Territory Manager, Racket Sports

This position is responsible for the sales and distribution of Wilson products and grassroots activities within a sales territory of London, Surrey, and Kent. The Territory Manager represents the Wilson Racquet Sports business and is the face of the Wilson Brand in their area of responsibility, connecting with consumers, customers, coaches, juniors, and Federations. Reporting to the Market Manager for North Europe, the Territory Manager has a passion for Racquet Sports, for achieving and exceeding sales goals and expanding Wilson product distribution and market share. The Territory Manager is embedded in the sport, thrives on connecting directly with consumers at activation and demonstration events, and is highly visible as part of the sporting community. The job holder works closely with our customers to build effective sales strategies to drive the sales of Wilson products.

Company Car with private fuel, Pension (8% employer, 5% employee contribution), Life Assurance, 26 days annual leave + Bank Holidays.

What You’ll Do

• Own the Wilson brand in your territory and increase brand presence and image with customers and consumers to drive sales and distribution.
• Achieve and exceed annual sales plan and product category objectives in your defined territory.
• Expand the market share of our products (Rackets, FTW, ball etc.) in each of your accounts through strategic planning and negotiations.
• Customize sales strategy by effective articulation and presentation of the Wilson offering in light of the retailer’s needs, never presenting only product features.
• Adhere to sell-in timelines and deadlines as defined in the Wilson Racquet Sports Focus Calendar.

Relationship Management:

• Develop and maintain great working relationships with all Racquet Sports enthusiasts in your territory (Club owners, club directors, teaching professionals, pro shop managers, league coordinators, academy coaches, etc.).
• Build strong relationships within the racket sports community to drive the Wilson business.

Instore Excellence:

• Highly attentive to instore brand presence.
• Achieves KPIs relating to demand creation.
• Develop layouts/merchandising concepts for accounts.
• Work in collaboration with marketing team to ensure best in class execution.

Reporting:

• Analyze and report on competitors' distribution, in-store presence, and offer.
• On a seasonal basis, prepare and review customer performance report.
• Complete KPI activity reports (e.g., events and demos).
• Keep Sales Manager informed of trade-related information on an ongoing basis.
• Work all reports and records required and submit on a timely basis.

Sell Thru Management:

• Highly attentive to instore brand presence.
• Achieves KPIs relating to demand creation and Sell Thru.

Promotions, Commercial Partnership and Activation & Demo Experiences:

• Develop and negotiate agreements with Clubs, Academies, Schools, and Local Federations (if any).
• Deliver inspiring on-court demo experiences in your territory that will lead to immediate conversions to our products.
• Be an active and visible participant of the sport in the assigned territory.
• Own and grow our influencers sports community in collaboration with the PR/marketing team.
• Lead the agreements with local events and tournaments.

What We’re Looking For

• Experience in the Tennis and/or Padel sports community.
• Proven winning sales background ideally with knowledge or experience of a consumer-centric approach.
• Degree level education an advantage or professional sales career background.
• Experience of working within a matrix organization.

To be a successful Territory Manager, you must:

• Live within your territory (or within easy commuting distance).
• Have passion and enthusiasm for all Racquet Sports and be an active member of the rackets community in your area.
• Be a product expert in tennis - Padel product expertise is required in Padel growth countries.
• Have a hunter mindset, with strong negotiation and networking skills.
• Consumer centric and eager to support seamless consumer experience within OC approach.
• Entrepreneurial and proactive mindset.
• Excellent response time / follow-up with your accounts (max 24 hours).
• Solution oriented with a positive attitude.
• Project management skills, good analytical skills, able to manage budget, coordination & planning skills, well organized and can easily implement and execute multiple tasks and projects.
• Able to enlist others' support and assistance in influencing others building agreement and cooperation and a unified sense of purpose.
• Excellent understanding of social media landscape, digital savvy.
• Excellent communication skills (speaking and writing).
• Functional and teamworking mindset (Wilson team-based thinking e.g., reviews local language version of marketing material).
• Driving license.
• Strong Microsoft Office and other system proficiency.