Position Overview:

The Senior Sales Manager is responsible for increasing brand presence through new accounts, new locations, and new channels of distribution. This “Hunter” role will have responsibility for identifying and acquiring new business opportunities across multiple channels, including Department Stores, DIY, Drug, Garden Centers, Grocery, Office, Specialty, and Value. In addition, the Sr. Sales Manager will grow the revenue base of existing retailers as assigned.

The role is for a mid-career highly driven sales professional who has proven revenue growth results with multiple channel accounts and thrives on opening new business. The ideal candidate will be able to successfully establish relationships with new retail prospects – developing retailer-specific sales presentation / targeted solutions that meet the company’s financial metrics.

The ideal candidate is competitive yet even-tempered, leads with an ownership mentality, is process-oriented and committed to the highest standard in teamwork. The Sr. Sales Manager must have the ability to speak the brand language, possess a proven ability to prospect / sell, and a passion for closing deals.

This person must have the determination, energy, roll up your sleeves approach to win every day and desire to be part of an entrepreneurial high-growth company that is a pioneer in seasonal scent products. We’re offering an exciting growth opportunity to the right take-charge candidate, and aside from a fun and passionate work environment, we also provide competitive compensation and benefits, including medical, dental, vision, 401K, and more.

Key Responsibilities:

New Business Targets:

· Actively prospect and generate new leads through various methods, including cold calling and networking across multiple channels of distribution

· Build and maintain a strong pipeline of potential clients by continuously identifying, nurturing, and closing sales opportunities

· Engage with prospective customers, understand their needs, and present tailored solutions to meet business objectives

· Leverage broker partnerships where applicable to gain new business

· Develop strong relationships with key decision-makers to ensure long term partnerships

· Partner in architecting channel-specific strategy and tactics, and executing with accountability

· Drive negotiations with persistency and close deals with a sense of urgency

· Regularly report on sales acquisitions and lead generation / pipeline status to management

· Deliver gross and net revenue based on new business sales goals

Existing Business – Customer Management:

· Effectively lead strategic growth presentations with national, regional, and independent retail partners as assigned

· Develop & implement long-term, winning customer growth strategies grounded in the realities of seasonal and display-driven businesses

· Take a data-driven approach to selling and planning, aligning product mix and load to optimize and balance top-line sales, sell-thru at shelf and profitability

· Effectively motivate and manage brokers against aligned goals, maximizing retailer reach and the commission investment

· Communicate and collaborate with the cross-functional team — marketing, operations, and finance — to ensure alignment and execution of growth plans

· Understand and negotiate pricing strategy with retailers

· Develop a trade efficient plan for growth and sell-thru that meets retailer requirements

· Adeptly negotiate and leverage trade spend to drive growth and protect margin

· Open new accounts with urgency, persistence, and contingency planning

· Understand and manage an account P&L with reasonable forecasting accuracy

· Interpret data for improved forecasting and actionable insights to deliver optimal SKU productivity every season

· Present and represent our brand consistent with its core purpose, values and personality

Qualifications/Key Competencies:

Ideal Sr. Sales Manager will have proven “Hunter” experience delivering new business growth in the consumer goods industry (ideally, in seasonal and display-driven businesses), with a combination of small and large entrepreneurial company experience, and exposure to brand building. Must be a highly motivated and organized self-starter who can hit the ground running.

· Bachelor’s degree. MBA desired, but not required.

· Proven track record in a Sales Hunter role, consistently meeting or exceeding sales targets.

· Recent New Business experience and relationships in key retail channels.

· Strong prospecting, negotiation, and closing skills.

· Experience in fast-growth consumer products desired.

· Experience in effectively managing sales brokers, sales reps and/or distributors required.

· Joint business planning and line review presentation experience with customers is mandatory.

· Experience in seasonal goods and/or home fragrance products is a bonus.

· Demonstrable track record of building relationships with retailer merchant teams.

· Strong technical/computer skills including advanced Excel, Word and PowerPoint.

· Proficiency in CRM software and sales tracking tools.

· Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills.

· Customer promotional planning and sales forecasting experience.

· Self-motivated, energetic team player with a positive attitude.

About Company:

Our client’s brand enjoys an unrivaled position as the pioneer of scented ornaments designed to make Christmas trees smell fresh cut. Our client has grown from a unique Christmas idea to a global seasonal brand and is now a subsidiary of the National Tree Company, the leading US wholesaler of artificial Christmas tree, wreaths, garland, and other seasonal décor.

The iconic scented ornaments feature proprietary product forms that simply work better than competitive fragrance formats. Our client is sold across multiple retail channels with major retailers such as Walmart, Target, Lowes, Home Depot, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, and many more. The brand enjoys high repeat rates, a 96% consumer satisfaction rating, a 4.5+ star rating and high sell-thru rates at retail that lead to long-standing customer relationships and year-on-year growth.

But the brand is just scratching the surface of its opportunity. Over 70m US households are interested in scenting their Christmas trees – even with the success of the client brand, it’s still only getting to a fraction of those households. With the support of National Tree Company is poised for explosive growth, not only at Christmas but other seasons as well.

You’ll find a flexible work environment, transparency, collaboration – and the opportunity to make a big impact with a growing brand. Benefits include medical, dental, vision, 401K with match, flexible work arrangements, summer hours, employee discounts and more.

Job Code: 20701