Channel Manager - Wholesale

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE OF A CHANNEL MANAGER

You will be accountable for all aspects of our business strategy implementation and interaction within the Wholesale Channel. Youll have a set of customers to deliver targeted profit and ongoing company objectives in line with current brand & trading strategy. Strategic planning will be your passion, as we will look to you to design and manage the implementation of customer strategies that are aligned to and support the delivery of the overall channel objectives and goals. Youll also be responsible for pro-actively managing the delivery of in-year targets in line with brand and channel strategy through seeking opportunities whilst sharing vulnerabilities in year performance.

BENEFITS OF A CHANNEL MANAGER INCLUDE;

• Quarterly Commission.
• Company Car / Car Allowance.
• 40 Hours per Week.
• Holiday Entitlement of 33 Days per year (Including Bank Holidays).
• Company Pension.
• Life Assurance.
• 50% Discount on Company Purchases.
• Employee Assistance Programme.
• Referral Scheme.

REPORTING AND KEY RELATIONSHIPS OF A CHANNEL MANAGER INCLUDE;

The Channel Manager will report to the Head of Channel.

Key internal contacts: Supply Chain, Transport, Production Team, Chef Team, Marketing, Business Insights, Sales Data Admin, Accounts Receivables, Technical, Ecommerce / Customer Engagement Team.

STRATEGY

• Own, develop & execute a LIVE strategic Sector plan work and review regularly with Line manager & Business Insights.
• Deliver the agreed strategic plan by sector for the account portfolio you are responsible for, including the development & retention of existing business & new business opportunities.
• Customer Contact Strategy Get inside your customers world to fully understand it & how DDF can best access & maximise the opportunity
• Ensure pricing defensibility implemented & maintained across the account portfolio/channel
• Share good & best practice across the Channel Team to ensure that all opportunities are maximised.
• Work collaboratively across the Sales function & Business Insights to ensure that all Channel / Sector opportunities & learnings are taken into consideration and applied through the Channel / Sector strategic plan.

ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT

• Manage an account ledger of £5M+ Net Sales value
• Develop Account Plan for each Customer in line with the Company / Channel Plan to deliver Cases, Net Sales Revenue & Margin target within each customer across your account ledger. Have JBPs with key customers aligned to Buyers/customers own KPIs.
• Actively seek new business opportunities & and customers.
• Devise, gain approval, implement & execute a promotional plan aligned to JBPs.
• Work with product team to identify areas of growth for Channel and key accounts through regular range review, gap analysis & insight.
• Work with marketing colleagues to develop channel & customer specific activity to support profitable growth.
• Accountable for completion of written correspondence (contact reports 48hrs post call) regarding meetings, proposals, re-negotiations, presentations. File & documentation to be stored centrally (S:DRIVE).
• Ensure all customer communication is completed & actioned in a timely manner with account file updated post each meeting, site visit or electronic / phone communication.
• Pro-actively manage your account portfolio from a credit perspective to ensure that disputes, queries etc. are promptly resolve, aged debt is kept to the minimum and maximum sites are available to trade at all times.
• Manage your accounts payment terms to the benefit of DDF, strive for 30 days EOM minimum and adherence to those terms.
• Identify & implement ways in which to service customers that will deliver incremental profit; RTM strategy, product mix, electronic trading etc.
• Quarterly review of account profitability through latest business case mechanic by SKU with all terms included.
• On a quarterly basis present your business plan for your account portfolio to the senior sales management team supported by quarterly account profitability review.
• Maintain account contact matrix for your ledger detailing all required meetings by account along with the required frequency. In addition, site visits to be completed on a monthly basis to ensure a full understanding of your customers business & relevance of any proposed listings / activities. Matrix & plan to be signed off & reviewed regularly by Head of Channel.
• Regular review of contracts, where terms are in place they must have a dated contract to support. Any contracts up for renewal must be submitted through business case & only approved business cases and agreed contract terms are to be implemented, documented with Business Insights.
• Work closely with Supply Chain to ensure OTIF delivery - provide regular forecasts of key SKUs for key customers.
• Implement Price Increase within briefed timelines & in full.
• Brief product specification changes to relevant customers as provided by Technical.
• Manage product assortments attached to your accounts. Ensure that on restricted assortments, alternative products are available to support on-going supply for any OOS or delists.
• Ensure customers are fully briefed on delists in a timely manner & that alternative SKUs are secured.
• Deliver ROI on any equipment placements within your accounts, where a site or account falls below required ROI levels you are required to take action to resolve.
• Focused plan on Forecast management with reference to seasonality etc.
• Sector specific range & pricing working with Head of Channel.
• Accountable to ensure customers and their units are on the correct pricing levels as agreed to avoid any credits and proactively manage credit risk customers.
• Attend & represent Delice de France at trade & industry events.

SKILLS & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED OF A CHANNEL MANAGER INCLUDE;

• Experience of National Account Management (ideally in a food related FMCG business).
• Dynamic Highly Motivated to achieve results.
• Strategic Thinker, Active Implementer.
• Collaborative.
• Flexible & Adjustable to Change.
• Strong negotiation skills and the ability to influence & present at all levels.
• Highly developed Presentation skills.
• Clear confident communication skills both verbal and written.
• Highly developed numerical skills, complete P&L understanding to Senior Management level.
• Demonstrable drive and enthusiasm.
• Intermediate to advanced in IT applications; such as Microsoft Excel.
• Highly mobile as role will require significant travel across the UK.