Area Sales Manager – Europe
Job based in France in Tours area (Indre et Loire)
SUMMARY
Our sister company AERO Specialties is looking for an Area Sales Manager to support sales and marketing efforts in a designated geographic region with the target of significant growth in market share as well as customer satisfaction. In the position there is a focus on substantially expanding the sales network, promotion, and sales of all products while sustaining contribution to AERO’s profitability.
CORE COMPETENCIES
• Demonstrated ability to lead a department to achieve goals that contribute to the growth of the Company through communication, motivation, and accountability.
• The ability to work hard, to complete multiple challenging tasks/projects within agreed time frames and with the appropriate level of critical thinking and quality. To manage daily, monthly, and annual goals with clear, proactive communication and follow-up across all teams, both internal and external.
• The drive to improve the business and its processes by seeking efficiency in all activities.
• A commitment to be your best self every day; to taking responsibility for your actions; to taking a positive approach towards your coworkers, our challenges and our failures, to pushing yourself and your coworkers for results.
• We strive for success but sometimes we miss. When we do, we expect everyone to pull together, to get back up and to push forward again – together.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS AND DUTIES
• Maintain an in-depth knowledge on the aviation industry including products, technologies, customers, and competitors.
• Able to establish close relationship with customers’ top management as well as working level staff; foster and maintain a friendly and credible appearance with customers at all times.
• Ability to manage stressful situations, understand and resolve customer emergencies, and balance the customer needs with AERO factory/engineering and Distributed suppliers’ needs.
• Assume a key role in compliance enforcement in regard to sales transactions and customer relationships, especially when employing new agents and distributors or validating SOL’s.
• Fulfill yearly targets as defined by AERO’s management, in terms of market share, pricing, margin, lead time and payment conditions.
• Adhere to AERO’s pricing policies, general terms & conditions of sales, and strictly follow AERO’s (and in some cases ALVEST’s) sales and compliance procedures.
• Maintain relationships with current customers and systematically explore new customers and new markets; identify resellers for key markets
• Supervise & control the preparation of sales offers to customers, while coordinating with production or supplier’s factories to check lead times.
• Facilitate communication between customers, and the after sales service or spare parts departments.
• Handle crisis situations and ensure smooth customer support by coordinating the necessary technical solutions, spare parts, or service technicians.
• Organize and manage customer visits on-site, or at relevant production facilities; Specify customer needs and feedback to facilities.
• Report regularly on all customer visits and activities, competitors, industry, and market information with a view of increasing AERO’s market share; Create marketing and sales strategies that achieve measurable results; plan strategic selling process in assigned sales area.
• Promote the sales of all AERO branded products and spare parts, as well as other third party GSE products that AERO represents at industry events, shows, customer visits and meetings.
• Assist in the development and maintenance of promotion tools and documents specific to assigned sales area.
• Ensure reporting of all sales prospects through company sales software on a timely basis; prepare sales and margin cost analysis for management.
• Manage and optimize the expense budget in the best interest of AERO; realize budget sales and margin targets within budget constraints; analyze results and take corrective actions when necessary.
• Report, analyze and explain whenever a business opportunity is lost.
• Carry out 3-month rolling sales forecasts monthly; make sure monthly sales budgets, booking and invoicing are achieved; attend sales meetings and report latest activities, sales achievements, and forecast compared with annual budget.
• Support other colleagues in the ALVEST Group as needed or requested to achieve overall goals and targets.
• Communicate with other sales entities in the ALVEST Group, cooperate and coordinate the follow-up of global customers; attend and take active part in Group sales network meetings.
• Prepare the required due diligence documents for any agent or distributor employed, supervise and control contracts and conditions (e.g. SOL/SOR) to comply with TLD procedures to ensure and fulfill
TLD Ethics and Compliance rules.
• Organize or take part in AERO factory training of sales team and customers in partnership with product engineers.
• Coordinate the commissioning of the equipment with after-sales service when necessary.
• Plan, coordinate, and/or carry out on-site technical training to customer and to AERO agents as necessary.
• Monitor and coordinate the actual provision of customer service; oversee warranty service and contribute (as needed) to the resolution of customer claims.
QUALIFICATIONS
• Ability to work independently with minimum supervision
• BA/BS degree (or 5+ years’ experience with no college degree)
• Ability to read, write, and speak fluently in local dialect
• Ability to read, write, and speak fluently in English language
• Must have a high attention to detail to ensure accuracy and the ability to multitask
• Ability to work at a fast pace
• Able to travel up to 75% of the time
• Highly developed communication skills
• Ability to resolve problems, maintain a highly professional demeanor, and work collaboratively with a team
