Description:

About the Company:

GO DESi is a fast-growing packaged food brand inspired by authentic regional flavours, formats, and traditional recipes. With a vision to make DESi local delights accessible across 35,000+ retail touchpoints nationally, GO DESi develops innovative confectionery and snacking products rooted in Indian culture. The company operates with a strong distribution-led strategy supported by scalable operations, data-driven sales processes, and technology-enabled field execution.

Role Overview:

The Area Sales Manager (ASM) will drive end-to-end sales, distribution expansion, route-to-market strategy, and people leadership across the assigned geography. This role is focused on accelerating primary and secondary sales, building a robust distribution network, launching new products into the market, and using technology-driven sales tools to optimize performance. The ASM will function as the business owner for the territory, managing distributor ROI, market coverage, retail execution, and team productivity.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Sales Growth & Revenue Management

- Drive primary and secondary sales targets across the region using structured sales planning and data analytics.

- Execute monthly, quarterly, and annual sales strategies aligned with business objectives.

- Monitor SKU-level performance, repeat orders, product penetration, and outlet-level productivity.

2. Distribution Expansion & Route-to-Market Excellence

- Expand retail footprint by increasing active outlets across General Trade, Modern Trade, Institutional, and Alternate Channels.

- Identify, appoint, and manage distributors while ensuring optimal distributor ROI, stock hygiene, and credit discipline.

- Strengthen market coverage through effective route planning, beat optimisation tools, and coverage analytics.

3. Product Launch & Market Execution

- Lead successful introduction of new products by coordinating with cross-functional teams for pricing, placement, visibility, and trade marketing.

- Ensure execution of brand visibility initiatives, POP materials, and retail activation campaigns.

- Track market competition, pricing trends, and category movement to refine on-ground strategies.

4. Team Leadership & Performance Enhancement

- Manage, coach, and scale a field sales team including Sales Executives, ISRs, and Merchandisers.

- Conduct periodic training on product knowledge, sales process, DMS usage, and territory management.

- Use digital sales tools to review daily productivity, beat performance, call efficiency, and outlet conversion.

5. Market Operations & Stakeholder Management

- Conduct regular market visits with team members for retail audits, distributor reviews, and execution checks.

- Build strong relationships with retailers, distributors, and channel partners to support long-term business.

- Represent GO DESi during trade meets, reviews, and business expansion discussions.

Technical & Functional Competencies:

- Strong hands-on experience with Sales ERP, DMS, CRM systems, and field sales tracking tools.

- Ability to interpret sales data, generate territory performance reports, forecast demand, and analyze trends.

- Proficiency in MS Excel for MIS reports, sales dashboards, and business analytics.

- Clear understanding of FMCG distribution models including GT, MT, ISS, Horeca, and Institutional channels.

- Strong financial understanding of distributor P&L, inventory management, and credit cycles.

Candidate Requirements:

- 5+ years of proven experience in FMCG sales, preferably in the food or confectionery category.

- Demonstrated success in handling distributors, multi-channel retail networks, and territory P&L.

- Strong network and market knowledge in Hyderabad and surrounding regions.

- Ability to manage field teams, drive performance, and implement structured sales processes.

- Excellent communication, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills.

- Willingness to travel extensively across the assigned area.