Senior Sales Manager Southern Africa Region

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Job Description:

Your Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc.

When you join Caterpillar, you're joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do – but also about each other.  We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don't just talk about progress and innovation here – we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live. Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it.

We are looking for a Senior Sales Manager Southern Africa Region join our Sales & Marketing Africa team working within one of the Constructions Industries newly formed divisions, Customer Solutions Growth Regions.

At Caterpillar, we're committed to our customers, who build a better, more sustainable world with our products, services and solutions. We understand and show the value of why they should choose us. We're exploring new ideas and opportunities – innovating to discover the breakthroughs necessary for tomorrow's growth. Through it all, we are one team– creating and delivering world-class products, services and solutions superior to the competition. Learn more about the Caterpillar Experience.

About Customer Solutions Growth Regions Division

This team, alongside dealers, engages closely with customers to create, customize and adapt solutions to meet their needs by leveraging the extensive range of offerings available today across products and services, digital and technology, rental and used, and financing. The division is regionally focused on Africa, the Middle East, Eurasia, Asia (excluding Japan), and Latin America (LATAM) and organized into three functional areas: Customer Facing, Customer Solutions and Business Enablers. This role is part of the Sales & Marketing Africa team that is the customer-facing engine of our business, driving growth by delivering tailored, territory-specific solutions that solve customer pain points, accelerate decision-making, and enable profitable sales execution.

Role Definition: Lead development and execution of commercial strategy of assigned products and/or markets.

What You Will Do:

• Identifying and analyzing organization's strengths and weaknesses and responding to opportunities in sales environment.

• Supervising and coordinating the daily activities of staff engaged in promoting and selling a product; overseeing the resolution of customer complaints.

• Developing and managing sales programs in alignment with long and short-term sales strategies; establishing training programs for sales team.

• Managing and directing a sales force to achieve sales and profit goals; determining discount rates.

• Coverage: Responsible for commercial plans to deliver growth targets in 8 countries: South Africa and Swaziland, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Angola, Zimbabwe.

What will Put you Ahead (Preferred Skills):

• +10 years' experience in commercial activities and key account management business in Africa

• Strong experience in machinery, construction, and mining industries

• Deep knowledge of South Africa construction and mining contractor business is a must 

What You Have (Basic Skills Required):

Customer Focus: Knowledge of the values and practices that align customer needs and satisfaction as primary considerations in all business decisions and ability to leverage that information in creating customized customer solutions.
Level Extensive Experience:

• Facilitates creation of the 'right' products and services to resolve customer business issues

• Fosters strong customer relationships via delivery on commitments, open communication, and on-going feedback/improvement.

• Advises others on creating customer focused environments in various scenarios.

• Anticipates customer needs, focusing efforts to proactively meet needs and exceed customer expectations.

• Measures and observes customer satisfaction levels to ascertain and implement service improvement alternatives.

• Communicates and models the criticality of customer focus as an organizational strategy.

Industry Knowledge: Knowledge of the organization's industry group, trends, directions, major issues, regulatory considerations, and trendsetters; ability to apply industry knowledge appropriately to diverse situations.
Level Extensive Experience:

• Educates others on own organization in terms of the industry - its market position, niche (if any), etc..

• Compares and contrasts the latest developments and emerging issues in the industry.

• Raises coworkers' awareness of industry standards, practices and guidelines.

• Assesses how regulatory and reporting requirements apply to own organization.

• Explains the development of industry segments - trends, consequences, key issues.

• Discusses industry-specific cycles and associated considerations.

Decision Making and Critical Thinking: Knowledge of the decision-making process and associated tools and techniques; ability to accurately analyze situations and reach productive decisions based on informed judgment.
Level Extensive Experience:

• Differentiates assumptions, perspectives, and historical frameworks.

• Evaluates past decisions for insights to improve decision-making process.

• Assesses and validates decision options and points and predicts their potential impact.

• Advises others in analyzing and synthesizing relevant data and assessing alternatives.

• Uses effective decision-making approaches such as consultative, command, or consensus.

• Ensures that assumptions and received wisdom are objectively analyzed in decisions.

Effective Communications: Understanding of effective communication concepts, tools and techniques; ability to effectively transmit, receive, and accurately interpret ideas, information, and needs through the application of appropriate communication behaviors.
Level Extensive Experience:

• Reviews others' writing or presentations and provides feedback and coaching.

• Adapts documents and presentations for the intended audience.

• Demonstrates both empathy and assertiveness when communicating a need or defending a position.

• Communicates well downward, upward, and outward.

• Employs appropriate methods of persuasion when soliciting agreement.

• Maintains focus on the topic at hand.

Negotiating: Knowledge of successful negotiation concepts and techniques; ability to negotiate successfully across the organization and with external vendors and clients in a constructive and collaborative manner.
Level Extensive Experience:

• Ensures negotiators have awareness of complementary yet diverse interests.

• Successfully completes significant negotiations, both internal and external.

• Details the risks of negotiation breakdown from each party's perspective.

• Protects own position, while demonstrating willingness to achieve win-win.

• Identifies similarities and differences in position and assesses impact on discussions.

• Detects and addresses lack of progress or a stalemate.

Relationship Management: Knowledge of relationship management techniques; ability to establish and maintain healthy working relationships with clients, vendors, and peers.
Level Extensive Experience:

• Communicates to clients regarding expectations of all parties.

• Participates in negotiating the terms of the business relationship.

• Conducts periodic reviews of work effort, progress, issues, and successes.

• Maintains productive, long-term relationships with clients or vendors.

• Creates opportunities to educate support teams on client priorities.

• Empowers others to establish collaborative, healthy relationships

Business Development: Knowledge of business development tools, techniques and approaches; ability to explore and develop potential areas of business growth for the organization.
Level Extensive Experience:

• Teaches others about a variety of tools and techniques for evaluating market potential.

• Develops standard processes to maximize business efficiency and effectiveness.

• Coaches others on the design and implementation of campaigns to present products to new markets.

• Develops strategies to present new business ideas to small and large perspective business partners.

• Analyzes alternative business development approaches and strategies.

• Designs common and industry-specific benchmarks for business development.

Value Selling: Knowledge of the principles and practices for selling products, technology and services; ability to provide overall product/service 'value' and to differentiate support offerings that address clearly understood customer needs.
Level Expert:

• Delivers bottom-line proof with credible third-party validation that proposed solutions deliver benefits of greater value than the competition.

• Researches customer's industry, strategies, environment and plans to support their business needs.\

• Builds loyalty and 'partner versus vendor' relationships by helping customers understand, diagnose and resolve their complex business issues.

• Provides analysis tools to identify, quantify and qualify business issues and solution value components to help clients assess alternative business proposals.

• Provides highly solicited mentoring to various organizations regarding all aspects of 'value selling'.

• Presents compelling business cases for very complex business issues, shifting proposed solution focus from cost to overall value (benefits/payback).

Additional Information:

• Must be able to travel (Domestic & International)

About Caterpillar 

Caterpillar Inc. is the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. For 100 years, we've been helping customers build a better, more sustainable world and are committed and contributing to a reduced-carbon future. Our innovative products and services, backed by our global dealer network, provide exceptional value that helps customers succeed. Caterpillar does business on every continent, principally operating through three primary segments – Construction Industries, Resource Industries and Energy & Transportation – and providing financing and related services through our Financial Products segment.

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Caterpillar is an Equal Opportunity Employer.  Qualified applicants of any age are encouraged to apply

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