Ascending Business Performance East Africa

08/04/2016

There are more than 50 Danish companies which are engaged in Kenya. And more to come.

Denmark’s relationship with Kenya dates back to the life and times of prolific author Karen Blixen.

17/03/2016

Recruiting technical sales manager for a Danish company in Kenya

The company develops and produces high-insulation panels used in construction and industry. They specialize panels for industry, agriculture, construction, cold storage and freezer. The panels are also suitable for insulation in housing construction and façade renovation.

Candidate:
The candidate should not only have experience in engineering but also have strong communication skills and sales capabilities that involve explaining highly complex technical information to customers and users. Engineering skills should preferably come from refrigeration, if not possible then from building automation or from electrical engineering.
The candidate should be able to understand the technical aspects of the company’s product line and be able to propose how the products can benefit the customer.
The candidate should ideally have 3-5years of experience in a similar environment.
The candidate should have a valid driver’s license.
The candidate should be computer literate, using programs such as OneDrive.
The company will provide product training either in Nairobi, Kenya or in Denmark.

Tasks of the technical sales manager:
To visit all potential customers for cold store package solutions in Kenya. Every visit should generate a detailed meeting report.
To visit all potential customers for refrigeration spare parts in Kenya. Every visit should generate a detailed meeting report.
Customers are for example: dairies, milk farmers, ice cream factories, cheese processors, meat and poultry processing plants, vegetable and flower growers and processors and fishing industry.
The task of the technical sales manager is to introduce the company’s products to all potential customers and give advice on how to install and operate a cold store. The technical sales manager should measure, calculate and design projects so we can produce a quotation in Denmark on the basis of the project data. The technical sales manager should follow every quotation closely and discuss technical details with customers and obtain adjusted quotation from Denmark, so the customer can accept the quotation and generate an order.
The result after 6 months of work should be a market survey which shows the total demand for cold stores incl. refrigeration system, doors, lights, shelves and other accessories – and the current consumption of the same – with a detailed description of competitors, prices, quality etc.
Number of visits, number of quotation and number of orders will be registered and monitored.
The technical sales manager shall coordinate all deliveries on behalf of the customer up to the Port of Mombasa or the Airport of Nairobi. All documents required by the authorities for the import of the goods shall be processed by the sales person.
When in the office, the technical sales manager will use the office computer/laptop for all communication.
We will provide the technical sales manager with a mobile telephone (company property) with camera.
We will provide a complete company catalogue for the technical sales manager.
All sales expenses will be refunded on a daily basis from the office manager.
Sales activities for the company in Kenya

Activities for local technical sales manager:
Product portfolio: Small prefabricated cold rooms and freezing rooms incl. all necessary accessories such as doors, refrigeration equipment, lights, control panel, alarm, shelves etc.
(A) Large cold store projects incl. all necessary equipment: steel structure, roof and wall plates, external and internal walls, lights, refrigeration equipment, floor insulation, doors, loading bays, racking system, monitoring system, switchboard and cables, etc.
(B) Installation and commissioning of projects:
1) A danish highly qualified supervisor for a period as short as possible, for start up of the installation and for introducing the customer to the correct installation method
2) A local qualified supervisor for managing the project from delivery to Mombasa to startup and incl. training of customers personnel.
Fault finding and equipment service. Help the customer in solving problems with his equipment, offer service via technician in network
Communication methods: Skype, WhatsApp, E-mail, cell phone
Customer database: Maintain information in the database daily.
Visits per day: 3-5 per day
Daily report: Detailed meeting report about discussions, subjects, specifications, conclusions, quotation
Documents: Use MS Office. All documents, quotations, orders, invoices, packing lists etc. will be produced, stamped and signed in Denmark.
Quotations: Always obtain quotation and quotation number from the sales department in Denmark. Never use an old quotation as an example.
Orders: Always present an official quotation to the customer and obtain his/her written acceptance of the price, terms etc.
Document server: Upload all documents to our common OneDrive
Car: Rental with expenses paid, or own car with compensation for millage at work.

Activities with Danish sales manager:
Sales training: Depending on commercial skills
Product training: Depending on technical skills
Joint visits: To potential customers

Compensation and sales bonus is to be agreed upon.
Kindly share your current/most previous and your expected remuneration.

To apply, send an application letter stating why you are the ideal candidate and a detailed CV, to [email protected]

29/02/2016

INTUITION:

That's what people call successful decision making that happens without a narrative.

Intuition isn't guessing. It's sophisticated pattern matching, honed over time.

Don't dismiss intuition merely because it's difficult to understand. You can get better at it by practicing.

~Seth Godin

24/02/2016

Not everything goes to plan all the time. Chances are, you'll experience setbacks in your business; what's important is how you react to them.

Resilience is what keeps you on track to achieve your goals in the face of adversity. It's easy to feel discouraged when things go wrong, but you can challenge and overcome negative feelings.

23/02/2016

Prep, spec, fit and finish

In some settings, more than 90% of the time and effort invested isn't in the actual 'work', but in getting setting up, debugging and then polishing the work. Heart surgery, for example, might take five hours to perform, but the actual procedure might only take thirty minutes.

A piece of code might take a few hours to create, but days or weeks to be specified, reviewed, tested and then ready for the public.

Dinner at a fine restaurant is mostly cleaning, chopping, cooking and service, not the part we see on the plate itself.

And yet...

We often get confused about which part is important, which is worth our time, which is the point of the exercise. Without a doubt, if the thing we built isn't of high quality, don't bother. But it turns out that all the other parts, the parts that we think might be beneath us, it's those that matter the most.

When in doubt, spend half as much time as you expect on the thing that most people do, and far more time on the specifics, on the quality control, on the soft stuff, the stuff that actually matters.

~ Seth Godin

22/02/2016

Questions to ask yourself about your projects:

- What is it for? (what do you hope to achieve?)

- What impact do you hope to make?

- How will you know if it's working?

- Has it been done before?

- What's the difficult part and how much do you need to focus on it?

- What resources are needed for tests and analysis'? Is it worth doing?

- What resources are needed to run the project and maintain it?

Successful project owners need to engage in a conversation about all of these questions.

15/02/2016

"I've got this"

A useful lesson for Presidents' Day: Some people care enough to take responsibility.

Not shifting the blame, or seeking power or stealing credit. Not finding a sinecure or pointing fingers.

What happens when we merely do what needs to be done?

We've created a culture where taking responsibility is one of the last sure ways to make a difference. It's easy to avoid, fraught with anxiety and rarely done, which is precisely why it might be your best available path.

by Seth Godin

27/01/2016

Many business leaders continuously set themselves a goal, but it is key that they master answering the inherent question "WHY - should we achieve this goal?". This is in fact the first free business advice to professionals from our ASCENDING team. You need to excell in answering the question "Why.."! Only then others can contribute and commit to your goal! Remember this!

25/01/2016

The three C's of life.
CHOICES, CHANCES, CHANGES.
You must make a choice to take a chance or your life will never change.

Make a choice to take a chance on Ascending or your business will never change :-)

18/01/2016

Who wouldn't mind getting free of charge business development counseling??? LIKE & SHARE

18/01/2016

Happy New Year - It is never too late to set goals for development. NEVER! Please share with us your professional objectives for 2016. We will coach you F.O.C. every week starting today with guideline on how you become an achiever - not merely a dreamer.

SHARE SHARE SHARE; with all your friends here on Facebook and engage them in this collateral ambition: Making the most of 2016

05/01/2016

“When it comes to eLearning, content means everything. If eLearning content is not masterfully designed, all the rest will just go down the drain.” - Christopher Pappas