Vacancies at SparePap Limited

Position Overview

The Business Development Executive plays a pivotal role in our organization, responsible for identifying, triggering interest and acquiring B2B clients on all Sparepap services with a key focus on parts sales and yield revenue in return. This role demands a proactive and results-driven professional who is passionate about business development, revenue generation, and building strong client relationships. 

He/she will have direct contact with the external clients and ensure Go To Market strategy is competitive and must drive sales. Working closely with the Head of Sales and Partnerships, the incumbent must use their strong business acumen, research skills, and financial management expertise to achieve revenue targets. This position requires an individual with exceptional communication and networking skills, as well as a deep commitment to drive and close business opportunities to deliver results.

ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Business Prospecting and Partnership

• Implementation of Go To Market strategy for respective services with a key focus on B2B parts sales so as to drive sales of the Company.  
• Research, prospect, and qualify leads before engaging in a business proposal.  
• Prepare and execute persuasive approaches and comprehensive pitches to convince potential clients to do business with the Company, including cold calling when appropriate. 
• Audit market trends and competitors to help create the Company’s unique selling propositions and differentiators. 
• Conduct continuous SparePap profile campaigns to enhance brand visibility, credibility and loyalty.
• Owning the sales lifecycle from prospecting to implementation.

Revenue Generation

• Management of client requests through direct sales or indirect sales from referrals
• Contribute to achievement of revenue, profitability and sales targets.
• Identify and  revive dormant accounts
• Facilitate customer onboarding on Sparepap platform
• Participate in client sign-up processes for sales purposes, addressing customer inquiries and sourcing clientele.

Customer relationship management

• Launch and drive customer testimonial and survey reviews of the company's products and services.
• Develop and execute joint business plans (JBPs) with business partners.
• Negotiate and sign off operating standards with partners to foster mutual productivity through right execution daily (RED).
• Conduct partner staff training to improve productivity.
• Establish effective partnerships internally and externally to drive business growth and position SparePap in the market.
• Understand client needs and offer solutions and support; answering potential client questions and follow-up call questions; responding to client requests for proposals (RFPs)
• Creating and maintaining a list/database of prospect clients; maintaining a database (Salesforce, CRM, Excel, etc.) of prospective client information
• Ensure excellent client management and service through regular and timely client follow up with both existing and potential clients to ensure lead conversion
• Provide trustworthy feedback and excellent after-sales support through managing the clients’ needs and expectations.
• Identify and report on business opportunities in target markets.
• Represent the business at trade fairs and networking events.
• Maximize new business development opportunities and closely monitor the customer base.

Market Reporting 

• Prepare reports and make presentations to customers and senior management as assigned
• Develop and execute account plans, JBPs and operating standards for partners.

Key Performance Indicators

• Number of new clients brought on board                     
• Number of potential leads generated 
• Number of leads compared to number of opportunities in the pipeline with actual revenue generation
• % of  new revenue generated for the company in a month
• Grow % of reported orders on the platform on a month-to-month 

  Experience Profile 

• 3+ years of experience in fast paced environment in a business development position with a focus on B2B  is preferred
• Degree and or Diploma in a Business related course
• Strong understanding of business fundamentals, channel development, sales approaches and competitive environment  
• Aptitude for learning business development, planning and customer relationships 
• Excellent presentation and demonstration skills in front of groups of all sizes and levels and a successful track record of sales 

Personal Attributes 

• Willingness to develop others potential within teams. 
• Demonstrated leadership skills for goal achievement.
• Excellent listening, negotiation and presentation skills  
• Proactive
• Strong customer care skills for managing experiences for both internal and external clients. 
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills. 
• High Emotional Intelligence 
• Time Management 
• Analytical and reporting skills 
• Decision-Making Skills
• Demonstrate high levels of integrity.
• Commercial Awareness 

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Position Overview

The Senior Parts Associate assumes a critical role in spearheading the operational activities of our parts department within the automotive e-commerce platform. This entails orchestrating seamless operations, fostering proactive engagement in field-related endeavors, and driving robust business growth initiatives. The incumbent will be pivotal in generating new business avenues, identifying prospective clients, exploring diverse markets, and capitalizing on lucrative business opportunities. Core responsibilities encompass aggressive merchant acquisition, adept pricing negotiations, meticulous account management, and ensuring optimal platform liquidity across all automotive models and geographical domains.

To excel in this role, the incumbent must possess a profound understanding of the Kenyan automotive landscape, intricate vehicle after-sales management processes, comprehensive knowledge of car makes, parts, and their respective origins. Cultivating strategic industry connections, articulating the organization's value proposition cogently, and effectively engaging high-level decision-makers are paramount for success. This client-facing position demands unwavering commitment to swift turnaround times, crystal-clear communication, and judicious delegation of tasks.

Moreover, the role necessitates an individual with aggressive sales and business acumen, as mastery in price negotiation is indispensable for driving competitive advantage and maximizing profitability. Furthermore, periodic participation in rigorous capacity-building exercises ensures continuous refinement of expertise in car parts and emerging automotive technologies, solidifying Sparepap's position as the preeminent marketplace for automotive parts.
Roles & Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership:

• Develop and implement comprehensive strategies for the parts department, aligning with company goals and market trends.
• Provide guidance and mentorship to the parts team, fostering a culture of excellence, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Merchant Acquisition and Management:

• Formulate strategic plans for aggressive merchant acquisition, identifying target markets and opportunities for expansion.
• Lead negotiations with key spare parts merchants to secure favorable terms and agreements, ensuring competitive pricing and inventory availability.
• Implement weekly visits to merchants to ensure updated pricing, inventory availability, and resolve operational challenges.
• Oversee the mapping and categorization of spare parts merchants, optimizing the diversity and quality of offerings on the platform.
• Drive pricing strategies and negotiations with merchants, leveraging market insights and competitive analysis to optimize margins and profitability.

Operational Oversight:

• Monitor merchant adherence to operational procedures for timely order dispatch and collaborate with logistics for efficient order fulfillment.
• Implement solutions to resolve operational challenges and optimize the performance of the automotive e-commerce platform.
• Develop and implement processes for swift resolution of product returns, minimizing returns through quality control measures.
• Manage merchant accounts, including payments, invoice reconciliation, and credit limit negotiations.

Platform Liquidity Management:

• Develop and implement initiatives to maintain platform liquidity, balancing inventory levels and demand dynamics.
• Establish processes for proactive inventory management, including forecasting, replenishment, and clearance strategies.

Outsourcing Optimization:

• Develop a strategic outsourcing framework to efficiently source spare parts from a diverse network of merchants, maximizing cost-effectiveness and quality standards.
• Establish streamlined processes for outsourcing coordination, including vendor selection, contract management, and performance monitoring.

Data Analysis and Market Insights:

• Identify Popular Parts: Analyze part searches and customer purchase patterns to determine high-demand parts, guiding prioritized acquisition of merchants offering these sought-after parts.
• Forecast Demand: Utilize historical sales data and market trends to forecast future demand for various parts, facilitating proactive inventory management for sufficient stock availability.
• Monitor Merchant Performance: Evaluate individual merchant performance, including sales volume, customer satisfaction ratings, and adherence to pricing and inventory policies, to identify top-performing merchants and address underperforming ones.
• Identify Market Trends: Monitor market trends and consumption patterns to anticipate emerging trends, allowing adjustments to the platform's offerings such as sourcing new parts or expanding into different market segments.
• Optimize Pricing Strategies: Utilize data analysis to understand pricing dynamics, including competitor pricing and customer willingness to pay, enabling the development of pricing strategies that maximize profitability while remaining competitive.

Collaboration and Coordination:

• Foster collaboration and communication across departments, ensuring alignment of objectives and seamless execution of initiatives.
• Liaise with customer service, telesales, and logistics teams to streamline order fulfillment processes and address customer inquiries and concerns.

Reporting and Documentation:

• Develop comprehensive reporting mechanisms to track departmental performance metrics, including sales, inventory turnover, and customer satisfaction.
• Prepare and present regular reports to senior management, highlighting key insights, trends, and actionable recommendations.

Team Development and Capacity Building:

• Invest in the professional development of team members, providing coaching, training, and performance feedback to foster continuous learning and skill enhancement.
• Promote a culture of accountability, collaboration, and innovation, recognizing and rewarding excellence and initiative within the team.

Strategic Networking:

• Actively engage with industry stakeholders, influencers, and peers to build a robust network, cultivating strategic partnerships with industry leaders and decision-makers.
• Articulate the company's value proposition clearly and persuasively, tailoring communication to diverse audiences.

Value Proposition Pitching:

• Excel in pitching the organization's value proposition, customizing pitches to address specific pain points and opportunities, and engaging decision-makers in meaningful discussions.
• Demonstrate strategic thinking, aligning networking efforts with broader business goals to identify growth opportunities and proactively expand the organization's reach and influence.

Key Performance Indicators

Sourcing Efficiency & Part Availability:

• Ensure that 95% of requested parts are successfully sourced from suppliers within 1 hour.
• Maintain a part availability rate of 95% or higher for top-selling parts.
• Minimize instances of out-of-stock situations for high-demand parts to less than 5% of total orders.
• Ensure that 95% of enquiries on parts availability and prices are fulfilled within 2 hours.
• Aim for an average response time of less than 30 minutes for enquiries.

Competitive Pricing:

• Keep the average pricing of parts competitive compared to market standards, ensuring prices are within 5% of competitors.
• Monitor pricing fluctuations weekly and adjust prices accordingly to maintain competitiveness.

Return Rate:

• Keep the return rate of parts sold through the platform below 2%.
• Reduce the return rate by 20% compared to the previous period by addressing quality and description issues.

Supplier Performance:

• Maintain a supplier performance rating of 90% or higher based on factors like reliability, quality, and pricing.
• Monitor supplier delivery times and ensure at least 90% of deliveries are received on schedule.

Inventory Management:

• Ensure inventory levels are optimized to meet demand.

Accuracy and Reliability of Reports:

• Ensure that 95% of reports generated are error-free.
• Achieve a report generation timeliness rate of 100%, meeting all set deadlines.

  Experience Profile 

• Degree in marketing, sales, business or automotive industry 
• Excellent geographical knowledge for merchant mapping and logistics purposes
• Strategic Leadership: Proven track record in developing and implementing comprehensive strategies for parts departments, aligning with company goals and market trends.
• Business Development: Demonstrated ability in formulating strategic plans for aggressive business development, including merchant acquisition and identifying growth opportunities.
• Operational Excellence: Experience in monitoring merchant adherence to operational procedures for timely order dispatch, collaborating with logistics for efficient order fulfillment, and ensuring seamless operations.
• Market Analysis: Proficiency in conducting in-depth market analysis and research to identify emerging trends, competitive threats, and growth opportunities within the automotive spare parts industry.
• Inventory Management: Experience in managing part availability, pricing competitiveness, and return rates to optimize inventory management and pricing strategies.
• Data Analysis: Proficient in data analysis techniques to derive insights for decision-making, including analyzing part searches, market trends, and consumption patterns.
• Customer Focus: Strong customer orientation with a focus on maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction regarding part availability, pricing, and overall service quality.
• Team Leadership: Demonstrated leadership qualities with the ability to mentor and develop team members, fostering a culture of excellence, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Additional Advantages:

• Automotive Industry Understanding: While not a necessity, having some level of understanding of the automotive industry can be advantageous, particularly in terms of familiarity with industry dynamics, terminology, and trends.
• Adaptability: Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment and effectively prioritize tasks to meet deadlines and business objectives.

Personal Attributes 

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to effectively convey complex ideas and negotiate with internal and external stakeholders.
• Business acumen & Commercial Awareness
• Proactive approach to problem-solving and decision-making.
• Excellent client management skills i.e. managing experiences and expectations for both internal and external clients.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills. 
• High Emotional Intelligence and enthusiasm needed to motivate a team to performance 
• Time Management 
• Analytical and reporting skills 
• Decision-Making Skills
• Integrity

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Position Overview

The Junior Parts Associate is a specialist role dedicated to driving new business generation, seeking new clients, markets, and business opportunities, with a primary focus on aggressively acquiring and outsourcing vehicle spare parts merchants and inventory onto the SparePap online marketplace across all car model parts and all geographies. The Junior Parts Associate will play a critical role in maintaining platform liquidity, fostering strong relationships with merchants, and ensuring a seamless process for customers.

To succeed in this role he/she must understand and be knowledgeable about the Kenyan automotive market generally, vehicle after sales management processes, car makes, parts and their origins, etc.; and communicate effectively with managers and other colleagues on these processes. As a client facing role, it requires quick turnaround times, clear communication and effective delegation. From time to time the incumbent shall undergo rigorous capacity building to refresh their knowledge on car parts and/or technologies available for different car models positioning Sparepap as the preferred market-place for car parts.

Roles & Responsibilities:

Aggressive Acquisition and Aggregation:

• Drive the aggressive acquisition and aggregation of a diversified spare parts merchant base on the SparePap platform.
• Map out spare parts merchants across different brands, car makes, part types (used, brand new, refurbished, etc.), and merchant tiers.

Platform Liquidity:

• Ensure the platform remains liquid in terms of the availability of spare parts for the mass market.
• Maintain a good relationship with merchants and provide support to enable them to sell online.

Cataloging and Pricing:

• Ensure enlisted spare parts are accurately cataloged, priced, and updated regularly.
• Ensure that SparePap maintains highly competitive prices, aligning with or surpassing market rates, through ongoing engagement with an extensive network of merchants and skillful negotiation for favorable pricing.

Outsourcing:

• Aggressively and efficiently outsource spare parts from different merchants, negotiating for the best prices.
• Manage client expectations during the outsourcing process, ensuring clear communication and alignment on delivery timelines, quality, and pricing.
• Collaborate effectively with the customer service and telesales team to facilitate seamless order fulfillment and address any customer queries or concerns promptly.
• Coordinate the outsourcing process efficiently by collecting and organizing data required for outsourcing different categories of spare parts, including but not limited to brand new, used, and various types of parts.
• Ensure compliance with company policies and standards in the outsourcing process, maintaining high-quality standards for all sourced spare parts.
• Provide regular updates to the customer service and telesales teams regarding the status of outsourced parts, expected delivery times, and any potential issues that may impact customer satisfaction.
• Implement best practices in outsourcing procedures to optimize efficiency and minimize lead times.
• Collaborate with merchants to secure accurate product information, including specifications, compatibility, and condition, to enhance the online catalog and customer experience.
• Continuously evaluate and enhance the outsourcing strategy to improve cost-effectiveness and increase the diversity of spare parts available on the SparePap platform.

Merchant Management:

• Oversee regular updates of merchant inventories on SparePap.
• Collaborate with merchants to maintain a comprehensive database of vehicle spare parts.
• Implement regular pricing updates, reflecting market dynamics.
• Monitor adherence to operational procedures by merchants for timely order dispatch.
• Collaborate with logistics for streamlined and timely operations in order fulfillment.
• Develop and implement effective processes for swift resolution of product returns while collaborating with merchants to minimize returns through quality control measures. 
• Liaise with Parts Manager and finance for timely payments to merchants.
• Negotiate and advocate for better credit limits balancing the needs of SparePap and interests of merchants.
• Foster strong relationships with merchants serving as the primary point of contact for addressing queries and escalating issues.
• Actively seek feedback to enhance the merchant experience on SparePap.

Communication and Coordination:

• Communicate effectively with managers, customer service, and telesales colleagues on vehicle after-sales management processes, car makes, parts, and their origins.
• Coordinate with the customer service and telesales team to ensure efficient and effective order fulfillment in the outsourcing process, ensuring quick turnaround times.

Market Understanding:

• Understand the local market in the assigned region with a focus on business drivers and issues that impact sales performance.
• Analyze market trends for competitive pricing strategies.
• Identify business improvement opportunities and make recommendations to the direct supervisor.

Reporting and Documentation:

• Provide timely weekly activities, reconciliations, status reports, and learnings to the company.
• Maintain daily visibility on actions and results.

Capacity Building:

• Undergo rigorous capacity building to refresh knowledge on car parts and technologies available for different car models.
• Position SparePap as the preferred marketplace for car parts through continuous learning and expertise enhancement.

Key Performance Indicators

• Quality of customer feedback with a key focus on the outsourcing process
• Error free, complete and reliable reports for decisions making
• Increased market share growth of Sparepap in the automotive industry
• Minimal to 0% return rate
• Zero non-compliance at all times
• 100% fulfillment of enquiries on parts availability and prices
• 100% adoption of policies and operational procedures throughout the company

  Experience Profile 

• Degree or Higher Diploma in marketing, sales and/or customer service
• Knowledge of Mechanical Trade an advantage 
• Significant previous maintenance experience working in heavy industry, ideally within transportation
• Excellent geographical knowledge for merchant mapping and logistics purposes

Personal Attributes 

• Excellent listening, negotiation and presentation skills  
• Proactive 
• Excellent client management skills i.e. managing experiences and expectations for both internal and external clients.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills. 
• High Emotional Intelligence and enthusiasm needed to motivate a team to performance 
• Time Management 
• Analytical and reporting skills 
• Decision-Making Skills
• Integrity
• Commercial Awareness