acumen, grow your analytical toolkit, and engage with strategic retail customers. This role is a potential stepping stone to a Sales Manager role with direct account responsibility where you must be open to relocation.

Supervisory Responsibilities: This position does not have supervisory responsibilities.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities: 
Business Planning and Implementation (General Business Management)

• Understand and fully support the needs of assigned Customers and proactively provide insights to support the continued development of the business 
• Manage the sales support/administrative tasks for assigned Customers and National Account Sales Manager
• Increase the market share by the main growth-drivers assortment, customer promotion, and additional placement considering the promotion concept and pay for performance model
• Ensure mutually profitable business development (company & client)
• Develop Customer Potential Planning (CPP) and complete necessary steps to execute identified potentials
• Plan total turnover in terms of value (GSV, NSV) and volume (tonnage, sales units), including planning the sale of secondary displays, in-out offers and other required in accordance with monthly, quarterly and annual goals based on the marketing and sales plan and the existing potential of clients

Sales/Business Development Analysis

• Participate with cross-functional team in preparing for assigned Customers sales presentations by organizing & assisting to develop presentation content, project-specific details, findings from store visits, and other meeting needs. Assist with the preparation of internal presentations and meeting needs.
• Create, update, manage and maintain internal files, including price lists/tools, trade tracking, and business performance tools/files 
• Assist in all aspects product and financial forecasting 
• Assist in new product commercialization process that requires cross-functional collaboration between internal colleagues and the Strategic Retail Customers
• Use international sales tools and KPIs to strengthen the sales process
• Complete plan vs. result deviation analysis in relation to product/overall result by turnover and sales volume, market share, listing/distribution costs, and recommend actions based on analysis
• Analyze and monitor competitive activities; deliver and execute against key learnings gained
• Complete post-analysis of sales measures such as promotions and take actions to further improve

Customer Relationship Management and Sales Development

• Build and maintain consultative business relationships with customer Key Decision Makers (KDMs)/Buyer(s) at all levels at assigned Channel/Customer
• Cultivate a strong network of contacts at all levels of internal and external customers to achieve sales objectives within assigned Channel/Customer (e.g. sales, merchandise teams, imperative to business)
• Understand Brand and Category management objectives (4P’s/3 A's) and translate these into business strategy, plans, and tactics at customer. Business plans should reflect both Storck and customer objectives.
• Create and use convincing selling stories by application of sales methods 
• Prepare and execute regular (e.g. quarterly, annual etc.) dialog and argumentation with assigned Customers in consultation with National Account Sales Manager. Document and summarize relevant contact/agreements (personal meeting, phone call) with a buyer in a form of contact minutes and share it with customer.
• Support and manage the negotiation process with National Account Sales Manager as applicable (preparation, execution & monitoring results)
• Achieve and document listings and improvement of distributions
• Develop measures in the event of target deviations
• Ensure consistent communication and collaboration with field sales and/or external broker partners to ensure business success

Retail Visits

• Maintain working knowledge of Retail Customers‘ confection set and provide updates on an ongoing basis – product offerings, pricing, etc. 
• Act as the go-to resource for all trends related to the Retail Customers‘, developing perspective on both candy and a total store trends 
• Complete weekly store checks at customers and key competition and create plan to communicate key findings to business stakeholders 
• Monitor and report on retail pricing & competitive in-store activity
• Lead real-time Customer store audit/research projects, while incorporating findings in larger retail share out

Internal Collaboration and Communication

• Provide information about goals, measures and current developments to National Account Sales Manager and Sales Leadership
• Responsible for ensuring compliance with the agreed flow of information within the organization (could include e.g. finance, supply chain, marketing etc.)
• Participate in internal management meetings (e.g. field service, marketing etc.) with the objective to present agreed measures and sales targets

Other Duties and Responsibilities:

• Fulfill Storck Company Values; Belonging, Passion, and Growth
• Other duties as assigned

Requirements

  Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: 

• Self-starter, motivated, and drives for results with a winning spirit
• Problem-solver, brings solutions where there are obstacles versus just identifying obstacles; persistent and the ability to work well under pressure 
• Willingness to take reasonable risks and recommend decisions with integrity and responsibility
• Analytical skills; able to organize and drive meaningful decisions in an effective manner
• Embraces change and able to influence change 
• Team player who works well in a collaborative environment and shares information freely, effectively, and is approachable by all levels of the organization, both within the US and Internationally 
• Organized, detail oriented, and able to balance competing priorities
• Ability and willingness to learn and apply learning in order to triangulate data from different sources to identify opportunities and conclusions
• Critical thinking and decision-making skills in an action-oriented manner
• Developing ability to build productive relationships with clients with strong customer orientation and focus
• Developing the ability to adapt style and level of detail depending on audience in all forms of communication, including demonstrating assertiveness and persuasiveness as needed
• Developing strong presentation and negotiations skills; clear verbal and written communication
• Demonstrates emerging leadership skills including ability to influence and bring team members along with you without direct reporting relationships
• Customer focused and entrepreneurial mindset
• A curiosity to learn more about the candy category and retail landscape
• Proven track record for resourcefulness and the ability to work independently

Education and Experience: 

• Bachelor’s degree in Sales, Business, Marketing, or related field, or equivalent experience required 
• The ideal candidate will have 3-5 years of experience in the CPG industry in either Sales, Marketing, Category Management, Project Management, and/or Trade Marketing. 
• Experience working with Value Channel and National/Mass Retailer customers preferred
• Business acumen and the ability to quickly learn technical software (Business Intelligence (BI) by IBM/SAP Cloud preferred, IRI or Nielsen)
• Highly proficient with Microsoft Office (Outlook, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Teams)

Working Conditions: Hybrid Work Model, including Monday and Friday Work from Home, and Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday in normal working conditions for an office environment downtown Chicago, IL. This role is a potential steppingstone to a Sales Manager role with direct account responsibility, where you must be open to relocation after 2-4 years.

Other Qualification, Safety Procedures: Must be willing to follow and comply with communicated Company, Travel, and Retailer safety procedures, which may include COVID-19 testing or following other safety procedures in order to attend meetings, travel domestically or internationally, comply with Retail Partner safety procedures, and/or follow other workplace health and safety requirements to fulfil job duties.

Travel: Approximately 10-25%, which could include international travel. 

Additional Information: Storck USA is not currently hiring individuals for this position who now or in the future require sponsorship for employment visa status.

What we offer: The salary range for this position is USD $88,000-$105,000 annually at the time of this posting. Pay is based on several factors, including but not limited to position offered, education, skills, work experience, and other factors permitted by law. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range. This position is also eligible for bonus pay. In addition to your salary, Storck offers a comprehensive total rewards package, including a 6% employer 401(k) plan contribution, Health benefits on day 1 including a 100% employer paid option for medical and dental, Paid maternity/paternity leave, Monthly wellness stipend, and more. This position is also eligible for PTO ranging from 35-45 days based on our Company PTO Policies and paid Sabbaticals ranging from 5-20 days based on tenure. Plus, we can’t forget to mention the supply of delicious candy!!

Additional information regarding the benefits for this position can be found in the Benefits Summary that is available from our Human Resources Department.