Japanese Non-Food Specialist

Industry: Sales

Company: Mutual Trading Company

The Out of State Japanese Beverage Specialist traditionally fills the role of a Regional Sales Manager. This position works under their supervisor as an important part of the Japanese Beverage Specialist Team. The appropriate candidate will be passionate & knowledgeable about the alcoholic beverages industry and/or Japanese sake, shochu, craft beers & craft spirits. They will maintain a comprehensive catalog of knowledge on the company’s brands, item details & market positioning, including key market trends & competitor brands. The candidate will be a motivated, ambitious self starter, an effective communicator, fastidious with follow-up, tenacious, & mindful of the thoughts & needs of their customers & coworkers. They are tasked with year-over-year sales growth in total revenue, GP, total cases & PODs for the company’s alcoholic beverages category, as well as helping to promote company & brand recognition among clients & consumers. Approximately 100 days of travel & market work outside of the home office. Starting salary based on individual’s experience & expertise, with opportunities for annual incentives, bonuses & advancement. Full benefits for employee/dependents offered at no additional cost, including Medical, Dental, Vision, 401K, Life Insurance. Various optional add-ons.

Responsibilities:
• Serves as primary point of contact for all aspects of business with assigned accounts & regions. Supports assigned distributors & their respective key accounts in any aspects of business to reach sales goals.
• -Works to further develop assigned markets by growing market share within each distributor portfolio & and opening/seeking out new targets & business opportunities both independently & as directed through distributor partnership.
• -Plan & executes events, promotions, & company/customer education opportunities to increase company beverage sales both inside the specialist’s accounts of direct responsibility & for the alcoholic beverage portfolio overall.
• -Conduct sales meetings with distributor sales teams, both on & off-premise, with appropriate tools to ignite interest, educate, communicate product details, launch incentive programs, etc.
• -Develops relationships within each distributor with key personnel, including direct brand manager, pricing coordinators, KAMs, DMs, product specialists, etc.
• -Works closely with distributor brand managers & specialists (where present) to effectively grow portfolio with new placements, replacing discontinued items, setting up new items, managing pricing & promotional periods, developing effective incentive programs & balancing investment from the distributor, MTC & our producers, following up with effective marketing within the distributor for effective execution & more.
• -Develops relationships with on & off premise key accounts & regional chains in each state’s top markets to help develop portfolio placements through personalized attention
• -Attends distributor trade show events to represent product lineup • -Works with distributor sales reps for work-withs or individual account meetings • -Manages price programming & focus periods through effective distributor management techniques to ensure consumer prices align & contribute to brand presence & increased sales
• -Develops relationships with major national chain account managers within each distributor to ensure product presentations are made at appropriate times for new product rollouts to develop presence on national shelves & in chain restaurants.
• -Recognizes opportunities, pros, cons & commitments for effective private label development & execution • -Conducts marketing & brand information education programs for staff of key distributor accounts
• -Hosts pairing dinners & tasting events with key distributor accounts
• -Manages special order requests & allocations for limited production/seasonal items
• -Responsible for timely collection of invoice payments & proactively investigating & reporting delinquencies
• -Responsible for reviewing distributor invoices for discrepancies, obtaining approval, tracking & following up on 100% bill backs to producers
• -Creates educational content to be occasionally shared in internal company meetings to benefit MTC team as a whole
• -Maintains & improve relationships with producers & create plans/programs to ensure the success of their products in the market • -Monitor growth and/or stagnation of assigned elements of MTC’s alcoholic beverage portfolio & assist the purchasing department in portfolio management
• -Submit monthly reports on activities, goals, special events, etc., & submit expense reimbursements by or before outlined deadlines.
• -Effectively manage assigned budget & assess ROI for travel, samples, incentives, market expenses & other costs associated with effective job execution

-Maintains & works to improve beverage related sales materials such as shelf talkers, tech sheets, product descriptions, POS, etc.
• -Helps generate & contribute content for company social media presence
• -Works to promote educational courses & ensure courses are offered in assigned regions when appropriate for Distributor partners, key accounts & the public -Works with team to develop & execute trade events hosted in New York *Nothing in this job description restricts management’s right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time; This description reflects management’s assignment of essential functions; it does not restrict the tasks that may be assigned*