Area Business Manager

The Brief

Area Business Manager

Pivotage Consulting has been retained to conduct a search for a mid-level management position in a reputable client organization. This brief provides limited information about the role of interested persons.

Our Client

Our client, the world’s largest off-grid solar energy company with a presence in Africa and Asia and with products that serves an estimated 53million people across 35 countries is seeking to appoint a seasoned Area Business Manager.

The Role

Job Title: Area Business Manager
Location: Ughelli, Kebbi North, Osogho North, Jalingo, Afikpo, Ilorin South, Kontagora, Nsukka, Ijero

Years of Experience: 3 years

Job Summary

Reporting to the Regional Business Manager West East Region, you will be responsible for:

Leading sales, collections, and distribution operations in the area assigned for direct distribution of our product through a network of agents. As the Area Business Manager, you are ultimately accountable for generating sales, and ensuring collections are timely and accurate.  And keeping the entire Direct Distribution growing rapidly in a sustainable manner.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES.

In your capacity managing the call center, you will:

• Hire & retain Energy Officers: Hire, train and maintain a team of at least 40 active Officers in the area. Use multiple avenues for finding the right talent to sell our products with the help of village influencers such as the village heads, teachers, religious heads, doctors, farmers, and others, as applicable. Create a reputation and goodwill for the mission of the organization to provide a clean, affordable, and reliable source of energy in their areas.
• Training of Energy Officers: Provide training to the Energy Officers on several aspects of the business such as sales, collections, product, technical, inventory, and logistics related. Ensure that they are fully supported and lead in the best professional manner demonstrating the highest levels of integrity, ethics, and professionalism while dealing with customers.
• Provide role clarity to Energy Officers: Provide complete clarity to Energy Officers related to their day-to-day tasks, sales & collections plans, routes, and targets. This includes, ensuring Energy Officers have a pre-agreed sales route/area to sell in, they understand how to demonstrate and sell products, they have the confidence to be able to present and resolve basic customer queries on the spot and they have access to Area Business Manager at all times in case of questions and concerns.
• Daily field visits: Have a weekly touchpoint with every Energy Officer in your area – either through in-person meetings, making a sale to the customer in your area, or having a call. Resolve all possible issues faced by the Energy Officers and report them to your Regional Business Manager, every week. Ensure that the first 5 sales of each Energy Officer are done along with the Area Business Manager in the area, by each Energy Officer to ensure that the core sales and collection process is fully understood by each Energy Officer.
• Work with Energy Officers: Conduct joint fieldwork with a group of Energy Officers to provide sales and collection training on a weekly basis and drive EO engagement. This includes doing night activations, market activations, visiting local communities, and gatherings such as Self-Help groups, retail centers, and markets to make group sales.
• Exceed your sales & collections targets: Meet or exceed sales and collection targets established and agreed upon on the 2nd of every month by your Regional Business Manager. Provide daily, weekly updates on sales, EO recruitments, Customer issues, and resolutions, as desired and agreed with your Regional Business Manager.
• Drive robust field sales processes: Review collection progress with your Energy Officers daily and provide adequate training to them on driving better collections in your areas. This includes customer and area profiling, ensuring regular and timely collection follow-ups, resolving customer issues to ensure they make payments, and ultimately repossessing the systems as a last recourse in case the customer defaults.
• Remain externally focused: Keep an eye on competition within your area and ensure you take adequate measures to protect and grow our business from competitive pressures. Proactively inform your leadership team and take measures to ensure the organization remains a paramount brand name in Solar products for your area.
• Resolve customer issues: Provide world-class support to your customers as it relates to product delivery, training on how to use and make payments, installation, and after-sales warranty issues. Ensure that you work with your Energy Officers to establish clear expectations and processes to resolve all customer issues within 24 hours.
• Control Marketing & Other Support spend: Provide adequate marketing support & equipment (such as smartphones) necessary to all your Energy Officers. Ensure we get maximum return on investment for all the costs we incur in areas of marketing, supply chain, store maintenance, and smartphone issuance.
• Review meetings with Energy Officers: Conduct weekly table meetings with Energy Officers and ensure that you have RBM present in those meetings to resolve any outstanding customers or EO issues. Coordinate, plan and organize the meeting to have maximum attendance and progress. Recognize outstanding performers from time to time and ensure the motivation of Energy Officers is maintained at an all-time high.
• Grow Retail presence: Ensure the retail network in your Area grows with the help of an Area Retail Coordinator, hired under you. Ensure all retail-related activities are followed per process and the base of high-selling retailers grows exponentially within your area of operation.

JOB REQUIREMENTS

Ideal Candidate Profile

• Minimum of 3 years of hands-on experience in Sales.
• Have excellent Computer knowledge with comprehensive knowledge of Excel and PowerPoint
• Have excellent skills in Planning, Organizing, Prioritizing, and Maximizing value.
• Must be able to develop trust, and skillfully builds relationships both internally and externally
• BSc degree in Business related field or equivalent
• Have extensive Customer Care experience, Excellence (Keeps promise, is Decisive, seeks to be informed, and gives excellent Customer Satisfaction.
• Have high innovative skills, thinking out of the box, test out opinions, are cost-conscious, listens well, coach others, and are disciplined in their learning practice

For the Right Candidate

This position, which is to be filled immediately, offers excellent career opportunities and a highly competitive remuneration to the right candidate.

To Express an Interest

If you think this opportunity could be right for you, please contact the undersigned for a private discussion.

Mr. Ayodele Ayodele Jnr.                                                Ms. Ruth Aluko                   

+234 901 122 1364                                                        +234 909 999 6734             

Email: ayodele.junior@pivotageconsulting.com               Email:ruth.aluko@pivotageconsulting.com

APPLICATION DEADLINE

10^th July 2022