Technical Sales Representative (Marmara Region)

Vilmorin Mikado Tohumculuk A.Ş

The fourth largest Seed Company in the world, Limagrain is an international cooperative group created and directed by French farmers. As a creator and producer of plant varieties, Limagrain markets field seeds, vegetable seeds and cereal products. Vilmorin-Mikado is a Business Unit of Limagrain gathering the activities of Vilmorin (French Seed Company) and Mikado Kyowa Seed (Japanese Seed Company). As a global Seed Company, Vilmorin-Mikado has strong basis over the 5 continents and offers a wide and original high-quality range to all the professionals of the vegetable chain. Vilmorin-Mikado is specialized in the creation, production and marketing of vegetable and tree seeds and is entirely dedicated to agricultural professionals. 

We are looking for a Technical Sales Representative for Vilmorin Mikado in Marmara Region. Everyone is invited to make contribution to our future success. There is an exciting opportunity for anyone willing to grow in an agriculture environment. This position is a specialist position with an exciting career path for the future both in Turkey and internationally. 

Excellent development opportunities in one of the global agriculture company; “Everywhere closer to you”.

GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES

This job will have to give technical information about the products and support to sales and development of new products with the following activities in given territory.

 EXECUTE SALES ACTIVITIES

• Support the building of area sales' forecasts for the current and next fiscal year by considering internal and external factors
• After-sales follow-up of VMK products' performances in the field
• Follow-up stock level of distributors & sub dealers
• Visit existing and potential customers regularly at defined intervals
• Visit key growers/traders and influencers regularly at defined intervals
• Build and maintain customer database up-to-date and expand it with required entries
• Regularly report to the Area Sales Lead, provide information on customers, products and competitors
• Achieve sales or market share targets with dealers/nurseries/large growers within assigned in sales area

 ENSURE REGULAR and TIMELY REPORTING

• Prepare and submit required reports in a timely manner to all stakeholders

 MANAGE CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS EFFECTIVELY

• Communicate customer complaints with necessary inputs to Sales Lead. Work in coordination with related departments/people to solve / manage complaints with proper solutions
• Collect necessary inputs & facts related to the customer complaints from the field in order to support the root cause analysis

EXECUTE  MARKETING and COMMUNICATION ACTIVITIES

• Co-execute and support potential New Product Introductions all promotion activities with LPP through visits, demo field set-ups, field events, meetings and sample product demonstrations
• Execute the launching plans for New Product Introductions in given sub-sales area through visits, demo field set-ups, field events, meetings and sample product demonstrations
• Execute communication plans developed for commercial products in the sub-sales area through visits, demo field set-ups, field events, merchandise delivery, meetings, digital marketing tools and sample product demonstrations
• Support the content development of Product Development Lead for communication materials such as printed materials, merchandise, billboards etc.
• Focus on daily activities of crop value chain such as farmers, traders, factories through periodic visits
• Actively engage in market intelligence and give feedback to VMK: Monitor the market size, market trends, competitors' activities and their market shares and crop prices
• Track and report competitors' commercial varieties, product pipeline on the field
• Monitor competitors' marketing/commercial campaigns and policies, product price levels variations, and feed it back to the company
• Follow the commercial varieties closely in the field and feedback any risks and opportunities in order to re-position the product when necessary
• Support the Product Development Lead for value pricing for New Product Introductions  

 SUPPORT AND EXECUTE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES

• Support the setup of the Development Stage-1 trials within the framework of the trial plans working in close coordination with the Product Development Lead
• Support the trial execution and the data collection by cooperating with the LPP, feed the findings back to the Product Development Lead
• Support the setup of the Development Stage-2 trials within the framework of the trial plans working in close coordination with the Product Development Lead
• Support the trial execution and the data collection by cooperating with the Product Development Lead, feed the findings back to the Product Development Lead
• Contribute to the Development Stage-2 evaluation by using a critical approach supported by market knowledge

CONTRIBUTORY ACTIVITIES

• Support Vilmorin Mikado Turkey Team in building short and mid-term plans
• Support Turkey Team in finding growth opportunities for the sales area
• Support your own team by sharing your technical knowledge and product expertise

REQUIRED SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES

GENERAL QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree from agriculture faculties
• Technical knowledge of the field and the vegetable seed business 
• At least 3 years experiences in product development, sales and technical sales roles
• Broad market knowledge and customer/grower network
• Good knowledge of the IT tools and applications used in the business
• Language: English is an asset

PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCIES

• Ability to build and maintain customer relations
• Strong courage and candor to manage challenges
• Ability to manage multiple tasks
• Strong stakeholder management skills
• Ability to think analytically and draw conclusions
• Professional autonomy
• Ability to efficiently organize working processes
• Strong pro-activity and positive attitude
• Being a good team player