Sales Manager

The Sales Manager is responsible for driving territory revenue, expanding distribution, and building a high-performing sales ecosystem for packaged drinking water products. This role focuses on retailer & distributor acquisition, route-to-market planning, daily sales operations, competitor benchmarking, and sales team leadership. The Sales Manager ensures consistent sales growth, enhances brand visibility, and contributes to long-term market expansion goals.

Key Responsibilities

1. Sales Planning & Execution

• Develop and execute monthly/quarterly sales plans to meet revenue and volume targets.
• Build demand forecasts and align primary and secondary sales numbers.
• Expand retailer coverage, improve throughput per outlet, and track availability across SKUs.

2. Distributor & Retailer Management

• Drive acquisition and onboarding of distributors/stockists.
• Strengthen relationships with retailers to ensure repeat orders, credit discipline, and FIFO movement.
• Review order patterns, aging stock, collections, and returns tracking.

3. Field Operations & Visibility

• Conduct market visits to improve product placement, POS visibility, fridge utilization (if applicable), and compliance.
• Ensure proper execution of activations, sampling, pricing, and branding initiatives.
• Track shelf performance, share of space, and competitor presence.

4. Team Leadership

• Manage and mentor Sales Representatives / Market Executives / Route Salesmen.
• Monitor daily performance dashboards and productivity KPIs.
• Run weekly reviews, training, performance scorecards, and target allocation.

5. Distribution & Logistics Coordination

• Align closely with supply chain/dispatch teams to ensure stock availability and timely fulfillment.
• Maintain optimum stock levels at distributor & retailer points to prevent outages.
• Monitor regional warehouse movement and shrinkage patterns.

6. Data, Reporting & Analytics

• Publish daily/weekly/monthly MIS reports on sales, volumes, revenue, collections, routes, and hotspots.
• Analyse conversion ratios, beat efficiency, drop size, outlet productivity, and market gap mapping.
• Present insights to management with corrective action plans.

7. Compliance & Quality

• Ensure distributor/retailer adherence to GST invoice discipline, documentation, and process control.
• Monitor market complaints, returns, leakage/damage frequency, and product quality feedback.

Desired Candidate Profile

Qualifications

• Graduate/Post-graduate in Business, Marketing, or equivalent.
• Minimum 48 years of experience in FMCG/beverages/packaged water field sales.

Skills & Competencies

• Strong negotiation, communication, and leadership skills.
• Excellent route planning and retail activation capability.
• Hands-on experience in primary/secondary/tertiary sales planning.
• Proficiency with MS Excel/ERP/SFA tools and data dashboards.
• Deep understanding of modern trade, general trade, and HoReCa channels.

Personal Attributes

• Target-driven, disciplined, self-motivated.
• Strong problem solving and decision-making ability.
• Ability to work under pressure and travel extensively.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Daily/Monthly sales achievement vs target.
• Outlet/cluster expansion and active retailer base growth.
• Distributor productivity metrics and collection cycle.
• Market share increase and visibility execution score.
• Sales team performance and attrition control.