Rakesh Kumar Singh

Udaymantr Sales & Marketing Consultancy Services is a Startup, started by me in March 2023. The startup provides all types sales & marketing campaigns such as, above the line / below the line / through the line and sales staff training and development. My objective is to provide services related to sales & marketing to local midsize business owners who are dealing in grocery, clothes, toys and kindergartens / primary schools. So far, I connected with 109 business owners and 39 out of them have taken the services. I have been struggling for last one year to make this startup sustainable.

 Sales targets - Setting realistic monthly and yearly sales targets and supervising the sales operation in entire Uganda with an 18-member team to meet sales targets through wholesalers & distributors and ensuring consistent stock level of all the SKUs (2021:- sales target achievement = 94%, sales growth = 42%; 2022 (till October):- sales target achievement = 96%, sales growth = 24%).  Controlling credit sales and encouraging advance-payment sales - Reviewing & implementing credit sales policy in coordination with the accounts department to expediate credit collection and to keep customers’ outstanding with in credit limit & credit period; conducting outstanding audits as and when required; incentivizing customers for advance-payment sales.  Distribution - Updating and restructuring sales routes on regular basis to cover 100% of the market. (Managed 9 sales depots and >3000 retailers, wholesalers & distributors).  FieldAssist Software - Initiated FieldAssist software installation which is a B2B and SaaS internet-based sales automation software.  Market development - Maintaining and developing market by identifying new business opportunities; developing & implementing overall market development strategies; developing strong relationship with wholesalers, distributors and key accounts to accelerate growth; developing sales capability and profitability of wholesalers, distributors and key accounts by appropriate intervention and application of technology; monitoring KBIs at multiple levels; making strategies for vertical and horizontal growth; participating in generic & specific media planning; developing & launching new products (launched “Mojo - strawberry” carbonated soft drink in 350ml pet and “Swag - Cafe” ready-to-drink alcoholic beverage in 350ml pet); exploring new marketing opportunities (conducted several organoleptic tests in market and noted taste preferences of >30,000 people); making and renewing trade contracts with distributors, wholesalers and key-accounts; problem solving; ensuring accuracy & thoroughness to promote quality & productivity; observing competitor’s activities for pricing, trade discounts and products comparison; assisting wholesalers & distributors in inventory management i.e., receiving, storing and maintaining FIFO.  Geotagging - Initiated geotagging process to define geographical location of each wholesaler and distributor.  Channel execution - Planning and implementing channel wise sales schemes and promotions to improve stock level, range selling, brand visibility & awareness and consumer & customer satisfaction.  System - Systematic and organized approach towards time management, prioritizing sales activities, generating daily/weekly/monthly sales targets & achievements reports, organizing daily/weekly/monthly sales meeting & reviews, upgrading sales routes information by conducting Every Dealer Survey (EDS) from time to time, maintaining and utilizing company’s assets & resources, controlling fixed and variable expenses of the sales operation by continuous focus on efficiency, monitoring and taking corrective measures for near-expiry / expired products.  Logistics - Making sales orders dispatch plan every evening and coordinating with warehouse and logistic teams for timely and accurate deliveries (made a dispatch route map for Uganda, introduced order number generation for unbiased approach and scheduled check-out timings of delivery trucks).  Recruitment & training - Recruiting sales staff and conducting training programmes to coach them to develop communication, negotiation & selling skills; to convey complete knowledge of products & processes; to motivate, recognize and reward real performers. Making and monitoring KPIs of sales staff and conducting performance reviews. Giving attention to average performers and provide them need based training. Developing employee engagement.

 Managed entire sales operation in 18 provinces of Angola with a 45-member team to meet sales targets (2018:- sales target achievement = 96%, sales growth = 79%; 2019:- sales target achievement = 98%, sales growth = 13%; 2020 (till July):- sales target achievement = 87%, sales growth = 18%).  Developed distribution network to cover 100% of the market. (Managed 5 key accounts with more 100 branches and 1589 wholesalers & distributors).  Implemented FieldAssist software to the sales department. FieldAssist is a B2B and SaaS internet-based sales automation software, made for FMCG companies to provide senior management with accurate and real-time information of its sales team, products and market performance i.e., sales team live map, sales team attendance, sales reports in various formats, customized market surveys and sales orders dump data which lead to a faithful execution of decisions in the field.  Added more than 300 wholesalers to increase the sales volumes; managed >1000 wall painting & hoarding sites, 36 company’s truck-backs and >1000 local taxi-backs; developed & launched products, such as “Zipp Cola” & “Zipp Granadina” carbonated soft drinks in 350ml pet and “Orion” bottled water in 600ml pet; conducted several organoleptic tests in the market and noted taste preferences of >75,000 people; made and renewed trade contracts with distributors, wholesalers and key-accounts.  Geotagged >1000 wall-painting & hoarding sites and > 1500 wholesalers & distributors locations.  Executed various sales schemes and promotions from time to time.  Followed company’s credit sales policy and controlled credit sales.  Enhanced utilization of sales information system.  Improved regular sales order delivery plan.  Helped human resource department in recruiting sales staff.

 Managed sales activities in 9 provinces of Mozambique with a 36-member sales team to meet sales targets while observing company’s credit policy. (2012:- sales target achievement = 98%, contribution = 48%, sales growth = 27%; 2013:- sales target achievement = 100%, contribution = 50%, sales growth = 32%; 2014:- sales target achievement = 99%, contribution = 47%, sales growth = 24%; 2015:- sales target achievement = 96%, contribution = 48%, sales growth = 27%; 2016:- sales target achievement = 90%, contribution = 51%, sales growth = 18%; 2017:- sales target achievement = 87%, contribution = 54%, sales growth = 15%; 2018 (till April):- sales target achievement = 84%, contribution = 51%, sales growth = 15%).  Created and developed sales routes & depots for maximizing distribution (Managed 9 key-accounts and 219 distributors & wholesalers to cover 24,680 retail outlets, started 4 sales depots, created 27 direct sales routes & 2 presales routes).  Conducted Every Dealer Survey (EDS) several times, monitored Key Business Indicators (KBIs) & Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), participated in media planning (conducted “E Só Katlha”, a generic marketing campaign in Above-The-Line, Below-The-Line and Through-The-Line sections), launched products (“Aqua Clear” packaged drinking water in 500ml pet & 1.5lt pet and “Mirinda Green Apple” in 350ml glass, 330ml cans, 330ml pet, 500ml pet, 1.25lt pet & 2lt pet packs), placed chilling equipment in market to improve products visibility and chilled products availability (placed 5262 visi-coolers, 6547 branded ice boxes, 18 ice making machines and moved 1824 visi-coolers from unproductive outlets to productive outlets), explored marketing opportunities (started distributing free ice-blocks to cluster markets and roadside small venders and created an informal market for the first time in Mozambique)  Developed numerous sales schemes and promotions.  Supervised regular sales reports and led routine sales meetings.  Recruited and trained sales staff.

 Handled 24-member sales team and met sales targets (2010:- sales target achievement = 94%, contribution = 25%, sales growth = 15%; 2011:- sales target achievement = 96%, contribution = 27%, sales growth = 19%).  Streamlined all credit customers by collecting old outstanding and maintaining them as per company’s credit policy.  Managed 87 distributors & wholesalers, 9 key accounts and 3628 retail outlets; made 42 distributors & wholesalers, 4 key accounts and 1968 retailers; made 3 presales routes.  Launched “Mirinda Pineapple” and “Mirinda Fruity” in 350ml glass, 330ml pet, 500ml pet, 1.25lt pet and 2lt pet packs.  Placed 371 visi-coolers, 417 ice boxes, 5 ice making machines and moved 93 visi-coolers from unproductive outlets to productive outlets.  Supervised quantity purchase schemes, scratch cards schemes, under-the-crown schemes, buy-one-get-one schemes and rack display schemes.  Conducted several market surveys from time to time to understand beverages market trends.  Replaced many incompetent sales team members by competent ones.