Sales Manager Midwest - Food/Nutrition

Your Role

Job Summary:

Calling all FOODIES to apply!

The Sales Manager is responsible for managing the overall sales efforts of all Account Managers in their assigned territory or industry in order to maximize sales and profit. They manage the Account Managers' activities and resulting sales/pricing performance, plus their ability to continually develop and achieve high performance and Commercial Excellence. They guide the individual Account Managers on identifying, prioritizing and converting new opportunities - both with regards to opportunities of existing customers through cross- and range-selling as well as with new leads. They uphold Brenntag core values and focus on customer excellence in all regards and every day.

Job Description:

Team Management (40%)

• Effectively communicate the sales strategy, related tactics and expectations for the assigned territory or industry.

• Pre-define and communicate service levels, payment terms etc. - in alignment with defined guardrails (customer segmentation, ComEx).

• Establish Gross-Profit targets and set both team and individual targets / KPIs.

• Motivate the sales team to achieve Regional targets and KPIs (both quantitative and qualitative).

• Ensure all Account Managers create, maintain, and present a robust sales plan, incl. mid-term objectives/ action-plans for priority customers.

• Guide team to focus sales activities on the right customers (e.g., utilizing CRM classifications).

• Help team to prioritize new customer leads or customer projects and manage campaign initiation and execution.

• Facilitate effective collaboration with cross-functional internal teams and Industry/ Product experts, who can support the delivery of increased product baskets and solutions for customers; Ensure Product Management are utilized effectively to create growth opportunities.

• Take responsibility for dealing with under-performers; interview & recruit new sales team members.

• Push people development incl. training and coaching (for details, see training and coaching below).

• Conduct deployment/staff planning, taking into account vacation/sick leave and resulting temporary replacements.

• Ensure all commercial activities within her/his area of responsibility are conducted in line with Brenntag's codes, guidelines and local and international legislation.

Strategy and future direction (10%)

• Maintain an up-to-date level of market, product, technical, and application knowledge, e.g., via training.

• Identify/ Derive growth opportunities/ trends and exchange with Product Management.

• Support Product Management in supplier relationship management, e.g., through participating in business reviews.

• Derive the optimal sales strategy for the team of Account Managers, taking into account customers/products/ market developments and overall strategy.

• Develop customer retention strategies.

• Be part of the Sales Management leadership team and jointly shape the future sales direction.

Internal meetings for training and coaching (20%)

• Hold weekly and monthly one-on-one review meetings with each Account Manager (physical or virtual) to discuss activities and upcoming visit/call plans.

• Hold regular coaching sessions (minimum quarterly, but ideally monthly) with each EAM/IAM and provide immediate feedback (Note: These coaching sessions can take place after joint customer meetings).

• Hold regular (min. quarterly) meetings with the sales team, to review team performance, discuss market-changes, refine commercial tactics, agree on new actions, share best-practices and facilitate team building.

• Arrange and carry out further sales training (with external providers), in order to continually develop the Account Managers.

Systems and Admin (20%)

• Ensure appropriate data administration and documentation of all customer interactions and business cases in the local CRM system (e.g., post processing of visits, customer potential, customer projects, outstanding actions).

• Review team performance by reading CRM reports, monitoring the status of outstanding actions, measuring performance against sales campaigns and commercial excellence (e.g., price & margin management initiatives etc.).

• Complete sales and revenue-related reporting and develop respective actions.

• Proactively manage and push EAMs/IAMs into the digital transformation in sales (Brenntag Connect).

Pricing (10%)

• Act as a first escalation instance.

• Provide pricing guidance with regards to price differentiation.

• Push Account Managers on pricing excellence (e.g., margin management).

• Review prices set below min. threshold.

Your Profile

Education and Experience:

• Preferably Post-Secondary Education with a focus in Business, Science or equivalent preferred.

• Experience in the chemical distribution business, in a sales capacity, with a minimum 2 years of relevant leadership experience

• Proven Management competencies, including having a track-record of achieving strong sales growth and delivering against business objectives.

• High school diploma; BSc/BA in office administration or relevant field is preferred

Our Offer

We aim to create an environment where the best people want to work, where they can turn their passion into their job and realize their full potential.

• Individual development, on-the-job training, and development programs designed to help our employees grow in their careers.

• Paid parental leave

• Education assistance program

• Employee assistance program

• Various healthcare plan options as well as 401(k)

Brenntag and its subsidiary companies will provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants without regard to any category protected by federal, state or local law, including as applicable, applicant’s actual or perceived race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression (including transgender status), gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, lactation and related medical condition), genetic information, military service, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, veteran status, physical or mental disability, protected medical condition as defined by applicable federal, state or local law, political affiliation, marital status, membership in an employee organization, parental status, expunged juvenile record, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local law. Brenntag will provide reasonable accommodations to allow an applicant to participate in the hiring process (e.g., accommodations for a test or job interview) if so requested. When completing this application, you may exclude information that would disclose or otherwise reference your race, religion, age, sex, genetic, veteran status, disability or any other status protected by federal, state, or local law. This application is considered current for sixty (60) days only. At the end of this period, if you are still interested in employment, it will be necessary for you to reapply by completing a new application.

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Brenntag TA Team