Key Account Manger

What you'll need to have

Sound knowledge of IKEA BUSINESS plans and strategies.
- Business Intelligence Experience: Competition information and market trends.
- KAM knowledge/Project management skills
- Customer portfolio knowledge
- Stakeholder management knowledge
- Ability to clearly demonstrate financial awareness, thinking in terms of profit, loss and added value.
- The IKEA concept and the IKEA brand's goals.
- Understanding life at home and in the business environment in the local market, including design trends. Market research results (IKEA Customer Satisfaction Survey, IKEA Brand Capital).
- Computer skills and proficiency in Microsoft Office
- Good in English, Local Language preference: Tamil etc written and spoken.

MOTIVATION:

- The IKEA values truly reflect personal values.
- A passion for fast-paced, future-orientated retailing, home furnishing, peoples life at home and work, and the IKEA product range
- Provide home furnishing solutions that improve people's life at home and work.
- Constantly growing knowledge, capabilities and motivation.
- Driven to exceed goals and a desire to improve ways of working.

CAPABILITIES:

- Have a flexible and hands-on account management approach to responsibilities as well as the ability to meet set deadlines and individual commercial goals.
- Analyse the long-term functional needs of the client (provide appropriate answers).
- Possess a true strategic sense (ability to understand the client's environment, its issues and priorities).
- Ability to negotiate (argue, detect and respond to objections, conclude), conduct discussions (not negotiate).
- Communicate / present with conviction. Confident in active selling and direct customer interaction. - Ability to combine commercial and visual skills to present solutions that exceed customer expectations.
- Ability to work together within a team and between functions.
- Confident in approaching and communicating clearly with customers and co-workers in various situations.

LEADERSHIP CAPABILITIES:

- Develop the business and deliver results
- Lead and develop people
- Inspire and clarify
- Create togetherness
- Find better ways
- Enable change

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS:

- Experience of working in a commercial or sales role in an organization (including previous management experience
- Proven record of consistently meeting agreed budgets and goals, and working on business plans over a number of years
- Experience of using knowledge of customer shopping behaviour to develop long-term strategic plans, set budgets and follow up goals (sales, profitability).
- This includes setting and implementing action plans and providing clear direction and following up goals.
- Ability to mobilize stakeholders by involving them in projects and objectives. Ability to prioritise and organise work and the work of others in order to make the most efficient use of resources available
- Self-starting, self-reliant and motivated with a proven ability to work as part of a team as well as independently
- Experience from retail, preferably home furnishing sector or B2B/ KAM

PREFFERED FROM EXTERNAL:

- Retail and home furnishing experience, planning complex solutions and designs or IKEA equivalent
- Work experience with interior design in a retail environment.

PREFFERED FROM INTERNAL:

- Understand life at home and work in the local market.
- Knowledge of the IKEA concept.
- Understand the IKEA mechanical sales system.

We have 2 positions for this role: 1 role will be based out of Chennai and 2nd one out of Kochi but will reporting to IKEA Business Manager based out Nagasandra Bangalore.

**Your responsibilities**

Overall objective is to grow sales, increase market share and sustain long-term profitability. Contribute to and gain agreement on national BUSINESS sales budgets, profitability goals and other key performance indicators (KPI) and goals that reflect the global and local IKEA business priorities
- Continuously ideate on new sales strategies and effectively implement sales campaigns to grow our sales and support the sustaining of long-term profitability.
- Use range competence to deliver customer-centric and target-driven commercial solutions to both B2C home owners as well as B2B enterprises.
- Regularly meet with our customers to learn from their experiences, ideas and views in order to improve the quality of our offer and their shopping experience.
- Maintain knowledge of market trends, competition, workplace lifestyles and new technologies.
- Control costs through working in a lean, simple, cost-conscious way using best practises and continually look to find more effective ways of working.
- Respect routines and responsibilities and actively work with stakeholders in Sales, Logistics, Com In, Marketing, Legal, to identify and build long-lasting relationships with both internal as well as external partners (e.g. associations, interest groups, developers, media).
- Drive proactive actions and behaviour to help deliver b