The Associate Director is primarily responsible for all commercial activities associated with their nominated accounts, as well as business development activities with unassigned potential accounts – a mix therefore of Farming and Hunting.
 
Accounts are allocated annually (although we try to keep consistent across years and industries), and the you will be responsible for account planning, relationship management, commercial activities and agreements. They are also responsible for engaging with business development activities with assigned or new accounts.
 
Developing commercial opportunities requires you to closely collaborate with other NIQ sales and service teams in South Africa, the region, and globally, to ensure an aligned professional approach that maximizes client success and NIQ sales. As the voice of the client internally, own the quality of the relationship, the plans and the execution of those plans to constantly improve client perceptions of NIQ.
 
Being responsible for sales and relationship quality, you must necessarily be able to provide high levels of transparency on business performance, extremely accurate pipeline and forecasting, and proactiveness on adjusting these as required.
 
Sales responsibilities:
 Own the sales target for their accounts, and utilize all levers of growth to meet and exceed their targetUnderstand the levers of growth (i.e. our products and services) sufficiently such that they can create the opportunities that will get them to meet their sales targetKeep sales forecasts for their clients updated to provide complete accuracy and clarity on all live client opportunities and resulting forecastsMaintain Microsoft Dynamics opportunities so that this accurately matches your forecast Create Account Plans per assigned account which identifies real client needs, stakeholders necessary, and action plan to achieve sustained growth, refreshed quarterlyEngage in relevant promotional activities and campaignsUnderstand how to create prices and proposals based on available rate cards and methodsDesign negotiation plan for each major negotiation and execute to maximise total contract valuesReinforce NIQ's value proposition and develop trust to enable future business opportunitiesProactively lead proposals and pitches to ensure powerful proposals and convincing presentationsRun Quarterly Business Reviews with the client’s senior stakeholders to ensure NIQ's value is clearly understood, we are aware of the client’s satisfaction level and that we can enter contract negotiations with a full understanding of the Client’s position as it relates to NIQ's contract 
General responsibilities:
 Own the quality of the client relationship, including its measurement, the creation and execution of an action plan to continuously improve client perceptions of NIQIncrease lateral and vertical client connections in terms of quantity (no. of relevant contacts) and qualityContribute to our progress towards NIQ South Africa’s objective of becoming a sales ‘Practice of Excellence’Rigorously comply with all internal processes required as part of our financial and legal complianceSupport the migration of our clients from legacy services to the new platforms and ways of working 
Requirements
 7 to 10 years of deep sales or business development experience, ideally in market research or the industries we serve (technical consumer goods, retail, fast moving consumer goods)Genuinely enjoys engaging with clients, a roll the sleeves up and get out there approach to salesAmbitious, looking to develop themselves, their sales, and the business by utilizing all the assets and support we have availableHighly organized and able to attend to detailsHigh degree of follow through and sales discipline – owning our commitments and problem-solving where necessary to achieve themWhilst desirous of standing out, candidate must be able to work brilliantly with internal teams to deliver on their targetsSkilled in listening and probing with clients, uncovering their implicit needs and connecting these to our solutionsAbility to engage client conversations on mid to senior levels and to relate client issues to NIQ's capabilitiesSkilful with or willing to rapidly become skilfull in negotiating win-win deals with clients