Area Sales Director - Kansas City (Redistribution)

Bunzl Distribution - Kansas City, MO

Full-time - Manager

Kansas City, MO

1,001-5,000 employees

Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods

About the position

As the Area Sales Director at Bunzl, you will play a pivotal role in bridging the gap between field operations and corporate leadership. This position is designed for a dynamic leader who is ready to take charge of a team of 2-3 sales managers and indirectly oversee 15-20 sales representatives. Your primary responsibility will be to develop, direct, and oversee the strategic planning and execution of all sales activities carried out by your sales leaders and field sales team. This includes setting targets, developing strong relationships with clients and customers, evaluating costs associated with selling products and services, and ensuring the ongoing professional development of your sales team. This role is based in Kansas City, MO, and covers a wide territory including Kansas City, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, and Memphis, TN. The ideal candidate should be based in Kansas City and be open to regular travel throughout the region. You will be responsible for the continuous pursuit of major prospective customers, collaborating with assigned representatives on major account activities to increase volume and product penetration, and communicating customer feedback to leadership regarding product performance and future opportunities. In addition to managing day-to-day sales activities and achieving revenue goals, you will be tasked with preparing sales revenue and expense budgets, managing sales pipelines, and executing sales processes and procedures. You will also be expected to lead regular team and cross-functional meetings to foster discussion and share innovative ideas aimed at growing sales revenue and margin. As an agent for change, you will demonstrate the ability to manage transitions within the organization, ensuring that the sales team meets and exceeds their goals while maintaining a strong focus on customer experience.

Responsibilities

• Responsible and accountable for the continuous daily pursuit of major prospective customers
• Collaborate on major account activities with assigned representatives to increase/maintain volume and product penetration
• Communicate all customer feedback to leadership on product feedback and any future opportunities
• Lead regular team and cross functional meetings to facilitate discussion and the sharing of innovative ideas related to growing sales revenue and margin
• Responsible for day-to-day sales activity and achievement of revenue goals
• Manage and deliver sales pipelines, forecasts, and pricing
• Review and monitor weekly and monthly forecasts
• Manage and execute sales processes and procedures
• Prepare sales revenue and expense budgets
• Be an agent for change, demonstrating the ability to manage the successful and smooth transition from current to desired culture, practices, structure, and overall organizational environment
• Manage sales teams through CRM data to evaluate team performance to maximize group sales effectiveness
• Drive team performance to consistently meet and exceed sales goals
• Implement directives as outlined from leadership
• Ensure that day to day responsibilities such as prospecting, account development, site inspections and proper account management practices are completed to company standards
• Proactively develop a world-class sales force through recruiting, selecting and growing exceptional sales talent, managing/coaching employee performance, motivating, and holding employees accountable
• Facilitate leadership development within team, identify and foster future leaders to support business succession plans
• Establish and maintain strong relationships with current and prospective customer account leaders with the intention to maintain and grow market share
• Prioritize the customer experience in all activity
• Drive alignment, define performance measurement, and develop long term development plan with sales managers and teams
• Develop business plans with new and existing accounts

Requirements

• High School diploma or GED equivalent required
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent amount of professional experience required
• Minimum of 5 years of sales leadership experience with a proven track record selling in competitive markets and 2 years experiences in a level leadership role
• Substantial experience successfully managing and supporting challenging sales cycles, building yearly plans for a business and delivering on revenue, margin, and cost targets on a consistent basis
• Grocery, foodservice, and distribution experience is preferred
• Excellent organizational and project management skills, including the ability to execute multiple initiatives autonomously
• Ability to effectively communicate with leadership and stakeholders through interpersonal skills and presentations
• Strong knowledge on project management and negotiation tactics
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to articulate ideas, delegate, direct, motivate and train staff
• Ability to learn and adjust quickly to fluid business needs and growth challenges
• Ability to close deals and mentor teams to effectively achieve targets
• Excellent PC skills, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, CRM (Microsoft Dynamics) and ability to learn new applications

Nice-to-haves

• Experience in the Cleaning & Hygiene, Food Processing, Grocery, Health Care, Non-Food Retail, and Safety industries

Benefits

• Competitive salaries
• Comfortable work environment
• Full range of benefits including a 401k with a company match