REGIONAL SALES MANAGER

JOB DESCRIPTION

A Regional Sales Manager is responsible for creating and implementing a sales plan within a particular region. Sometimes this position is referred to as a Territory Sales Manager, a District Sales Manager or even a Key Account Manager. The grocery store shelves are a hot real estate market! A Sales Manager works hard to beat the competition to feature their company’s products at your local stores and in a prime location for you to see. Product presentation and placement are key to selling products and making them appealing for consumers. You’ll collaborate with teams across your organization to get your products on the shelves and achieve your sales targets. A career in sales is transferrable to any sector, so whether you are already experienced in sales and would like to work in the food industry, or you’re ready to start in sales and potentially take up other opportunities in the future, this career is for you!

THE WORK ENVIRONMENT

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In a Sales role, you’ll work standard business hours during the weekdays. However, it’s not unlikely to work on evenings and weekends, responding to vendor inquiries whenever they may come or accommodating the client’s schedule. There’s a good amount of travel involved, especially within the region or district as you visit and make a presence in various stores to see the products.

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REGIONAL SALES MANAGER SALARY

Low Range

$52k+ annually

$27 per hour

Average

$103k+ annually

$53 per hour

High Range

$169k+ annually

$87 per hour

*Annual salary calculated by 37.5 hr work week, and by a 52 weeks per year

There are numerous levels of sales and compensation structures within organizations, for the purposes of this description, we’re going to focus on a Sale Manager that handles a region/ territory/ district. In this type of role, in addition to salary you’ll also likely receive commissions, a bonus, or participate in some form of a revenue-sharing program with the company based on performance. Sales can be a challenging career path and it’s definitely not for everyone, so there tends to be higher than average wages in this profession with additional incentive programs to keep teams performing. There’s lots of travel involved so you’ll likely have a vehicle and cell phone allowance, an expense account or company credit card, possibly receive travel points on flights and hotels, etc. Other cool perks may include a discount on company products, attendance to events, flexible working hours, a blended work schedule of at home and in the office, etc. Sales are crucial for a company’s success and therefore most sales positions offer a full suite of benefits including: RRSP contributions, health care, dental, vision, paid vacation and sick days, and Employee Assistance Programs.

REGIONAL SALES MANAGER JOB DUTIES

Main responsibilities:

Develop a strategic sales business plan for your territory or region, ensuring it achieves and corresponds with the goal of the corporate sales plan. In some cases you may be following a plan that’s already been established.

Implement the sales plan using different selling platforms, channels, and methodologies. Work with your team and various teams throughout the organization to meet the goals together. Ie: you’ll need to work with warehousing and distribution to ensure products get where they need to be.

Establish and maintain working relationships with existing vendors and seek out new vendors.

Develop partnerships and agreements to keep products on the shelves. Products that have a short shelf life such as products in the Bakery sector require more planning and scheduling to keep the products stocked and available.

Maintain a digital database record of key accounts customer database, including communications, volume of sales, distribution records, key contacts, dates, budgets, etc.

Planning, budgeting, and forecasting sales and appropriate resources.

Coaching and mentoring your sales team. You may even be required to provide training.

Set sales goals and ensure these are met through regular monitoring

Attend relevant events and visit retail locations.

BECOMING A REGIONAL SALES MANAGER

Competitiveness & Availability

Sales roles are highly competitive in nature and are based on the performance of individuals and teams. People who succeed in this role are usually effective communicators ( it’s even more advantageous if you can communicate in multiple languages). While there are high rewards, there’s no doubt that this is a challenging position and employers are always looking for talent in the field. As such, you can expect there to always be an available position within the sales career path and advancement opportunities.

Advancement Opportunities

To achieve the title of Regional/ District Sales Manager you typically would have worked as a General Sales Manager or a Sales Representative for a minimum of 5-7 years and will have a proven ability to lead and manage the business. Upon successfully performing in this role, advancement opportunities could include progression to a National or International Sales Manager, or even to a Vice President (VP) of Sales, depending on the company’s structure and business dealings.

Education

Typically, employers are seeking individuals with a combination of education and experience to fulfill the logistics coordinator role. Education-wise, ideal candidates will have a diploma or degree in Business, Marketing or a related field. Some employers may even consider an education in finance and accounting, or project management. While a post-secondary education is desired, sometimes it’s not mandatory in situations where an individual has years of experience and a proven track record. Critical to your ongoing success, you’ll need to be experienced and highly proficient in the use of standard business technologies: online meeting spaces, presentation tools and software, phone systems, database systems, email and office suites, etc. Any education in the food manufacturing industry or awareness of regulations is highly attractive to employers. You may want to consider some short courses in food safety and other industry-related topics, such as:

Introduction to Preventive Control Plans (PCP)
Introduction to HACCP
Global and third-party certifications
Distribution and Warehousing
Food Safety & Food Spoilage
Food Safety Auditor training
Quality Control and Quality Assurance in the food manufacturing industry

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