Profile Summary-

The Area Sales Manager (ASM) will drive primary and secondary sales, build and strengthen the distribution network and execute market expansion strategies across the assigned territories. This is a high accountability, field-intensive role suited to a sales professional capable of establishing and scaling sales and marketing operations in a startup environment.

The ASM will identify market opportunities, appoint and manage distributors, stockists and super stockists, develop retail, institutional, General Trade and Modern Trade channels, recruit and lead sales professionals, improve product availability and visibility and achieve monthly sales, volume, collection and distribution targets.

This role requires strong FMCG sales execution and practical knowledge of food and beverage distribution, route-to-market planning, trade marketing, retailer engagement, customer relationship management and credit, collection discipline.

Key Responsibilities-

1. Sales Planning and Target Achievement

- Prepare and execute monthly, quarterly and annual territory sales plans aligned with organisations objectives.
- Plan and achieve assigned targets for primary sales, secondary sales, revenue, product volume, outlet coverage, new-product placement and collections.
- Develop market-wise, channel-wise (distributor, stockist, super stocklist, GT, MT), SKU-wise sales forecasts.
- Monitor daily sales performance and take immediate corrective action when performance is below assigned target.
- Ensure adequate sales focus on high-margin, strategic, newly launched and slow-moving products.
- Prepare beat plans, route plans, journey plans and retailer coverage plans for self and subordinate sales team.
- Identify untapped markets, growth opportunities, high potential areas and current customer segments within the assigned areas.
- Recommend territory expansion, new B2B partner appointments and route rationalisation based on market potential.

2. Channel Partner Management

- Identify, evaluate, appoint, onboard and develop distributors, super-stockists, wholesalers and other channel partners as per Organisations policy.
- Conduct due diligence on potential channel partners, including market reputation, financial capability, warehouse capacity, delivery infrastructure, manpower, retailer reach and ability to invest in stock.
- Negotiate commercial terms within authorised limits and ensure all channel partner documentation is completed before business commencement.
- Set channel partner wise sales targets, stock norms, outlet-coverage targets and collection expectations.
- Ensure channel partners maintain adequate stock of fast-moving and priority SKUs to prevent stock outs in the market.
- Monitor channel partner inventory, ageing, near-expiry stock, damaged goods, returns, claims and liquidation plans.
- Review channel partner’s sales performance weekly, fortnightly and monthly and initiate improvement plans and execute the same for underperforming partners.
- Maintain professional relationships while enforcing Organisation’s policies on pricing, credit, schemes, returns and payments.
- Recommend appointment, replacement, suspension or termination of channel partners based on objective performance criteria.

3. Retail Sales and General Trade Development

- Expand numeric and weighted distribution by increasing the number of productive retail outlets in the assigned territory.
- Ensure availability, visibility, freshness, pricing compliance and merchandising of products at retail outlets.
- Visit key retailers, wholesalers, distributors and market clusters regularly to understand demand, competition, feedback and execution gaps.
- Build relationships with kirana stores, supermarkets, grocery chains, provision stores, convenience stores, specialty outlets, bakeries, cafs, canteens and relevant retail formats.
- Ensure the Organisation’s products are listed, displayed and replenished at key outlets.
- Increase shelf share, display quality, point-of-sale visibility and product facings at retail locations.
- Obtain retailer feedback on product quality, pack sizes, pricing, taste, availability, consumer demand and competitor activity.
- Resolve retailer and distributor issues promptly to maintain confidence in the Organisation’s brands and service standards.

4. Institutional and Modern Trade Development

- Identify and develop institutional and modern trade sales opportunities including hotels, restaurants, cafs, caterers, canteens, hostels, hospitals, schools, colleges, offices, factories, event venues and other bulk buyers.
- Build business relationships with procurement managers, chefs, caterers, facility managers, owners and decision-makers.
- Promote suitable pack sizes, bulk packs, food-service formats and customized commercial arrangements within Organisation’s policy.
- Prepare institutional and modern trade sales proposals, product presentations, samples, pricing requests and commercial offers in coordination with Seniors.
- Ensure timely conversion of leads into recurring customers.
- Track repeat orders, customer satisfaction, payment cycles and consumption patterns weekly, fortnightly and monthly of institutional accounts.
- Coordinate with production, dispatch and quality teams to ensure reliable supply to B2B customers.

5. Marketing and Trade Marketing Execution

- Execute local and regional marketing initiatives to create product awareness and generate market demand.
- Plan and implement trade promotions, retailer schemes, sampling activities, product demonstrations, market activations, roadshows, stall promotions and launch campaigns.
- Coordinate with the sales and marketing team for promotional materials, branding assets, banners, danglers, shelf strips, standees, posters, digital creatives and partner communication.
- Ensure promotional activities are conducted within approved budgets and produce measurable outcomes.
- Track scheme utilisation, partner participation, sales uplift and return on marketing investment.
- Identify local festivals, events, seasonal demand periods, fairs, exhibitions and community platforms that can support brand promotion.
- Collect market trends quarterly on product pricing, trade schemes, new launches, packaging, advertising, distribution strength and consumer response.
- Submit quarterly recommendations for pricing changes, pack-size opportunities, product extensions, promotional support or market-specific campaigns.

6. Team Building and Management

- Recruit, train, guide, motivate and manage sales and marketing team.
- Set clear daily, weekly and monthly targets for each team members.
- Conduct joint market visits, on-the-job coaching, outlet audits, partner reviews and performance discussions.
- Ensure sales and marketing team follow beat plans, reporting discipline, customer-service standards and Organisation’s policies.
- Track attendance, market working, productive calls, outlet additions, order booking, collections and sales achievement of team members.
- Identify skill gaps and arrange training on product knowledge, selling skills, objection handling, merchandising, partner management, reporting and collection follow-up.
- Recommend incentives, corrective actions, recognition, performance improvement plans or replacements based on performance and conduct.
- Build results-oriented, ethical, customer-focused and accountable sales and marketing culture.

7. Collections, Credit Control and Commercial Discipline

- Ensure timely collection of payments from distributors, wholesalers, retailers, institutions and other B2B partners.
- Maintain customer outstanding balance within approved credit limits and credit periods.
- Monitor ageing reports, overdue receivables, disputed invoices, debit notes, claims and payment commitments.
- Coordinate with accounts and respective departments to resolve billing, credit note, scheme, shortage, damage or return-related issues.
- Ensure that all credit terms, pricing, discounts, and commercial commitments are approved and remain within the authorised limits.
- Escalate high-risk accounts, overdue payments, partner financial stress, market-credit concerns or suspected malpractices promptly.
- Support recovery efforts and ensure that sales growth does not occur at the cost of unhealthy receivables.

8. Inventory, Supply Coordination and Product Freshness





- Coordinate with partners, production and dispatch teams to ensure product availability in the market.
- Submit realistic sales forecasts quarterly and stock requirements to avoid stock-outs, excess inventory and expiry risks.
- Monitor and manage product shelf life, batch movement, first-expiry-first-out practices, returns, damages and near-expiry stock.
- Ensure partners follow appropriate storage and handling norms, particularly for temperature-sensitive, perishable, fragile or food safety sensitive products.
- Report recurring supply, quality, packaging, dispatch, shortage, transit-damage or shelf-life issues with supporting market evidence.
- Assist in planning stock liquidation or corrective sales action for slow-moving or ageing inventory.

9. Market Intelligence and Business Development

- Conduct quarterly market mapping covering outlets, similar products, distributors, wholesalers, institutions, consumer segments, pricing and demand patterns.
- Maintain a database of active partners, leads, prospects and key decision-makers.
- Identify potential new products, pack sizes, flavours, formats and price points based on market feedback.
- Provide structured inputs to seniors on customer preferences, market trends, competitive threats and expansion opportunities.
- Represent the Company at trade fairs, exhibitions, partner meets, local events and promotional activities.
- Ensure new product launches with product sampling, trade communication, stock placement, visibility, retailer education and early sales tracking.

10. Reporting, MIS and Compliance

- Submit accurate and timely daily, weekly and monthly reports as prescribed by management.
- Maintain records related to marketing, sales, orders, outlet additions, customer visits, partner stock, secondary sales, collections, claims, returns, schemes, expenses, market trend activity and team’s performance.
- Use Spreadsheet, CRM, ERP, reporting groups and other systems introduced by Organisation.
- Prepare monthly business reviews covering achievements versus targets, key wins, challenges, market observations, pending collections, action plans and support required.
- Ensure all sales, expense, partner and promotional records are genuine, complete and auditable.
- Follow all Organisation’s policies related to pricing, discounting, credit, travel, expense reimbursement, customer data, product quality, food safety and ethical business conduct.
- Protect confidential information regarding partners, pricing, margins, formulations, sales plans and Organisation’s strategy.

Key Performance Indicators-

- Primary Sales: Primary sales achievement percentage measured as actual primary sales achieved against the assigned primary sales target.
- Secondary Sales: Secondary sales achievement percentage measured as actual secondary sales achieved through partners against the assigned target.
- Revenue: Net sales revenue versus budget measured through actual net revenue generated in comparison with the approved monthly, quarterly and annual revenue budget.
- Volume: Sales volume achievement measured in cases, units, kilograms, litres, packs or any other approved unit of measurement against the assigned volume target.
- Product Mix: Strategic and high-margin SKU contribution measured by the share of priority, high-margin, newly launched or focus products in total sales.
- New Product Launch: New-product placement and repeat sales measured by the number of outlets where new products are listed, the initial sales generated and the percentage of outlets or customers placing repeat orders.
- Distribution: Active partner additions measured by the number of new, operational, productive and policy compliant partners appointed during the review period.
- Outlet Coverage: Productive outlet additions measured by the number of new retail outlets added that place orders and demonstrate repeat purchase rather than only receiving one time product placement.
- Numeric Distribution: Active outlets carrying at least one SKU measured through the number of active retail outlets in the assigned territory where the Organisation’s products are available for sale.
- Weighted Distribution: Presence in high-potential outlets measured by the Organisation’s product availability in high sales potential retailers, key accounts, supermarkets, wholesale markets, institutional customers and other priority outlets.
- Availability: Stock-out percentage measured by the percentage of priority outlets, distributors or stockists where a required or priority SKU is unavailable at the time of market audit.
- Merchandising: Visibility compliance score measured through outlet audits covering product display, shelf share, number of facings, point-of-sale material, freshness, price visibility, promotional visibility and overall display quality.
- Retail Execution: Productive calls per day measured by the number of meaningful retailer, distributor, wholesaler or institutional customer calls completed by the ASM and the sales team that result in order booking, collection, outlet addition, merchandising improvement or other defined business outcome.
- Route Discipline: Beat-plan adherence measured by actual market visits and outlet coverage completed against the approved beat plan, journey plan, route plan and daily field working plan.
- Collections: Collection achievement percentage- measured as actual collections received from distributors, wholesalers, retailers, institutions and B2B partners against the assigned collection target.
- Receivables: Overdue outstanding percentage measured by the proportion of outstanding receivables that remain unpaid beyond the approved credit period.
- Credit Control: Credit-limit compliance measured through the number and value of partner accounts that operate within approved credit limits, authorised credit periods and Organisation’s commercial policies.
- Inventory Health: Partner stock cover measured by the number of days or weeks of inventory available with each partner ensuring adequate availability without creating excess stock or expiry risk.
- Expiry Control: Near expiry and expiry loss measured by the value of near expiry, expired, damaged, returned or unsaleable inventory as a percentage of total sales.
- Institutional Business: New institutional accounts activated measured by the number of qualified B2B accounts such as hotels, restaurants, caterers, canteens, schools, hospitals, offices, factories and event venues that have been converted into active customers.
- Institutional Retention: Repeat order rate measured by the percentage of institutional and bulk buying customers that place repeat orders within the defined review period.
- Trade Marketing: Marketing return on investment measured by the sales uplift, incremental volume, new outlet addition or gross-margin contribution generated against the amount spent on trade schemes, activations, sampling, displays, roadshows and promotional campaigns.
- Team Management: Team target achievement measured by the percentage of Sales Executives or other Sales team members who achieve their assigned sales, collection, outlet coverage and productivity targets.
- Team Capability: Joint working and coaching days measured by the number of planned joint market visits, outlet audits, distributor reviews, team coaching sessions and on the job training days completed by the ASM.
- Recruitment: Vacancy closure rate measured by the time taken to identify, select, onboard and deploy suitable field sales personnel against approved manpower requirements.
- Reporting: MIS timeliness and accuracy measured through timely submission of daily, weekly and monthly, quarterly reports along with the accuracy and completeness of sales, collections, stock, outlet, expense, scheme, market feedback and team performance data.
- Compliance: Policy and documentation adherence measured through compliance with authorised pricing, discounting, credit terms, expense reporting, partner documentation, sales records,



food-safety requirements, ethical conduct and other Company policies.

Key Result Areas-

- Sales and Revenue Achievement: The Area Sales Manager shall be responsible for achieving assigned primary sales, secondary sales, revenue, sales volume, SKU-wise sales and territory wise sales targets. The ASM will ensure that monthly, quarterly and annual business plans are executed effectively to deliver sustainable growth.
- Distribution Expansion: The Area Sales Manager shall identify, appoint, onboard and develop productive distributors, stockists, super-stockists, wholesalers and other channel partners. The role includes expanding numeric and weighted distribution, increasing productive outlet coverage and improving market reach across assigned territories.
- Retail and Trade Execution: The Area Sales Manager shall ensure adequate product availability, freshness, shelf visibility, merchandising standards, pricing compliance, display quality, point of sale visibility and retail activation across key outlets. The ASM will work to improve product placement, shelf share, product facings, retailer engagement and replenishment of priority SKUs.
- Collection and Credit Control: The Area Sales Manager shall achieve collection targets and maintain strict control over customer outstanding balances. The ASM will ensure that distributor, retailer, wholesaler, institutional and B2B customer accounts operate within approved credit limits and credit periods while actively reducing overdue receivables and resolving payment related issues.
- Team Productivity and Capability: The Area Sales Manager shall recruit, train, coach, motivate, retain and manage the sales team within the assigned area. The role includes setting individual targets, monitoring productive calls, conducting joint market visits, reviewing performance, identifying skill gaps and driving continuous improvement in team productivity and execution.
- Institutional and Up-to-date Trade Growth: The Area Sales Manager shall develop B2B Modern Trade business opportunities by identifying and converting potential customers such as hotels, restaurants, cafs, caterers, canteens, hostels, hospitals, schools, colleges, offices, factories and event venues into recurring business accounts.
- Inventory and Supply Coordination: The Area Sales Manager shall coordinate with channel partners, production, dispatch and quality teams to maintain healthy stock levels in the market. The ASM will prevent stock outs, monitor stock ageing, control near-expiry products, returns, damages and claims and provide realistic sales forecasts to support efficient inventory planning.
- Trade Marketing and Product Launches: The Area Sales Manager shall execute approved trade schemes, market activations, sampling activities, product demonstrations, retailer promotions, launch campaigns and visibility programmes. The role also includes monitoring partner participation, sales uplift, scheme utilisation, promotional effectiveness and return on investment of trade marketing expenditure.
- Reporting, Compliance and Market Survey: The Area Sales Manager shall submit timely, accurate and complete sales MIS, collection reports, stock reports, outlet-coverage reports, market visit reports and team performance reports. The ASM will ensure compliance with Organisation’s policies related to pricing, schemes, credit, expenses, product handling, food safety and ethical business conduct while providing actionable feedback on market trends, consumer preferences, pricing and expansion opportunities.

Core Competencies-

Sales And Marketing Execution:

- Strong command over primary sales, secondary sales, outlet coverage, SKU-wise execution, revenue growth, volume growth and new-product placement.
- Ability to create practical monthly, quarterly and annual area plans rather than relying only on broad targets.
- Capability to translate market potential into beat plans, journey plans, route plans, outlet targets and daily field priorities.
- Strong retail execution mindset, product availability, shelf visibility, freshness, pricing compliance, merchandising, displays, facings, point-of-sale material and replenishment.
- Ability to identify high-potential territories, white spaces, low-coverage areas and underserved customer segments.

Distribution And Channel Management:

- Competence in identifying, evaluating, appointing, onboarding and developing distributors, super-stockists, wholesalers and other channel partners.
- Ability to assess a prospective partner’s financial strength, warehouse capacity, delivery infrastructure, retailer reach, manpower, market reputation and ability to carry inventory.
- Strong capability to manage partner performance through sales targets, stock norms, outlet-coverage expectations, collection reviews and corrective action plans.
- Sound judgement in channel partner replacement, suspension or escalation where performance, credit discipline or compliance is weak.
- Ability to prevent market stock outs and manage slow moving, near-expiry, damaged and returned inventory.

Commercial And Financial Discipline:

- Strong collection orientation and ability to grow business without compromising receivable quality.
- Ability to monitor customer ageing, overdue amounts, credit limit compliance, payment commitments, debit notes, claims and disputed invoices.
- Understanding of gross margins, trade margins, promotional costs, scheme utilisation, sales uplift and return on trade marketing investment.
- Discipline to ensure that pricing, discounts, credit terms, schemes and commercial commitments remain within approved authority limits.

Team Leadership:

- Ability to recruit, train, coach, motivate, and retain field sales personnel.
- Capability to convert targets into individual Sales personnel targets, daily productive call expectations, outlet addition targets, order booking plans and collection plans.
- Strong coaching ability through joint market working, outlet audits, performance reviews, route audits, and practical on the job feedback.
- Ability to build an accountable, ethical, customer-focused and results oriented sales and marketing culture.

Relationship And Communication Skills:

- Strong relationship building ability with retailers, distributors, wholesalers, institutional buyers, procurement managers, caterers, chefs, business owners, etc.
- Persuasive negotiation skills for commercial discussions, listings, visibility, product placement, displays, payment follow-up and partner appointments.
- Clear written and verbal communication in English, Hindi and preferably Odia and other locally relevant languages.
- Ability to resolve partner’s billing, dispatch, quality, shortage, return and service related issues quickly and professionally.

Analytical And Reporting Skills:

- Ability to interpret sales data by area, channel, distributor, SKU, customer type, outlet category and team member.
- Strong forecasting ability for monthly sales, stock requirements, seasonal demand, launch quantities and promotional activities.
- Ability to prepare accurate Daily Sales Reports, weekly reviews, monthly business reviews, collection reports, distributor stock reports and market trend reports.
- Practical use of Spreadsheet, CRM, ERP and digital reporting tools for timely decision making.

Required Qualifications-

- Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Marketing, Commerce, Management, Food Technology, or a related discipline preferred.
- MBA/PGDM in Sales, Marketing, Rural Management or Business Management will be an advantage.
- Candidates with strong practical FMCG sales experience may be considered even if academic qualifications differ.
- Valid driving licence preferred, depending on area’s travel requirements.
- Ability to use digital reporting systems, spreadsheets, email and basic ERP/CRM tools.

Growth Path- An Area Sales Manager can progress through strong achievement in sales and marketing, distribution expansion, collection discipline and team leadership:

- Successful ASM can advance to Senior Area Sales Manager then Regional Sales Manager overseeing larger territories and multiple sales teams.
- With continued strong performances and strategic capabilities, growth can extend to Zonal Sales Manager, National Sales Manager, Head of Sales and ultimately Business Head, Commercial Head with responsibilities for wider sales and marketing strategy, profitability, channels and overall business growth.

📌 Area Sales Manager (Bhawanipatna)
🏢 Asthamurti Foods
📍 Bhawanipatna