Director of National Accounts
M.S. Walker, United States
Job Description
The primary purpose of the M.S. Walker Brands Director of National On-Premise Accounts is to drive availability, visibility, velocity and profitability of our M.S. Walker Brands spirits and wine portfolio for the national and regional customer base of on-premise chains. This role will develop and drive strategic account plans that will deliver the results to profitably grow M.S. Walker Brands sales. This individual will work closely with key internal partners within the National and Home Market Sales, Brand Management, Creative Services, and other cross-functional teams to establish tailored customer and marketing activation plans that deliver for the customer, consumer, and M.S. Walker Brands. A key to success is effective and productive collaboration with the M.S. Walker Brands field teams and distributor management teams to ensure alignment on budgets, priority brands, and execution.
Existing relationships with leading on-premise corporations such as Darden, Landry’s, Marriott and more is a prerequisite for the role.
Candidates located in Florida, Texas, or California strongly preferred
Responsibilities:
Sales Management:
- Develop and implement annual operating plan which includes financial, volume and distribution objectives
- Manage and achieve annual KPI goals
- Utilize data and trade marketing resources to develop and execute compelling, relevant ideas and programming to create an environment where MSWB’s brands will pull and deliver incremental value to the national customer base
- Contact new and existing customers to discuss their product needs through a relationship-based approach, including national chain on premise and regional on-premise customers
- Work with in-state wholesalers to coordinate on premise marketing objectives with their management team
- Conduct educational meetings with our on-premises customers to enhance knowledge of the MSWB portfolio
- Evaluate ROI to participate and galvanize sales leads at national and regional on premise trade conferences and events
- Identify prospective customers by using business directories, following leads from existing clients, participating in organizations and clubs, and attending trade shows and conferences
- Manage wholesale product training for our national and regional on-premise placements and announcements
- Manage supplier relationships in concert with the MSWB Portfolio Management Team as they pertain to national and regional account business.
- Help create additional opportunities for the in-state wholesalers to promote and sell the MSWB portfolio, working with wholesale customer sales reps, specialists and managers as needed
- Quote distributor pricing and answer customer questions about products, prices, and availability by market
- Coordinate efforts with wholesale sales administration and purchasing on contract orders
- Understand a comprehensive knowledge of wine varietals and international wines in addition to all MSWB imported and owned spirits products, including current prices, vintages, regional identity, awards and press
- Strategize on how best to achieve sales and merchandising objectives monthly
- Maintain accurate historical account purchase information
- Achieve monthly, quarterly, and annual sales growth in line with stated overall sales goals
- Coordinate with existing wholesalers for national and regional on-premise account presentations and implementation
- Implement and manage national and regional on-premise chain budgets with prior approval
- Communicate with distributor management on inventory levels
Relationship Management:
- Strengthen and build relationships with key customer(s) in the market and collaborate with division sales, marketing teams, and distributors to establish tailored marketing plans for accounts. Relationships will include buyer, brand, distributor and MSWB market managers and associated field team.
- Manage and communicate national level plans, programs, and approvals directly to the distributor and PR teams to ensure excellent execution at the outlet level.
- Conduct formal action-oriented quarterly meetings with key state and region sales management to discuss fiscal progress, current opportunities, and forward-looking needs to support the business. Establish regular monthly check-in calls as well.
- Be the on-premise chain expert for supporting the broader team with best practices, effective sell stories and NABCA data to win and grow the overall on premise business.
Tracking / Metrics:
- Use VIP, the National Shipment Report, and other tools to create account level execution and compliance metrics to track distributor and account performance.
- Conduct post analysis to validate ROI on pro