Regional Sales Manager Category Head

Responsible for dealerships nationally, to provide ongoing support, with a focus on sales revenue and market share growth, aligned with the strategic objectives of the Company.

(This role requires a high degree of resilience with the ability to work under pressure, manage personal effectiveness in everyday challenges, and demonstrate commitment, energy and motivation.)

**Qualifications and Experience**:

- BA / Hons / M Degree in Business
- Automotive industry experience with a minimum of 5 years in a Dealership Sales Management role
- OEM experience essential (good understanding of the wholesale division of the business)
- Sales forecasting
- Sales strategies
- Demonstrate hands-on capability with sufficient technical / product knowledge to interface successfully internally with sales and service departments

**Skills and Competencies**:

- Flexibility adapts easily to change and responds flexibly to a changing and evolving environment, provides momentum to others in execution of plans
- Expert influencing, persuading, negotiating skills
- Strong analysis and problem-solving ability
- Ability to give clear and consistent instructions
- Excellent people management skills
- Self-starter
- Excellent follow-through
- Excellent ability to operate under pressure
- Strong communication, influencing and presentation skills both verbal and written
- Strong attention to detail, accuracy
- Project management: develop project plans, co-ordinates projects, complete projects
- Analytical collects and analyse data, design work flow and procedures. Able to simplify complex problems, processes and projects into component parts and explore and evaluate them systematically
- Leadership forward thinking and proactive with judgement, direction setting and achieving of targets.
Capacity to use judgement and evaluate situations in order to make decisions following through to appropriate action and results.

**Responsibilities**:

- Drive regional sales to achieve market share and budget objectives through various activities and actions.
- Facilitate Dealer Sales processes and the review and implementation of Dealer Strategies.
- Set dealer targets.
- Develop and maintain sales operating standards and procedures for dealers.
- Review short
- medium
- and long-term sales objectives and provide corrective actions.
- Implement appropriate plans for sales and CSI target achievement.
- Assist and facilitate dealers with Fleet sales.
- Pipeline Management ensure sufficient stock cover through continuous ordering.
- Maintain dealer network standards.
- Respond to dealership complaints and ensure highest level of customer satisfaction.
- Conduct regular fleet visits to maintain customer relationships and ensure customer delight.
- Prepare regional sales strategies, reports and forecasts and ensure timely presentation to Division Head.
- Keep current with economic indicators, changing trends, supply and demand and competitors to maintain sales volume and product mix.
- Positively contribute to team effort by accomplishing related results.
- Conduct daily business in compliance with all company policies and departmental guidelines.
- Manage territory by providing assistance to dealers to achieve goals, review status of orders and shipments to dealers, management of current inventories, and review credit holds and dealer credit lines.
- Identify training needs of dealers and develop/recommend applicable programs.
- Manage ageing stock.
- Manage floor plans and insufficient funds list.
- Manage outstanding dealer orders to drive wholesale.
- Evaluate resource capacity at dealer level.
- Train and develop dealer sales teams for functional and technical skills.
- Ensure sufficient brand exposure through dealer advertising and marketing.
- Ensure that dealers are kept updated on marketing and product bulletins, finance schemes and incentives.
- Develop and maintain a good understanding of respective markets within the context of the South African motor vehicle industry, such as: penetration, segmentation analysis, pricing, competitor activity, trading methodologies and product strategies.
- Compile sales report for all regions.
- Report on corrective actions for underperforming dealers.
- Manage dealer performance through the Traffic Light report.
- Manage and resolve outstanding dealer claims and queries.
- Liaise with dealers regarding their specific needs.
- Respond to queries within an acceptable timeframe.
- Follow up on customer care queries.
- Ensure a proper corporate image is portrayed and communicated to all relevant parties.
- CATEGORY HEAD FUNCTION (Passenger Vehicles): building volume, market share and strong relationships with all stakeholders; Strategic initiatives; Provide insights to the Brand; Dealer and AOR performance; Stocking and Ageing; Market share, Performance Matrix; Ordering; Research competitors and suggest tactical initiatives; Dealer centricity etc.