Technical Sales Manager Karnataka

Company description

Tessenderlo Group is a diversified industrial group that focuses on agriculture, valorizing bio-residuals and providing industrial solutions. The group employs approximately 4,600 people, is a leader in most of its markets and recorded a consolidated revenue of 1.7 billion EUR in 2019. Tessenderlo Group is listed on Euronext Brussels and is part of Next 150 and BEL Mid indices. Financial News wires: Bloomberg: TESB BB – Reuters: TESB.BR – Datastream: B:Tes

Our business unit Tessenderlo Kerley International (TKI) supplies value-added liquid, soluble and solid plant nutrition in order to support growers in realizing efficient and sustainable agriculture. Our diverse product portfolio combines essential nutrients to improve soil health and increase water infiltration while maximizing nutrient uptake to address the challenges of modern agriculture.

We are the leading producer of sulfur-based plant nutrition. Tessenderlo Kerley International was the originator of Thio-Sul®, the first liquid thiosulfate fertilizer and SoluPotasse®, the best-in-class, water-soluble grade of potassium sulfate (SOP). With K-Leaf®, TKI has the first potassium fertilizer with higher solubility speeds as potassium nitrate (NOP). We offer a wide portfolio of products designed to meet the growing demands of today’s Ag professionals. Within Europe, our products are manufactured at multiple strategic locations in order to provide the best service to our customers. All of our products are manufactured to the highest quality standards and thoroughly tested by our staff of expert agronomists to ensure products meet the high expectations of today’s farmers.

Responsible for managing the sales activities and selected business development initiatives for TKI fertilizer business in India with direct focus on the state of Karnataka.

Develops and implements the regional sales strategy and delivers on sales volumes & margin targets in the region through the use of existing and new distribution channels.

Leads agronomical development work to support sales growth.

Manages a team of market development experts or sales promoters for promoting the Tessenderlo brand name and target products in the region

Agronomical support and sales

• You develop and implement the regional sales strategy and delivers on sales volumes & margin targets in the region
• You identify and develop the company’s unique selling propositions and differentiators by using knowledge of market and competitors.
• You propose and implement local distribution network. You work closely with selected distributors to achieve volume and margin targets.
• You propose marketing & promotional materials & events, to stimulate sales.
• You maintain and update an action plan, accountable for administrative tasks, capturing market intelligence and report periodically to hierarchical managers.
• You are responsible for demand forecasting and advise on demand planning.
• You identify and reinforce value proposition of Tessenderlo Kerley SOP and liquid fertilizers.
• You manages a program of product field trials/ demonstrations in the region to promote the benefits/ value proposition of the product portfolio
• You maintain, update and actively utilize a network of technical contacts to promote the technical benefits of the products as to develop sales.
• You provide technical support to customers (i.e. trainings to distributors and growers).

Budget

• You meet sales and development objectives
• You prepare annual budget for sales, marketing, trials,...
• You submit periodic reports as required by the hierarchical/ functional manager.

Stakeholder Management

• You engage actively in relevant industry organizations,  cross-functional associations, and seminars/conventions/events that provide educational, networking, and lead to more sales.
• You develop a network of distributor agronomists/ front-line teams to jointly implement the marketing and education programmes.
• You establish highly effective relationships with existing and potential new partners/ customers and scientific organizations etc. in the territory.
• You monitor the customer needs and trends and captures feedback from competitors and market evolution in order to evaluate the impact on the overall sales strategy.

Safety

• You actively contributes to a safe working environment for all employees.

Profile

• Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture, Horticulture or equivalent. An M.Sc. or MBA will be an added advantage.
• 6-10 years business development/ commercial experience in fertilizers or/and crop nutrition.
• Good knowledge of drip irrigation, fertigation techniques & foliar application.
• Experience and understanding of B-to-B international environment and economical, legal and regulatory aspects.
• Entrepreneurial, assuming responsibility for performance, recognizing opportunities and acting efficiently, effectively and with integrity.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills in Hindi, English and preferably one local language.
• Prepared to travel frequently.
• Organized, disciplined , numerate and fact based decision taking
• Knowledge of usual software (MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint)

Offer

You will be located in Karnataka