Malco Automotive Regional Sales Manager

Title: Regional Sales Manager

Location: Eastern US: Atlanta, Charlotte, DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia (preferred)

Company: Malco Products, Inc. is a family-owned specialty chemical manufacturer with production facilities in Barberton, Akron and Alliance, Ohio celebrating over 70 years in business. Malco is a global leader in the professional Automotive and Marine Detailing Industries and manufactures and develops all of its products in N.E. Ohio and distributes them across a network of domestic and international distributors. Malco relies on its core values to succeed – innovation, industry leading quality, serving as “our customers’ best partner” and creating a team-oriented, family atmosphere for our employees.

Reports To: National Sales Manager, Malco

Responsibilities: Manage and grow an established network of authorized distributors within assigned territories. Set clear performance expectations, build joint business plans with each distributor, and hold partners accountable to agreed sales, product-assortment and growth commitments through regular in-person business reviews. (50% of time)

Partner with distributor sales teams in the field to grow sell-through to end users through ride-alongs, product demos, training, and new account development. (40% of time)

Evaluate distributor performance and territory coverage, and in coordination with the Business Development Manager, identify, recruit and onboard distributors for open or under-performing territories within the region. (10% of time)

Other responsibilities include special projects such as national account support, trade shows, field support, and technical support/training.

Specific Duties: Specific duties are intended to describe activities that support the summary above. The list is not all inclusive – other duties may be required to cover the breadth and depth of the position.

• Manage day to day needs of assigned distributors
  • Build strong, trust-based relationships with distributor owners, from small owner-operators to multi-location storefronts
  • Turn customer issues and complaints into documented resolutions and next steps rather than open-ended discussion
  • Run regular business reviews with each distributor, document action items and deadlines, and follow up until they’re done
• Develop and execute territory growth strategies for customers to grow their market share within authorized territory
  • Conduct product demos
  • Train customer sales staff
  • Support customer business development efforts to open new accounts and grow share of wallet
• Achieve sales budget and other assigned target metrics
  • Existing distribution sales targets
  • Share of wallet gain targets
  • New product sales targets
  • New distribution sales targets
• Assess distributor performance against standards (sales trend, assortment, coverage, training participation) and report territory health and risks to the National Sales Manager
• Represent Malco at designated regional trade shows and customer functions
• Support marketing group in voice of customer, competitive information, and product line management
• Log all distributor visits, ride-alongs and business review outcomes in CRM, and submit weekly activity reports
• Travel required. 50%-75%

Education: Bachelor’s Degree (Business Administration, Marketing, or related field) is preferred or an associate’s degree along with commensurate experience; 5+ years (mid-level) of relevant experience.

Experience/Skills:

• 3+ years of route sales or mobile distribution experience (e.g., mobile tool, jobber or route-based chemical/supply distribution) required.
• Professional detailing, car wash or automotive appearance chemical experience strongly preferred.
• Experience managing independent dealers or distributors in a protected-territory or authorized-dealer model preferred.
• Proven record of holding partners accountable to plans and metrics, and of having difficult conversations without damaging the relationship.
• Hands-on ability to demo professional detailing products on real vehicles, showing results, proper use and cost-per-job value to end users.
• Experience training distributor sales teams on product knowledge and selling, then reinforcing it through ride-alongs until reps can sell and demo the line on their own.
• Experience using CRM, Microsoft Office products such as Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, and other sales reporting tools.
• Clear and persuasive communication skills (written and oral).
• Strategic thinking and data-based decision making.
• Willingness to work outside business hours.
• Fluent in both English and Spanish preferred but not required.