Talent Viet

Our client is a FMCG company based in the USA and has been developing business activitites in Vietnam for more than 10 years

Position summary
The Customer Development Manager is responsible for achievement of Sales targets through excellence in the 5P's execution at the direct and indirect point of sale where planning Company/Direct Retailers activities is key.  They must develop and support the partnership between Company/Direct retailers/Service Providers (Merchandisers) at the customer’s headquarters, at the store and regional level by nurturing contacts and negotiating with buyers, merchandisers, and Store Operations/in-store personnel.  They provide feedback on the in-store environment which allows rapid revision of competitive tactics.                        

Position reports to: Channel Team Leader
Travel: 25% to 40% (depends on geographical dispersion of customers)

Key responsibilities
•    Business Development and Monitoring
•    Building and managing relationships with key players in the customer(s) or channel at the regional and/or store level.
•    Conducting negotiations as necessary (listings, planograms, displays, promotion execution etc) at regional office and/or store level
•    Implementing and maintaining in-store tactics developed within Category Management partnerships with the Customer(s)
•    Coordinating special events (store-level sell-in and communication, materials management in-store etc.) in cooperation with Business Development Mgr
•    Working with customer service to track orders, troubleshoot, and achieve customer service KPI's.
•    Working with logistics to plan, analyze, and forecast customer's needs and to ensure on-time and complete delivery.
•    Monitoring sales and distribution performance, particularly for new products, and taking timely action to drive continuous improvement.
•    Monitoring competitive activity at store level, recording and consolidating key activities, monitoring speed and breadth of distribution, and identifying competitive best practices and discussing with BDM so that they can proactively respond with strategic/tactical refinements.

In-Store Personnel Management
•    Regularly visiting stores in order to identify areas of improvement
•    Monitoring performance vs. objectives, providing continuous coaching and feedback, and conducting appraisals based on data
•    Reviewing Field Sales and Merchandiser itineraries (location, frequency, duration vs. plan) and roles to ensure optimal deployment of limited resource
•    Giving direction to in-store staff (merchandisers) and ensuring that they are trained and updated on new products, promotions, and merchandising objectives.   Identifying training needs and developing training plans with Team Leader.
•    Working with BDM to develop tools, merchandising materials and in-store programs for effective shelf management to induce shoppers to purchase Colgate products at shelf.
•    Supervising the consistent and accurate collection of data to allow monitoring of 5P performance vs. target

In-Store Compliance
•    Clearly communicating in-store objectives and monitoring execution of 5P targets: product availability, assortment by store format, shelf pricing (regular and promoted), promotion implementation vs. plan, share of shelf and planogram, POP placement vs. plan
•    Resolving operational issues at head/regional offices or in-store

CBP - Customer Planning and Pre-Evaluation
•    Leads development of 18-month rolling, joint, “win-win” business plans (baseline and promotions) covering sales, volume, and profitability at PPG/SKU level, and incorporating customers’ objectives and strategy
•    Conducts rigorous pre-evaluation of 5P activities using what-if analysis, and draws upon other team resources as required (e.g., input from Finance Manager/Supply Chain Manager)
•    Presents preliminary business plans to customers and refines the plans with their input
•    Allocates total commercial investment for accounts into 5P activities aligned with the RE/brand strategies,
•    Develops action plans to close account gaps and seeks approval from CDT Leader/consensus meeting
•    Identifies ongoing profitability implications of account plans for customers, and shares insights/solutions with customers (when desirable)
•    Updates account plans to reflect changing retail and competitive environment

CBP – Customer Execution
•    Gains approval from customers to execute 5P activities for accounts
•    Monitors compliance of 5P activity execution against established agreements/objectives and tracks interim performance of 5P activities to identify shortfalls/potential upsides against established objectives
•    Identifies causes of 5P activities’ underperformance, both internal and external to Company
•    Develops and pre-evaluates corrective action plans for 5P activities; seeks approval and executes as required

CBP - Customer Planning and Pre-Evaluation
•    Collects information on the external environment (e.g., competitor activity) during the promotion period
•    Conducts post-evaluation analysis based on activity details and compares results with pre-evaluation analysis, explaining any potential differences
•    Identifies insights from post-evaluation analyses and incorporates learning into future customer/RE strategy