Rock Fall is a market-leading manufacturer of safety footwear and accessories. Established in 1997 to supply high-performance footwear to high-profile industry leaders such as Balfour Beatty, National Grid, Kier, HS2, and Babcock. Rock Fall now operates globally via a network of key distributors, giving it a market presence in many industry sectors. The key ingredients of Rock Fall’s success are its proven and well-established brand, a strong consultative sales approach that delivers beyond customer expectations, and a range of products defined by their quality, sustainability, and market-leading innovation. Rock Fall’s high-quality products are designed and tested to ensure a proven superior performance over competitors' products. Rock Fall has a history of delivering year-on-year growth by expanding the product range, enhancing End-User engagement, and developing distributor relationships. There continue to be opportunities to further grow and develop the business, which Rock Fall plans to deliver as part of the sales strategy.
Relevance and position of the job:
The PPE market has become saturated recently, with resellers offering PPE. While this is an opportunity, it also challenges Rock Fall to continue with the traditional approach of end-user engagement via the distributor. In response, Rock Fall invests in a proactive, direct contact business-to-business strategy, which secures End-User business that can then be passed through the distributor network. This enables the company to target higher volume opportunities, improve conversion rate, and better influence End-User purchasing decisions. The role is vital to secure opportunities purely led by Rock Fall's work. It enables the adoption of a more consultative sales approach to avoid the issues arising from aligning or relying on the distributor as the end user's main point of contact/route.
The role of Business Development Manager:
Reporting to the divisional sales manager (industrial), the business development manager will generate sales growth for major end users via lead identification and development. This is largely a specification role, as once the business is secured, it will be sold via our distribution channel. It is, therefore, vital that specifications are secure to avoid future switch selling by competitors. This will be achieved through a consultative selling approach via key end-user stakeholders, e.g., Health & Safety, to ensure Rock Fall products are sold on specification rather than price.
Key Duties include:
• Identify and develop sales within key markets – Manufacturing, Construction, Automotive, Aerospace, and Local Authorities.
• End-user specification activity via Health & Safety Managers and Occupational Health
• Develop relationships with multiple key stakeholders within each end user (H&S, Purchasing, Unions, etc) to ensure a full understanding of Rock Fall’s key benefits.
• Prospecting activity (Including telephone prospecting) to generate incremental sales growth in large “Blue Chip” Companies
• Close liaison with Rock Fall’s marketing department to develop opportunities and convert Marketing qualified leads into Sales Qualified leads where necessary, where the known potential exists
• Promote Rock Fall’s ability to produce bespoke, own-label footwear to Users that have sufficient volume to support this
• Close liaison with the Rock Fall Field Sales Team once opportunities are at the point of order placement, so theField Sales Manager can communicate to the chosen distributor
• Attend Trade shows, Networking Events/Evenings, and Seminars to build relationships and generate leads
• Work undertaken by the BDM with End-Users should be purely Rock Fall-led; any distributor-led opportunities will continue to be handled by the Field Sales Manager.
• Conduct End-user footwear Audits and trials, focusing on risk identification and Specification via H&S.
• Develop and maintain a sales pipeline from opportunity identification and Specification to order placement – Logging anticipated revenue generated each month through the current fiscal year.
• Compile strategic account plans to ensure delivery of anticipated sales growth within key target End-Users
• A strategic approach to planning and territory management, utilising available reporting to support own activity objectives
• Tenacious follow-up activity to ensure effective sales pipeline management and close sales opportunities
• Other sales-related activities as and when required
• Take overall responsibility for nominated existing businesses within large End–users (e.g., Balfour Beatty) to prevent contract leakage and secure the business long-term.
Required Knowledge & Competencies:
• Able to challenge the client's current practices/buying habits as part of the sales approach
• Able to understand customer requirements through consultative selling
• Previous experience with product specification via H&S Managers and current H&S legislation
• Structured approach to call planning, objectives setting, and desired call outcomes
• Able to produce own high-quality presentations and marketing material to support sales activity
• Proven ability to exceed targets
• Demonstrable experience in creating brand awareness within new markets and prospective customers
• Previous use of LinkedIn as a Sales Tool to generate leads and brand awareness
• Proven field-based sales experience securing business through direct end-user engagement
• Able to sell on value rather than price
• Excellent time management and organisational skills
• Demonstrable networking ability to identify key decision-makers and influencers
• Skilled in negotiation and closing business
• New business development and major account sales experience.
• An influencer with strong powers of persuasion.
• Able to demonstrate excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
Attitude Required:
• Dynamic, conscientious and upbeat
• “Hunter” Sales mentality
• Empathetic, helpful and polite
• Must be a ‘glass half full’ person with a demonstrable positive approach to barriers
• A strategic thinker who can set effective objectives to deliver sales growth
• Self-motivated and resilient
• Must be a flexible team player
• A focused self-starter with a genuine hunger to succeed
• Results driven
• Able to handle several activities at once and effectively prioritise workload
• Tenacious
• Proactive
Territory: Field Based - National
Reports to: Divisional Sales Manager - Industrial