Who is a regional representative. Regional represantative. Profession sales representative
Purpose of the position: Achievement of the planned sales volumes in the assigned territory
1. General Provisions
1.1. Name structural unit: Representation
1.2. Submits (position of the head): Regional manager
1.3. Is a manager (positions of direct subordinates): no
1.4. Replaces (positions whose functions are performed by the employee, in their absence): no
1.5. Deputy (positions that perform the functions of an employee in his absence): no
2. Job responsibilities
2.1. Regularly, according to the itinerary, visits each client, in accordance with the approved scheme, in order to place an order for the next delivery and track the remaining goods.
2.2. Controls the dispatch of an order to a retail outlet, on time, in terms of the volume of sales of products, nomenclature, completeness and quality.
2.3. Monitors the status of accounts receivable for its clients and promptly informs the management about possible delays in payments, as well as other factors affecting the client's solvency.
2.4. If necessary, it collects cash for the delivered goods.
2.5. Promptly responds to customer claims regarding the quantity and quality of the supplied goods in accordance with the supply agreement.
2.6. Identifies the reasons for violations of the terms of contracts, takes measures to eliminate them and prevent these reasons.
2.7. Behind reporting period visits all outlets (active and potential) in the area of \u200b\u200bresponsibility.
2.8. He is constantly looking for new customers and concludes supply contracts with them.
2.9. Advises clients on consumer product characteristics that help meet the needs of end customers.
2.10. Communicates to the direct management about all changes in the market conditions identified in the course of work and collects marketing information if necessary.
2.11. Conducts incentive programs for sub-distributors / key customers aimed at increasing the quantitative and qualitative distribution
3.1. Budgeting: no
3.2. Scheduling: daily, weekly, monthly.
3.3. Reporting: daily, weekly, monthly.
3.4. Personnel work: no
3.5. Development of documents: no
3.6. Keeps up to date information, databases: contact persons and their management, peculiarities of outlets, exact addresses, telephones, operating hours.
4. Has the right to make decisions on issues
4.1. Financial: no
4.2. Partner selection: finding new customers
4.3. Sight of documents: no
5. Documents regulating work
5.1 External documents: Laws and regulations.
5.2. Internal documents: Civil Defense Standards, Branch Regulations, Job Descriptions, Internal Labor Regulations, Work Standards for employees of the wholesale and retail business.
6. Criteria for assessing labor efficiency
6.1. Implementation of the weekly and monthly planning activities for which he is responsible.
6.2. Implementation of the quality of the weekly and monthly planning activities for which he is responsible.
6.3. Implementation of the volume of activities of weekly and monthly planning, for which he is responsible.
6.4. Internal customer satisfaction.
6.5. Satisfaction of external customers.
7. Interaction, exchange of information
7.1 Gets information
Provider |
Problematic |
The form |
Periodicity |
|
Regional Manager |
Plans, tasks |
Meeting agenda |
Monthly |
|
Meeting agenda |
Weekly, as needed |
|||
Data on overdue receivables |
Weekly |
|||
Planned promotions, changes in work |
Meeting agenda |
Weekly, as needed |
||
Routes, price list, accompanying documentation |
Report (Excel) |
Weekly |
||
Collaboration results |
Report (Excel) |
According to the collaboration schedule |
||
Results of legal expertise of contracts submitted for approval; reconciliation of claims and claims to counterparties regarding their violation of contractual obligations |
Of necessity |
|||
Sales plan execution data |
Report (Excel) |
Daily |
7.2. Transmits information
Destination |
Problematic |
The form |
Periodicity |
|
Regional Manager |
Daily report |
Approved form |
Daily |
|
POSM Application |
Memo |
Monthly |
||
Report on the balance of sub-distributors |
Weekly |
|||
Quantitative distribution report; by sales of sub-distributors / key customers by channel |
Monthly |
|||
Product supply contracts |
As needed |
|||
Distributor / Sub-distributor |
By mobile phone or letterhead |
Daily |
8. Qualification requirements
8.1. Education: higher, incomplete higher, secondary - special
8.2. Special training, admissions: category B rights
8.3. Skills: Negotiation
8.4. Experience: in the food market for at least 1 year
8.5. Professional knowledge:
- Progressive forms and methods of trade and marketing;
- The procedure for concluding sales contracts and registration required documents;
- Conditions for concluding commercial transactions and methods of bringing goods to consumers;
Instruction agreed:
Head of Motivation Department ________________________________________________
Head of Branch Office _____________________________________________
Block Executive Director ________________________________________________
I have read the instructions:
Full name, date, signature
____________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________
Regional Representative or Sales Agent is one of the most sought-after professions in various companies... And this is absolutely no coincidence: the work of a regional or sales representative is actually quite tedious both from a physical point of view and from a psychological point of view and requires a lot of persistence, stress resistance and excellent interpersonal skills.
If you think that you have all of the above qualities, and want to try to prove yourself such a highly active employee, then our advice will not be superfluous for you.
So, who is the regional representative?
Regional or sales Representativeis, first of all, an agent who does business. We can say that this is a freelancer whose task is to deal with purchases or sales, or carry out various types of transactions for potential clients or the company he represents.
In recent years, the role of regional representatives has increased significantly. This is especially true for companies using various systems and channels aimed at attracting the end consumer. Such a specialist can work for a specific company or act on behalf of one specific person. Sometimes a sales agent works for several companies or people at the same time.
What knowledge you need to have to work as a regional representative
Usually, a trade or regional representative performs work related to a specific trade sector, having and applying knowledge about a specific group of goods. It could be the sale of seeds - in this case, it would be nice for the regional representative to have knowledge in the field of agronomy. And if he represents the manufacturer computer technology, then knowledge in the field of electronics is very useful.
Why are IT companies opening representative offices in the regions? The reasons may be different: marketing, "political", economic. Someone thinks that the main task of a regional branch is to maintain a warehouse with equipment, consumables and spare parts. Some focus on service, while for others, technical specialists and assistance with projects are more important. Well, for some, the very fact of presence in the region is important.
“All of these goals are relevant to us,” emphasizes the Director of the Partner Relations Department at ESET Russia Anton Korolev... - I will add one more - strategic. As a service-oriented company, it is important for us to respond quickly even to small requests from partners. The teams of regional offices are always close and in touch with them, ready to meet and help. Despite the increase in the share of online sales, our business is closely related to personal communications, I mean seminars, training, joint planning of meetings with heads of companies, both partners and customers. We pay great attention to personal communication, and so far it works. "
Schneider Electric Regional Partner Manager Dmitry Uspensky believes that the presence of branches is one of the reasons for a consistently good level of sales in the regions. Field staff work with customers, partners, designers, provide training, assist with specifications, resolve disputes, assist partners and customers with service support, organize and / or participate in marketing events. “Many issues from the central office are difficult to resolve, and they often relate to relatively small supplies or projects,” Ouspensky clarifies. - You can not neglect the personal factor. Local employees know all market participants well, which helps in prompt processing of inquiries and resolution of disputes. "
“Our company maintains regional offices in order to be close to partners and to know in person not only the leaders of these companies, but also each seller,” says the director of the partner operations department at Xerox Russia Anton Borodikhin... “It helps us to achieve marketing, economic and“ political ”goals. Thanks to our regional presence, we advise and support partners in the implementation of projects and in general in their work with customers. "
According to the CEO of System Soft Maxim Tikurkin, the main goal of the regional office "lies in the plane of the economy: we are moving part of the business functions to the regions in order to optimize costs, - modern technologies and well-functioning business processes allow us to do this." In addition to economic benefits, according to Maxim Tikurkin, the company also implements the function of social responsibility, forming a regional labor market in the technological sphere.
Marketing Director D-Link CIS and Baltics Sergey Vasyuk also assures that the opening of the representative office is primarily pursuing economic goals. “In the current situation, the tasks of promoting the company's products and solutions largely fall on the regional offices, which can work locally with integrators and customers at all stages of project preparation and implementation,” emphasizes Vasiuk.
But according to the HR director of Navicon Dmitry Kotov, "The economic reasons for the creation of regional offices, surprisingly, are gradually fading away." “The labor market is leveling out: now the level of wages outside Moscow and St. Petersburg is somewhat lower, but the difference is becoming less noticeable. I believe this is due to the fact that remote mode work is becoming more and more commonplace, and vacancies of both Moscow companies and foreign corporations are now available for applicants from the regions. Our regional offices in Kazan and Stavropol can be considered more of a solution development center. We wanted to create a “personnel forge” - a space where programmers could realize themselves. Already now we have assembled a strong team of specialists in their field - it does not matter for them which client to work with, local or federal. Moreover, the staff turnover in them turned out to be lower than in Moscow, so it is easier for us to build up our competencies there, ”says Kotov.
“The main goal of opening representative offices in the region is to organize the“ first line ”of customer support in the implementation of our 1C: Energy products,” notes the commercial director of the Best Group. Julia Protalinskaya.
According to the CEO of the production group Remer Alexandra Kiseleva, the regional offices have essentially become the company's showrooms. It is difficult for customers to choose a reliable manufacturer, to understand the variety of products and to make a decision to buy a complex and expensive industrial building, without being personally convinced of its characteristics and quality. In the regional showrooms, the entire range of the company's equipment is presented, and the employees will not only provide technical support, but also prepare commercial offers, will determine the product supply channel. “To minimize the costs of representative offices, we invited related producers (in this case, a metal tray) to the project,” says Alexander Kiselev.
“Our presence in the regions is an attempt to better understand the market and the concerns of our regional partners and their customers: the situation in the region, what IT tasks are a priority here, how do the local market players live, how we can help, as a distributor, today or in the future, - emphasizes the director of business development in the Siberia region and Far East by Axoft Alexey Kakunin... - And when we do a good job with these tasks, it is reflected in economic performance... More than 40% of Axoft's turnover comes from the regions ”.
Regional Development Director, Konica Minolta Business Solutions Russia Alexander Suvorov assures that the main task of the regional offices is "to provide a level of expertise in the region that will meet the company's quality criteria." “Representative offices in the regions help us to reach each client live and tell us about our concept, our approach to printing and document flow. For us, the regional partner network is more than just expanding the sales area: we train partners, certify, help them ensure the same standard of work with clients that is accepted at Konica Minolta, ”says Alexander Suvorov.
“We have kept our regional structure, because it works,” says OCS Vice President Georgy Kozeletsky... - Because it is needed by both vendors and dealers, and even end customers. No, no, we still do not work with the latter, but they appreciate the additional services that a distributor in the region can provide. And if a triple alliance in the person of a vendor, a distributor and a dealer company participates in the negotiations, the chances of competitors are rapidly diminishing. "
At the head of the corner
Whether such representative offices should “pay for themselves” is not an unambiguous question. On the one hand, everything depends on the goals that the companies pursue when entering the regions. On the other hand, one of the main “gods” to whom business “prays” today is efficiency. And the fact that with the onset of the crisis many companies (primarily vendors) closed their offices, it would seem, confirms this.
Yulia Protalinskaya notes: “The payback of regional offices is a difficult question. Recently, there have been heated debates on it. I believe they should be an effective link in the supply chain of a product or service. "
“The question of direct payback always depends on the goals of creating a representative office,” says Maxim Tikurkin. - For example, many companies open regional branches in order to stay with clients in the same time zone and respond promptly to their requests. In this case, the direct payback is difficult to calculate, but the efficiency remote office sometimes high. The exact same situation occurs when an IT company creates a representative office for political purposes - for example, to lobby for its interests in the region. If a representative office is created for economic reasons, then its payback must be monitored in dynamics. "
According to Anton Korolev, situations are different. “Our offices are paying off, and this is important. We do not sponsor subsidized regions, representative offices earn enough money on their territory. Perhaps, any vendor dreams of this. If a company invests, then this may be due to the fact that it is just entering the market, trying to start a business, ”says Korolev.
“Of course, maintaining people, offices, demo equipment and showrooms is expensive, but we have our own understanding of payback, which is not necessarily expressed in making a profit at the first stage of the existence of a regional representative office,” says Alexander Suvorov. - We understand that if we are not in some strategically important region, then our business will not be there either. First of all, we research the market, assess how much its capacity is enough to open a representative office, provide it with personnel or engineers. Assessing the region in the long term, within three to five years, we are building a business there that covers all our investments. This year we have a regional representative in Kazan. This is a typical example of why it is necessary to work directly in the region. Until the moment when we appeared in Tatarstan, we had no sales either. Now both partners and clients have become more active at the same time, who readily consider our proposals and invite them to projects. This applies to any region - a personal meeting is important, it is impossible to sell a project remotely ”.
“There are no expenses for the sake of expenses,” reminds Alexander Kiselev. - Another thing is that a representation is partly a marketing and partly a commercial tool, and it cannot be a profit center as such. Therefore, in general, like any such instruments, representative offices affect sales growth and, as a result, the manufacturer's marginal income. "
It is noteworthy that the majority of vendors and distributors who took part in the preparation of the material, assure that payback is a prerequisite for the existence of a regional office.
“Undoubtedly, one of the most important criteria for evaluating the work of an office can be considered its“ payback ”in terms of the volume of the company's products supplied to the region through the channel,” emphasizes Sergei Vasyuk.
“In large cities, representative offices should pay for themselves,” says Dmitry Uspensky. - If the state is not bloated, then it is quite possible. If you need to cut costs, you can always leave the required minimum of specialists. In small towns, sales are often small. Keeping a local employee or an entire office in such cases is unprofitable, and an employee of the nearest large office in the region can become a representative in the city. This is quite enough. "
Georgy Kozeletsky has no doubts that the regional offices should “pay for themselves”. “Definitely! And what this means, each vendor and distributor understands or thinks differently and accordingly makes decisions that boil down to various kinds of 'optimizations' and 'reductions'. "
According to Dmitry Kotov, any business expansion, including horizontal expansion, should eventually pay for itself. “If a representative office is opened for full work in the region, there should already be clients, if a regional development center is being created, there should be projects in which programmers will be employed. It is economically inexpedient to open something for the future, ”Kotov emphasizes.
“Payback is a must,” agrees with colleagues Alexei Kakunin. - Any business unit, including a regional office, must be effective. And if this does not happen, it needs to be turned into profit - modernized or integrated into an adjacent division. And only in the most extreme case - to close. "
Anton Borodikhin is also sure that payback is an indispensable requirement for the work of regional offices. “Of course, the productivity of representative offices differs, it depends on the market situation and the economic potential of individual territories. However, thanks to the advantages of working next to partners and customers, none of our regional offices has ever given reason to doubt its return on investment. An important basis for economic efficiency is employees, each of whom is a highly qualified expert in their field with experience in personal sales of millions of dollars, ”says Borodikhin.
“Any business unit must be self-sufficient in one sense or another,” says a representative of a regional company, CEO of Inforkom (Vladivostok) Dmitry German... - It is difficult and irrational to keep an unprofitable “enterprise” in the asset. Considering that regional divisions are mostly multifunctional and are practically independent business units, payback is a prerequisite for their viability. "
Autonomy and corporation
Another interesting question is how independent are branches? Each company solves this issue in its own way, and it happens that different representative offices of one company may have different degrees of independence.
According to Dmitry Kotov, this question is “very delicate”. “As far as customer focus is concerned, the representative office should be able to make decisions with a high degree of independence in this matter,” explains Kotov. “And in terms of business security, such an autonomous unit can easily go on its own. Therefore, at Navicon, on the one hand, we give a high degree of autonomy to regional offices, on the other, we continuously support our representative offices, integrate regional employees into all corporate processes and promptly respond to any of their requests. Local offices should see the value of the “big brother” who provides them with resources, loads them with work during periods of calm in the regional market. "
In turn, Georgy Kozeletsky is sure that it is easy to answer the question, “How independent should regional representations be?” “Everything must comply with the procedures and business processes at the head office. If everything in the center is strictly regulated, then in the regions it should be the same. If independence is valued in the center, then it should be preserved in the localities. And where is the thin line, along which you need to go, and where is this balance - everyone decides for himself. We have been doing this for almost a quarter of a century! "
Dmitry Uspensky explains that regional offices of Schneider Electric can be both independent and tightly integrated. “The main thing is that project managers have the necessary powers and, as a result, a serious level of responsibility for making decisions,” emphasizes Uspensky. - The situation in projects can change very quickly, employees of regional branches must be able to respond quickly. In addition, the level of trust of local partners directly depends on this. The partner must know that the agreements are unshakable. "
“The experience and competence of the regional offices, accumulated over the years, allow them to be largely 'independent' in terms of goals and daily work,” says Sergei Vasyuk. - Regions differ greatly in the structure of customers and projects (government, law enforcement agencies, corporate: oil and gas sector, real production, energy, agricultural sector, service sector, etc.) and it is the office on site that can most correctly determine the priorities in its work, aiming to increase the sales of the company's products. "
According to Alexander Kiselev, all representative offices legally remain part of one big company... But in terms of management, each is endowed with a whole range of regional competencies - making commercial decisions, defining a client audience, marketing events in which you need to take part, etc.
“Our regional offices are responsible for Xerox's local business, including the authorization of partners and the distribution of work between them in the local market, servicing key customers and other areas,” emphasizes Anton Borodikhin. “Nevertheless, Xerox regional offices have branch status and therefore must follow the basic principles of our company in terms of business ethics, financial and strategic priorities.
Alexei Kakunin also believes that regional structures should remain independent. But at the same time, act in accordance with the strategic and tactical goals of the company and within the framework of the adopted corporate policy.
“From my point of view, the most independent leaders should feel like co-owners of the business,” Anton Korolev reflects. - The problem is that it is very difficult to find people who are ready to work remotely with full dedication for years, often 12 hours a day. One of the achievements of our company is the construction of the structure of regional offices. We do not inflate the staff, we have a small team, but these are experienced people who have been in the market for many years. Extreme situations have taught them to brilliantly understand the topic, they can act as a marketing manager, a technical support employee, a presale specialist - a universal human orchestra. The downside is that we rarely see each other, the feeling of a united team is sometimes lost, but modern facilities communications still allow for regular communication - video conferencing, conference calls, instant messengers, CRM. And business trips, of course, for Moscow managers, a trip to the region is always an interesting task, a different atmosphere, different people who are not like Muscovites. In addition, in our Moscow office there are regional days, when people come to visit us and share their experience. "
Yulia Protalinskaya believes that the answer to this question depends on the goals of the distributor or vendor's presence in the region. “If a representative office is a logistics point, then, of course, all its activities are controlled by the head office. If a regional office is opened for the purpose of entering the IT services market, implementing projects or organizing support centers, then the head of the representative office must act freely enough and make independent decisions. However, internal processes in this case should be monitored from above to control the quality of services. "
“We have two stages in the development of a regional representative office,” explains Alexander Suvorov. - At the initial stage, employees are independent in terms of daily work, planning, but feedback rather close: regular reporting online meetings are held with them, lists of clients and project steps are coordinated. After we appoint the head of the representative office, part of the load is transferred to him, and the office becomes almost autonomous - we only look at the fulfillment of the sales plan and the growth schedule that we have laid down. We strive to ensure that the representation becomes completely independent, with the exception of some general events that are coordinated from the center. "
On the back side
How do regional companies treat representative offices? Does the presence of local offices affect their relationship with manufacturers and suppliers? Of course, the requirements for a representative office vary depending on the profile of a regional company, but the overall picture is unambiguous: a branch is not a luxury, but a real tool for a successful business.
“Regional offices are most effective if they are in the same city with you, the further they are, the less useful,” believes the commercial director of Fort Dialogue (Ufa) Asia Nabiullina... - If a representative office in another federal district is often more convenient, faster and more efficient to work with Moscow, moreover, it is inconvenient to get to them, often there is an “extra link” - through Moscow. Vendors often leave decision-making to the head at the discretion of the regional representative office and this blurs common policy vendor. As a result, on one territory there are some accents, on the other - others, as they say, “in each hut there are rattles”. It is necessary to say about the traditional misfortune of regional representative offices of vendors - personnel are recruited, as a rule, from former managers local IT market, and with them the tail of 'old attachments' and vice versa. "
According to the director of the trading and service company "Vita" (Samara) Alexandra Platonova, the presence of a regional representative office of a distributor is a very important aspect. “The support of a personal manager, working together with him is always only beneficial,” emphasizes Platonov. - The recently fashionable trend of transferring order processing to “tele-sales” is not always convenient, because the shift manager is sometimes not fully aware of the essence of the project or the history of the order. Another important plus is the availability of a regional warehouse. This speeds up the sale by 5-7 days. "
I agree with my colleague and the head of the department for work with manufacturers of the group of companies "Computers and Networks" (Novosibirsk) Igor Dorokhin: “Representatives are needed. All integrators are accustomed to the fact that it is possible to involve both salespeople and vendor's technical specialists in the project. "
“Pre-sales and technical specialists of partner companies on the ground affect the agility and speed of response to customer requests, - says the technical director of the HOST group of companies. Denis Prozorov... - After the fall of the market and a series of reorganizations, the offices of Cisco, IBM, HPE, Veritas were reduced or ceased to exist in the Urals. We have to “write out” specialists from Moscow, which increases the time costs. In addition, metropolitan colleagues do not always understand the local specifics, the specifics of business with a client. A couple of times the aplomb of the Moscow “guests” complicated the negotiations and delayed the signing of the contract.
According to Denis Prozorov's estimates, over the past three years, more distributor offices with local warehouses have grown in the Urals. “But for us, this is not a critical factor. More important is flexible logistics, a variety of financial instruments and direct access to technical specialists and BDMs. The latter help to close vendor gaps and develop business, ”emphasizes Prozorov.
“The most important thing for us is the vendor's assistance in training employees, conducting training seminars and attestations,” notes Yulia Protalinskaya. “In general, the role of regional offices is still important in helping to organize marketing events, form information content on the product, and improve the skills of regional specialists. However, with further development Internet technologies, all of the above functions will work remotely. "
According to Anton Borodikhin's “outside” estimates, “regional companies have a positive attitude to supplier representative offices, provided that each party coordinates the performance of its functions with other participants in the distribution chain. For example, a vendor provides support for partners, and a distributor deals with logistics and financial issues... If the supplier starts working directly with the customers of the regional partner without his participation, then this causes irritation and misunderstanding. "
In turn, Aleksey Kakunin notes: "Partners and customers value more those manufacturers whose representatives are located in the region. This is a kind of signal: our market is strategically important for a vendor."
“Are representative offices always needed? - Anton Korolev reflects. “Probably not always, but in our rapidly changing market, I think they will be needed for a long time.”
“Close? Oh well!"
One of the indirect indicators of the need for the operation of a branch, perhaps, can be considered the dynamics of the company's interaction with regional partners after its closure. Do relations with those players who liquidate their local office (or, conversely, open it) change?
Dmitry German assures: “In a global sense, relations with suppliers who have closed their offices in our region have not changed. New ties are being established, the model of interaction is changing somewhat, but cooperation continues with commensurate efficiency. "
“For us - no, we traditionally receive support from the center and, as a rule, we have a personal manager for the main suppliers,” says Asiya Nabiullina.
“We continue to do business with all partners, regardless of their presence or absence in the Urals. It's just that the relationship has become less comfortable, - says Denis Prozorov. - Telephone and video communication only partially solve the issue of communications. There are not enough personal meetings. The frequency of contacts has decreased, since after the staff reduction, the workload was redistributed among the remaining vendor employees. Often they are not eager to spend time coordinating business trips and flights to another city. As a result, it has become more difficult to keep pace with the client. You cannot promptly involve a vendor's technical specialist to tell you more about the technology or answer a non-trivial question. "
According to Alexander Platonov, the closure of an independent branch of one of the distributors that happened a few years ago caused a decrease in the volume of purchases through this supplier. “The sellers simply didn’t keep up with the order volume on time. But over time, the staff of regional sales managers was increased, everything gradually returned to good volumes, "Platonov emphasizes.
According to Igor Dorokhin, the closure of the office reduces the efficiency of responses and the success of participation in projects. “A Moscow manager cannot be constantly on the road and often travel to the regions. This applies to both vendors and distributors. For the latter, the presence and filling of regional warehouses is generally very important, ”Dorokhin clarifies.
Director of "Abak-2000" (Volgograd) Stanislav Vinnikov assures: "All other things being equal (and now they are very similar on the market!), we tend to work with a company that has people on the ground who can be seen live, ask questions and solve problems."
According to Anton Borodikhin, “relations between partners and suppliers change if they close their regional offices. Distributors who decide that their presence in the region is not justified for economic or other reasons, lose a lot in the level of interaction with partners. This also applies to vendors who close dealerships when restructuring costs. For regional companies, the presence of a supplier “on the spot” is a very important factor that directly influences the decision of the issue of cooperation and the choice of partners ”.
All sorts of moms ...
The question of which representative offices are more needed - vendors or distributors - does not look so rhetorical as it might seem at first glance.
According to Igor Dorokhin, the answer is ambiguous. “Who do you love more, dad or mom? Usually both are loved. Everyone should be in their place. Problems with distributors / vendors arise only in one case - if a local company is removed from the customer's deal and the work goes “directly”, - emphasizes Dorokhin.
I agree with my colleague Denis Prozorov: “We have a single sales channel: vendor - distributor - integrator. Each participant in this scheme is equal and irreplaceable. Distortions in the importance of this or that player lead to variations of Krylov's fable Swan, Cancer and Pike, from which business suffers throughout the channel. "
Dmitry Uspensky is sure that both are important. “It is important for small partners to have a distributor, since not all vendors have representative offices, and a distributor will help with communication issues. In addition, the distributor can provide qualified assistance in the selection and adjustment of equipment, and regional partners will certainly use this service, even if it is a very small purchase. For large regional players engaged in the project business, it is important to have vendor employees on the spot who understand the ongoing processes and can make decisions quickly. "
But in the opinion of Stanislav Vinnikov, in the regions, the representation of manufacturers is more necessary. “First of all, to help in projects (if we talk about project vendors, without touching retail),” Vinnikov clarifies. - The vendor knows his product better, can bring to the attention of the client more complete information, help him make a decision in his favor. It is difficult to do this remotely by phone, and one-time visits do not solve the problem. Plus, any complex and large project is being prepared for a long time, during which many negotiations take place. And if the vendor is in place, then with the help of a partner he has a much better chance of reaching an agreement with the customer. "
Asiya Nabiullina also believes that vendor representation is more needed, “from a distributor, a regional warehouse is enough”.
And according to Alexander Platonov, distributors are needed in the region. "Vendors - they can do almost everything by electronic means." At the same time, Platonov emphasizes that vendor support is necessary for companies "in terms of training, authorization, project approval." “We need vendor training seminars. It is on them that employees can receive information, answers to questions, communicating interactively. Of course, events like DIF (OCS) combine both a partner conference and vendor training, but not all employees can take part in such an event, ”says Platonov.
Wishes
It is significant that training (from vendors and distributors) is exactly what regional companies still lack most. This is despite the widespread use of various forms of distance learning, webinars and trainings.
According to Alexander Platonov, the only "minus" of the work of regional offices recent years - "reduction in the number of trainings on the line of vendors (and not multi-vendor events for distributors).
Stanislav Vinnikov emphasizes that his company lacks “training, both sales and technical. “There are a lot of vendors, technologies are developing rapidly and it is always a big problem in the region to acquaint the entire state with new products. Usually you have to travel to Moscow, and this is time and financial costs, plus people are interrupted from work, ”Vinnikov says. Among other wishes of the company "Abak-2000" - marketing support. “We need materials, demo equipment, tests. We often do this at our own expense and at our own resources, which are always in short supply, ”Vinnikov complains. “Besides, you need support in negotiations. It happens that the customer hesitates whether to entrust the solution of the problem to a specific partner or not. We need vendor recommendations. And, of course, a warehouse, especially assembly and consumables. No matter how you plan and agree on deadlines, there are always situations when a little thing is needed urgently. And it is not always possible to deliver it from Moscow. "
Asiya Nabiullina complains about the lack of technical specialists in the region.
“I would like even more marketing events and technical courses, full warehouses, perfect service support and big discounts,” says Igor Dorokhin.
According to Dmitry German, regional offices often do not have the authority to solve a number of tasks and problems. “Sometimes local offices slow down the process of solving certain issues, as they need to contact the head office,” explains German. “At the same time, some regional offices, even being constrained by opportunities, provide the maximum possible support and resolve controversial issues in favor of their clients. It all depends on the competence of the specialists. Our cooperation with OCS Distribution can serve as a positive example of interaction between a distributor and a regional company. Over the years OCS has become a key distributor for us, and now a large number of our projects are based on OCS offers. Flexibility of solutions, quality of service, focus on joint success, marketing support - this is what OCS wins and what partners in the regions often lack. "
Denis Prozorov notes that his company would like to receive more "sales and technical support at the stage of project development ". “No matter how competent our own employees are, we cannot know the product better than the manufacturer. Although, of course, there were also reverse precedents, "- clarifies Prozorov. - The main requirements for distributors from HOST Group are" adequate financial conditions and logistics without failures. " “Firstly, I want the equipment to reach the customer in its original form, the trucks are not lost on the road and do not get into accidents,” says Denis Prozorov. - Secondly, we need financial support and risk sharing. Both state and commercial organizations work on postpay, and the delay in payment hurts the integrator's business. In order to implement projects, we have to receive loans either from distributors or from banks. If you strive for dialogue and find compromises, then there are no difficulties in business with partners. Good relationships with the vendor teams helped to keep our share of the business even with the closure of local offices. "
But according to the representative of the vendor Anton Borodikhin, partners expect the distributor to have regional warehouses first of all. “Marketing support, local expertise and other similar advantages of a distributor are less important for the channel,” says Borodikhin. - The main value of the manufacturer, from the point of view of partners, is his direct participation in closing deals. If a highly qualified vendor representative accompanies the regional partner in the presentation of solutions and recommends the customer to cooperate with him, this makes sales much more successful. The involvement of the manufacturer is especially important in dealing with large companieswho take this as an additional guarantee in unforeseen situations. In this case, the customer understands that if something goes wrong, there is a vendor behind the partner, who can also be contacted. Along with participation in sales, partners expect the vendor to take steps in training, consulting, and regional events on a regular basis. With a local presence, meeting these needs is much easier. ”
Alexander Suvorov names three “growth zones” that his company is working on in the regions. First, it is “understandable affiliate program, with clearly described support rules and procedures. " Secondly, "ensuring the required level of knowledge", which implies the organization of periodic technical and product sessions, to which all authorized partners can join. And thirdly, "increasing expertise in the region as a whole." First of all, we are talking about the desire to "push" partners to sell more complex solutions in the field of print management, document management, automation of business processes in general.
2.10. Communicates to the direct management about all changes in the market conditions identified in the course of work and collects marketing information if necessary.
3.6. Keeps up to date information, databases: contact persons and their management, peculiarities of outlets, exact addresses, telephones, operating hours.
2.2.12. Responsible for the implementation of sales and development plans, and for increasing the quantitative and quality distribution in the assigned territory.
3.4. HR work: operational management of employees, assessment of their performance, assessment of resources to perform the required amount of work, recommendations for hiring and dismissing employees
5.2. Internal documents: Civil Defense Standards, Branch Regulations, Job Descriptions, Internal Labor Regulations, Work Standards for employees of the wholesale and retail business.
Regional Sales Representative Job Description
)6. During the absence of a sales representative (vacation, illness, etc.), his duties are performed by a person appointed in accordance with the established procedure. This person acquires the corresponding rights and is responsible for the improper performance of the duties assigned to him.
1. Develops a strategy and a system for representing the interests of an enterprise in a given market sector, determines the structure of the system, methods and models for managing the system.
Job instructions
Federal laws and regulatory legal documents governing the implementation of entrepreneurial and commercial activities, including legislation and the legal framework of regions (subjects Russian Federation, municipalities, etc.);
1.6 During the absence of a regional manager (business trip, vacation, illness, etc.), his duties are assigned to his person, appointed in the prescribed manner, acquiring the appropriate rights and responsible for the proper performance of the duties assigned to him.
Responsibilities of a sales representative
The same route sheet should indicate the working time of the point and the time when it is possible to find the management there.Outlets are where the sales representative mostly works. Responsibilities in preparation for a visit to a sales outlet are reduced to drawing up a visit plan and preparing for the visit.
The working day is planned in accordance with what responsibilities the sales representative has in relation to each specific point.
Profession sales representative
The position of a sales representative is in demand in almost all companies that sell products or services. These can be organizations selling:
Domestic merchants can be considered the first trade representatives in Russia. In the 15-17 centuries, any person who made a trade transaction could be considered a merchant. Sales representatives, sales managers and other commercial workers are currently involved in trade transactions.
Regional Representatives: Responsibilities and Required Skills
Consider the question "Who are the regional representatives?" in details.As a rule, most of the companies face the problem of entering other sales markets over time. If, for example, you have a well-established business in the Krasnodar Territory, then in order to increase profits you start to think about how to organize a branded retail outlet in the Rostov Region or the Stavropol Territory, for example.
Regional duty representative
Regular submission of reports to the company's office in an approved form. Other representative functions. To carry out an activity, a regional representative must know: To carry out an activity, a regional representative must be able to:The work of a regional representative assumes full employment and long-term cooperation, the creation of a Representative office and the opening of an office, selection and management of the team (by increasing the market share and the volume of services offered).