National Sales Manager (7294)

National Sales Manager

Grade / Level: Country SLT

Reporting to: EMEA Director

Department: International

Location: Johannesburg base, national role covering South Africa and SADC

Role Dimensions

Budget / Turnover Responsibility: Approx. R170m annual sales SA & SADC9 Direct Reports, (8 External / 1 Internal)

Role Responsibilities

• Lead, coach and develop the national sales team across South Africa and SADC.
• Build a positive, accountable and high‑performing sales culture.
• Inspire the team through clear communication, strong leadership and visible support.
• Set clear expectations around customer activity, pipeline management, Salesforce usage and follow‑up.
• Improve seller effectiveness through regular one‑to‑ones, field visits, coaching and performance reviews.
• Identify development needs within the team and support individual growth plans.
• Challenge underperformance fairly and constructively.
• Ensure the team represents Cromwell professionally with customers, distributors and suppliers.
• Own delivery of the South Africa sales plan, including sales, margin, customer growth and EBITDA.
• Review the existing sales strategy and identify where it should be refreshed or strengthened.
• Develop clear plans to grow through the distributor‑led channel.
• Drive new business growth by creating end‑user demand through distributor partners.
• Identify new market opportunities across South Africa and SADC.
• Understand market trends, competitor activity, customer needs and distributor performance.
• Recommend where Cromwell should focus time, resource and investment to grow profitably.
• Build strong relationships with key distributors and strategic customers.
• Spend regular time in the field with sales representatives, distributors and end users.
• Support the sales team in opening new opportunities and progressing major customer discussions.
• Develop stronger customer value propositions with support from marketing, digital, suppliers and the wider EMEA team.
• Act as a senior Cromwell representative where leadership involvement is required.
• Use customer and distributor feedback to improve service, stock, pricing, product range and commercial approach.
• Drive strong discipline around Salesforce usage, pipeline quality, call planning and opportunity management.
• Ensure sales activity is planned, visible and aligned to business priorities.
• Use Salesforce, Power BI and other reporting tools to track activity, performance, risks and opportunities.
• Lead regular sales meetings focused on actions, accountability, pipeline progression and customer growth.
• Provide clear updates to the EMEA leadership team on performance, risks, opportunities and support required.
• Work closely with the National Operations Manager to ensure the sales plan is supported operationally.
• Collaborate with operations and customer service to improve the customer experience.
• Escalate service issues where they impact customer relationships or sales performance.
• Help ensure the business has the right stock profile to support key customers, distributors and growth categories.
• Lead the local digital and marketing agenda in line with the South Africa sales strategy.
• Work with the internal digital/marketing colleague to improve campaigns, customer communication, lead generation and product focus.
• Use digital tools, website content, customer data and marketing insight to support sales growth.
• Ensure marketing activity is commercially focused and linked to distributor growth, end‑user demand and product/category growth.
• Contribute positively to the wider EMEA leadership team.
• Share best practice, market insight and commercial ideas with other EMEA countries.

Experience and Knowledge

• Proven sales leadership experience, ideally at national or senior regional level.
• Experience leading field‑based sales teams.
• Strong distributor / channel sales experience.
• Track record of delivering profitable sales growth.
• Strong commercial understanding, including sales, margin, pipeline, customer growth and P&L performance.
• Experience developing and delivering sales strategies.
• Strong customer relationship and negotiation skills.
• Ability to use data and reporting tools to drive performance.
• Confident using Salesforce, Power BI and Microsoft Office.
• Experience working with marketing, digital and supplier teams to support growth.
• Strong understanding of customer service and operational alignment, without needing to directly manage operations.
• Full driving licence and flexibility for national travel.

Personal Attributes

• Positive, energetic and resilient.
• Strong people leader who can inspire and motivate others.
• Commercially sharp and performance‑focused.
• Structured and disciplined, without being overly rigid.
• Confident communicator with strong interpersonal skills.
• Able to build trust quickly with teams, customers and distributors.
• Comfortable challenging poor performance in the right way.
• Collaborative and able to work well across functions and countries.
• Fresh‑thinking, practical and action‑focused.
• Strong cultural fit with Cromwell’s values and future direction.

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement

Cromwell is committed to being an Equal Opportunity Employer. We welcome applications from all suitably qualified candidates, regardless of their race, gender, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation, or age. We are also committed to offering applicants from the armed forces community (current and past) an interview if they meet the minimum requirements for the role.