Commercial & Customer Relationship Manager
§ Responsible for building strong customer relationships, identifying new business opportunities and supporting sustainable revenue growth.
§ Must be highly credible and commercially astute individual who can build strong relationships at multiple levels within customer organisations, develop an extensive professional network and act as a trusted commercial partner to our key customers.
§ Must combine excellent interpersonal and communication skills with commercial acumen and have the ability to lead and develop a small commercial team.
§ The position requires a highly visible, customer-focused individual who is comfortable engaging with senior management, customers, suppliers and internal stakeholders and who can represent the Company professionally in all interactions.
§ Develop, maintain and strengthen strategic relationships with existing and prospective customers.
§ Establish strong relationships at multiple levels with the customers, from purchasing teams through to senior management and executive stakeholders.
§ Proactively identify customer concerns and ensure timely resolution through the appropriate internal support functions.
§ Establish the Company as a trusted and preferred supplier/strategic business partner.
§ Conduct regular customer visits to maintain strong customer engagement and networking.
§ Identify and pursue new business opportunities aligned with the Company's strategic objectives and core competencies.
§ Build and maintain a strong commercial and industry network.
§ Monitor market trends, competitor activity, customer strategies and emerging opportunities.
§ Work closely with engineering, operations, finance and project management to ensure commercial proposals are both competitive and executable.
§ Understand product costing, pricing structures, margins.
§ Participate in commercial negotiations with customers.
§ Represent the Company at industry events, conferences, customer forums and networking platforms i.e, Naacam.
§ Stay informed on industry developments, localisation opportunities, technology trends and changes in customer requirements.
§ Ensure all written communication is accurate, clear, commercially appropriate and professionally presented.
Essential Skills required
§ Exceptional customer & relationship management
§ Exceptional interpersonal and relationship building skills.
§ Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
§ Strong ability to establish trust and credibility quickly.
§ Comfortable engaging with customers at senior management and executive level.
§ Strong customer-service orientation.
§ Ability to manage difficult customer situations professionally and constructively.
§ Ability to communicate complex commercial issues clearly and concisely.
§ Excellent presentation and negotiation skills.
Minimum Qualifications & Experience
§ Relevant tertiary qualification in Business Management, Commerce, Marketing, Engineering or a related discipline.
§ Minimum 5 to 8 years commercial, sales, business development or customer relationship management experience.
§ Proven experience managing key customer relationships.
§ Demonstrated success in developing new business and/or growing existing customer accounts.
§ Experience dealing with OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers or large corporate customers would be highly advantageous.
§ Strong MS Office and presentation skills.
§ Valid driver's licence and willingness to travel.
§ The ideal candidate must be a high-energy, commercially minded relationship builder who enjoys being in front of customers and creating opportunities.
§ They should be someone who can walk into a customer's organisation, quickly establish credibility, understand the customer's business and identify opportunities to create value.