Key Accounts Manager at Kenya Wine Agencies Limited (KWAL)

Job Purpose

Responsible for driving volume and profit growth in the key accounts they manage and on annual, monthly, customer and brand basis as well as manage relationships with the key accounts.

Responsibilities and Accountabilities

Area 1: Key Accounts Strategies Development

• Develop and implement strategies and tactical plans for key accounts to ensure sustained business growth in the assigned customer market in line with the overall Commercial Division plans. 
• Effectively gather, interpret and utilize multiple information sources to develop customer-specific tactical plans and programs.
• Collaborate with marketing teams regarding strategies to develop understanding of product distribution, placement, pricing and promotional initiatives

Area 2: Trade Development

• Achieve product availability targets through identifying and negotiating listings and targets for strategic focus brands to drive and maintain numeric distribution by brand category. 
• Enhance product accessibility through identifying and negotiating SOVI(Forward Share Inventory and limit Out of Stocks) and achieving cold and ambient space targets by channel and brand category
• Promote product affordability on price by ensuring adherence to Recommended Retail Price (RPP) guidelines per strategic focus brand by channel and outlet type. 
• Identify, negotiate, plan and execute activation opportunities such as promotions and tastings with customer in line with national sales plan
• Using the SFA tool to analyse the market in terms of demand and use this information to manage metrics including calls, strike rate targets, outlet expansion, sales volume, profit, and expenses associated with selling products to the key accounts.

Area 3: Key Distributor Management

• Work in collaboration with distributors to ensure that the key accounts are fully serviced as per agreed SLAs. 
• Execute key distribution, placement, pricing and promotion initiatives within assigned accounts to achieve target sales revenue in a profitable manner.

Area 4: Relationship Management

• Establishing and managing winning trading relationships with the key contacts in the allocated portfolio for the overall benefit of the business. 
• Aligning sales functional excellence to changing market demands to the market need of the assigned portfolio to ensure sustained business operations and growth

Area 5: Team management

• Organize and manage the available human capital within the department through training, development, performance management and proper positioning to ensure optimal productivity and high value services to internal and external customers.

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor degree in Business field.
• A Master’s degree in a relevant field will be an added advantage. 
• A minimum of 5 years’ experience in retail and experience with key accounts
• Practical experience in use of MS packages and ERP systems

Technical Competencies

• Customer Operations Management; Ability to Manage distributor RTM operations in General trade, Key Accounts and HORECA outlet operations by supplying the right products to the right market.
• Stakeholder Relationship Management: Ability to manage relationships with customers, consumers, Government bodies and authorities. Has an Understanding of the impact of customer perception and attitude on overall level of customer satisfaction affect long-term customer loyalty. 
• Sales Management: Possesses selling, negotiation, prospecting, merchandising and process innovations skills. Understands the process of completing a sale in response to an acquisition, appropriation, requisition, or a direct interaction with the buyer at the point of sale.
• Trade Marketing: Ability to ensure consistent supply and availability of the product to the end consumer. Able to conceptualize, run activation initiatives and enhance innovation on initiatives.
• Revenue Management: Experience in managing profitable portfolio mix, ROI of initiatives as well as distributor/customer profitability. Must be able to apply analytics that predict consumer behavior at the market levels and optimize product availability and price to maximize revenue growth. 
• Brand Knowledge: Exemplary understanding the all brands, target consumer, where the brands plays vs. competitor brands/positioning competitor activities. Able to educate and enhance customers /consumer understands and recall of the brand and its products.
• Commercial Awareness: Adeptness of the trading environment, micro and macro-economic factors, tax regimes and implications, competitor activities. Has the ability to keeps abreast with new and developing trends around the commercial business space.
• Reporting and presentation: Proficiency in reporting routines, what to report and how, feedback sharing and communication, sharing/showcasing best practices and initiatives, ability to present self and sell the brand/company image