National Sales Manager(NSM) – Roles & Responsibilities

National Sales Manager

Major Purpose of the Job:

• Single Point of Contact for any Sales related query/data for the rest of the Cross functions.
• NSM is the Final Authority and Topmost Position/Head of the Sales Team.
• The interdepartmental Coordination and Cooperation between sales and other departments/Support functions largely depends on the Competence of NSM
• NSM is the Driving and force of Direction for developing Promotional strategy by Marketing Team, Developing HR Policies by Team HR, Planning Trainings and developing content by Training Team, Developing Various SOPs by Admin Department meant for Fieldwork Force.
• NSM Plays Key and Important role in Execution of strategies, Development of Team, Ensuring Norms and SOPs are adhered to. Business Develops as per Plan, KOL’s are developed and Tracked, Work hygiene as per Organizational Goals are taken care of.

Let’s Understand Role & Responsibility of NSM at Different fronts individually

1. Achieving Sales/ Budget/Targets

• Being Head of Sales Team the Major Responsibility remains the achievement of Sales Target. All Functions/Supports, etc are directed in One Directions i.e Business Objective
• Achievement of Target Needs to have the following Essential Components
  • Focus on Bottom-line along with Topline
  • Product Mix
  • Performance from Individual Zones/Regions/Area/Territory
  • Growth Territory wise/Area Wise/State-wise, Most Importantly Product-wise
  • Productivity, Market share.

• Business Hygiene Parameters – Expiry/Goods Returns/Payment Realization/ Inventory Management.
• Sales Plan/Forecasting, Achieving Weekly Monthly sales Plans, Managing Inventory ( Shouldn’t be too High or Too low) Indenting Products to Production Teams based on Realistic Forecast
• Operative Bonus and Liquidation Plans of Non-Moving/Slow Moving Products
• Review of Performance and Preparing Action Plan for Meeting YPM and Productivity/Product-Mix Objectives with Leaders of Individual Teams
• Review Work Hygiene Impacting Performance and Taking Corrective Actions or Disciplinary actions as and When Necessary.
• Joint Fieldwork with Leaders with Objective to Understand Success & Failure in Performance and Using Learnings & Competence to develop Low Performing Teams, And Focus on OJT
• Fieldwork Objectives Should be
  • Supervising and Evaluation of Execution levels of Strategies and SOPs
  • Value Addition to Poor/Low Performing Territories
  • OJT to Team Leaders
  • Tracking Development of Team Members and Identifying Opportunities and Threats to Business
  • Problems Resolving/Enabling Team leader to resolve Issues

2. Team Building / Leadership & Direction

No Objectives or Targets can be achieved without a Competent Team who is able to Execute, A Leader Able to Lead and A Mentor Guiding in Right Direction

• Role of NSM is very critical and Important in Development of Team Competent enough to Achieve Business Objectives

 “It is well said a team of Donkeys Lead by Lion can win the Battle v/s a Team of Lions Lead by Donkey”

•  NSM has to focus on the need for Training and Development of His team and Coordinate with HR & Respective Training and Marketing Teams for Developing Soft Skills, Product Knowledge, and Marketing Skills for his Teams.
• Developing and Ensuring a well-thought SOP in place for Selection, Induction, Training, and on Job Coaching of Teams.
• Support HOD in Acting as Integrating Mechanism between Sales and Marketing Teams to ensure Proper Teamwork to Improve Productivity.
• Supporting HOD and HR for the deployment of Field staff, Controlling Attrition through effective cascading of inter-departmental Activities.
• Objective Fieldwork with Team Leaders to Develop them to be able to Perform their Job Effectively By
  • OJT to Team Leaders, Mentoring, Challenging and Executions
  • Tracking Development of Team Members and Identifying Opportunities and Threats to Business
  • Problems Resolving/Enabling Team leader to resolve Issues
• Support Organization and Developing Competent team Members with Internal Promotions

3. Effective Implementation

• Ensuring Execution of Promotional strategies and A mechanism to check back and Collect/Interpret feedback and Taking necessary corrective actions
• 100 % Compliance with Work Hygiene Parameters like Call Average of Doctors/Chemists, Coverage of Customers, Missed calls, KOL coverage and ROI – Timely Collection Validation and Evaluation of Data and Intervention for Corrections
• Evaluation and Validation of Execution of Sales Promotion Strategies, Detailing, and Sales Presentations capabilities of Team Members.
• Effective RCPA and Usage to Develop Local strategies for Brand Positioning by Team Leaders with Teams.
• Joint Fieldwork evaluation and Controlling/Directing Outcomes of Each day spent by Leaders, with the respective team members.
• Cross Checking and Validating Implementation of SOPs and Strategies by Skip working in Field (Skipping Line Manager)
• Provide objective customer feedback on Marketing programs to HOD and PMT by gathering information from the field and through self-observation during fieldwork

4. Customer Management / KOL Management

The 80-20 Rule also called the Pareto Principle, stands correct in Pharmaceutical or any other Business

• KOL’s are Most Important Pillars for any Organization in Sales and Marketing since they not only contribute major Portion of Business but also are brand ambassadors for our Brands in the Market. A good KOL prescribing Your brand develops Image and Equity of your Brand and organization, Besides business
• Develop Effective KOL strategy to Retain and Develop more numbers of KOL for Organization. Work at Different Levels of Line Management to Have KOL at Multiple Levels
• Effective Customer Coverage/Visit strategy so as to Ensure Better results from each Field call Made by field force
• Tracking and Monitoring Customer Coverage, Conversions, Market Penetration, and Performance. Discuss with Your Team Leaders as this remains the Most Important Measurable Parameter to evaluate Performance and Competence
• Improve ROI from KOLs through ensuring periodical visits by self and team

5. Product Management / Development

Ultimate Objective of Any sales Team is to achieve sales Objectives, and Sales comes through Products, Hence Managing Products is of Utmost Importance to be successful in sales.

The Key Parameters of Sales w.r.t products are –

• Developing Priority Brands of Organization
• Major Brands should contribute Major Portion as a small loss from these cannot be recovered easily from many small Brands
• Successful Launch of New Products
• Developing a Product mix that can help you achieve Top-Line Growth as well as Bottom-line Contribution.
• Development of 2nd line brands into large contributors with economies of scale and high Market Share
• Keeping Track of Market share of Individual Product and Markets/States.
• Be the ambassador for the company and set high levels of standards and professionalism

Remember NSM is not Just Post, Having the Name National, The NSM needs to Think Nationally