Regional Sales Manager - East

SOFTSENS Job Description Regional Sales Manager — East Sales   |   East Region   |   West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, North East

 

Role Overview

 

Location	East Region (West Bengal)	Reporting To	National Sales Head
Function	Sales — Regional	Experience	10–15 years
Designation	Regional Sales Manager	Direct Reports	Area Sales Managers

 

The Regional Sales Manager — East is responsible for building and owning Softsens' offline commercial business across West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, North East. This person leads the regional sales organisation, manages the distributor and stockist network, drives outlet coverage and offtake across GT, MT, and Pharmacy channels, and develops the ASM layer into strong, independent field leaders. The RSM operates as a mini-business owner for the region — accountable for revenue, distribution health, team performance, and trade investment efficiency. The primary mandate here is to diagnose, stabilise, and then aggressively build, this role requires someone with a genuine builder's mindset, proven experience in under-penetrated East India markets, and the ability to operate effectively in high-COD, lower-awareness markets.

 

Key Responsibilities

 

1.   Regional Revenue Achievement & Business Planning

• Own and deliver the monthly, quarterly, and annual revenue target for West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, North East across GT, MT, Pharmacy, Baby Specialty, and Clinic/Hospital channels.

• Cascade the regional target to ASM territories and individual Sales Officer beats — ensure every layer of the team has a clear, measurable number they own.

• Contribute to the Annual Business Planning (ABP) process — provide accurate revenue forecasts, distribution investment plans, and market-level opportunity assessments to the NSH.

• Conduct monthly territory reviews: identify underperforming pockets, investigate root causes, and implement course-correction plans before month-end — not at month-end.

• Identify and prioritise high-potential geographies within West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, North East — white spaces, emerging retail clusters, and priority towns — and build targeted activation plans.

 

2.   Distribution Building & Stockist Management

• Design and execute the regional distribution architecture — territory mapping, distributor appointment, super-stockist relationships, and expansion into new towns and districts.

• Set and track numeric and weighted distribution targets by ASM territory and channel; review weekly and intervene early when coverage drops.

• Conduct monthly distributor ROI reviews — monitor primary and secondary sales, inventory levels, outstanding dues, and scheme uptake for every distributor in the region.

• Personally manage key distributor and super-stockist relationships at RSM level — resolve conflicts, negotiate credit norms, and conduct quarterly business reviews.

• Appoint new distributors where required — own the selection, onboarding, and first-90-day handholding of new channel partners.

 

3.   Channel Execution & Retail Visibility

• Ensure Softsens products are available, visible, and properly priced at every priority outlet across GT, MT, and Pharmacy channels in the region.

• Drive POSM deployment, shelf visibility, and new product launch execution standards — set coverage norms and track compliance through ASM joint fieldwork reports.

• Own new product listing velocity — set ASM-wise listing targets and timelines, and ensure first-month distribution milestones are met for every Softsens launch.

• Monitor and improve secondary sales velocity at the outlet level — track distributor offtake data, identify slow-moving SKUs, and implement liquidation plans proactively.

• Build pharmacy and medical store coverage across West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, and Jharkhand — these states have strong pharmacy-led baby care buying behaviour.

• Navigate the high-COD environment of East India (West Bengal COD rate ~73%) — implement prepaid conversion tactics, manage return risk, and ensure distributors are not over-leveraged on COD stock.

• Leverage the Durga Puja (October) gifting season in West Bengal as a major activation window — plan field and trade programs 6 weeks in advance.

 

4.   Team Leadership & ASM Development

• Lead, coach, and develop the ASM team — conduct regular joint fieldwork (minimum 12 field days per month), monthly performance reviews, and structured feedback conversations.

• Personally participate in ASM hiring — assess field readiness, market knowledge, and leadership potential before recommending to the NSH.

• Ensure every ASM has a clear territory plan, a functional SVL, a distributor coverage calendar, and a weekly activity tracker — and reviews them weekly.

• Address team attrition proactively — identify at-risk team members, engage with them early, and escalate to NSH before a vacancy impacts the territory.

• Train and develop ASMs on distributor management, outlet handling, scheme execution, and data reporting — build their ability to solve market problems independently.

 

5.   Trade Marketing & Scheme Execution

• Execute regional trade schemes, promoter programs, BTL activations, and consumer offers as planned by the Brand Manager — ensure field team is briefed and executing on time.

• Monitor scheme uptake and execution quality at the outlet level; flag implementation gaps to NSH and Brand Manager within 48 hours of discovery.

• Coordinate with the ABM for POSM deployment, in-store promoter placement, and sampling activities — ensure regional Marketing and Sales plans are aligned.

• Review and recommend trade discount approvals within the authorised framework; process and reconcile scheme claims accurately and within defined timelines.

 

6.   Reporting, Data Discipline & Commercial Control

• Submit weekly and monthly regional performance reports to the NSH — covering primary sales, secondary offtake, distribution metrics, outstanding dues, and market intelligence.

• Monitor outstanding dues across all distributors in the region; ensure collections are within credit norms and escalate overdues to the NSH before they become write-offs.

• Track and report competitor activity, pricing, and distribution moves in the region on a structured weekly basis.

• Review and approve ASM expense claims, tour plans, and field reports — ensure data integrity across the regional team.

 

Key Result Areas & KPIs

 

Key Result Area (KRA)	Key Performance Indicator (KPI)
Regional revenue achievement — West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, North East","% of monthly and quarterly target achieved vs ABP
Distribution expansion	Numeric and weighted distribution growth across GT, MT, Pharmacy by ASM territory
Secondary sales velocity	Offtake growth rate by channel and SKU; stock-out instances per month
New product launch execution	% of priority outlets covered within 30 days of any Softsens launch
Distributor health	Average distributor ROI; DSO; overdue dues as % of total outstanding
ASM team performance	% of ASMs achieving monthly targets; team attrition rate
Trade scheme ROI	Revenue uplift per rupee of regional trade promotion spend
Market intelligence	Structured competitor activity reports submitted weekly to NSH
Reporting discipline	Accuracy and timeliness of regional MIS; zero integrity violations

 

Must-Haves

 

• 10-15 years of field sales experience in FMCG, Personal Care, Baby Care, or Consumer Healthcare — with at least 2 years as an RSM, Regional Sales Head, or senior ASM managing multi-state territory.

• Proven experience managing sales territories in East India — West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, North East — must understand the COD-heavy trade dynamics, market fragmentation, and distribution challenges specific to this region.

• Hindi and Bengali language fluency essential for trade engagement in WB and North East markets — English alone will not build distributor relationships in this geography.

• Experience building distribution in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets of East India — Kolkata is not the only market; Bhubaneswar, Patna, Guwahati, Ranchi are all priority cities.

• Proven track record of building GT distribution from the ground up — not just managing existing networks. Must have appointed distributors, mapped territories, and expanded coverage in under-penetrated markets.

• Strong team leadership — must have directly managed, coached, and held ASMs accountable for territory performance, not just reviewed numbers.

• Experience in Pharmacy and Baby Specialty channel sales — understanding of how these trade partners buy and what drives their stocking decisions.

• Data fluency — must be comfortable reviewing secondary sales data, distributor offtake reports, and outlet-level coverage metrics to identify gaps and act on them.

• Willingness to travel 18–22 days per month across the region — this role demands consistent field presence, not remote management.

 

Good-to-Haves

 

• Experience in Baby Care, Personal Care, Skincare, or FMCG Healthcare — familiarity with how pharmacists and baby specialty retailers make purchase decisions.

• Exposure to hospital and institutional channel development — clinic networks, hospital-linked stockists, pediatric recommendation programs.

• Experience in North East India specifically — understanding of the unique market access, logistics, and trade dynamics of the seven sister states.

• Prior experience managing high-COD markets and implementing strategies to migrate distributors and retailers toward prepaid payment behaviour.

• Knowledge of the Durga Puja seasonal selling cycle and how to build trade and consumer programs around it.

• Experience coordinating with marketing teams for geo-targeted BTL activations, in-store promotions, and regional product sampling.

• Familiarity with sales force automation or DMS platforms for distributor management and secondary sales tracking.

 

Cannot-Haves

 

• Candidates whose 'regional' experience covered only 1–2 states — must have genuinely managed a multi-state territory with meaningful revenue accountability.

• Profiles where distribution management was entirely handled by subordinates — must have personally managed distributor relationships, ROI reviews, and conflict resolution.

• Candidates from only large FMCG companies with no exposure to resource-constrained, startup-stage brand environments.

• Anyone unwilling to relocate to the assigned region or with significant restrictions on inter-state travel frequency.

• Candidates with a pattern of short tenures at senior level (under 18 months) without a clear business reason.

• Candidates who have only worked in West India or South India with no exposure to East India trade dynamics — the market is structurally different and the learning curve is too steep at this stage.

• Anyone who requires significant backend support or who cannot operate in ambiguous, resource-light environments — East India will require significant ground-up building.

 

Target Companies

 

Baby Care & Personal Care

• Mamaearth / Honasa Consumer — offline expansion team

• Himalaya Wellness — Baby Care vertical

• Cetaphil

• Chicco / Pigeon India

• Mee Mee

• WOW Skin Science — offline scale-up phase

• Plum / Earth Rhythm

 

FMCG / Consumer Healthcare

• Piramal Consumer Healthcare

• Cipla Consumer Healthcare

• Emami — leaner brand verticals

• Marico — specific verticals

• Dabur — Baby Care or Healthcare vertical

 

Regional / Alternate Pool

• Strong regional FMCG distributors in WB / Bihar / Jharkhand who have transitioned to the brand side

• Emami — strong East India heritage and distribution network

• ITC — personal care or FMCG verticals with East India focus

• Dabur East India regional team

• Regional baby care / personal care brands with WB presence

 

Success in This Role

 

The RSM — East will first stop the bleeding — understand exactly why East is missing targets and fix the root cause within 30 days. Then build in the next 60 days: appoint the right distributors, get an ASM team that covers the right markets, and establish a retail base in WB, Odisha, Bihar, and Jharkhand that makes Softsens visible and available where its competitors currently dominate. Within 12 months, East should be contributing at least 15% of national offline revenue.