Michael Austen

National Sales Manager/Regional Manager Kzn/Sales

Powelltronics

, Gauteng

01.2008 - 04.2020

Achieve R1m a month target (personal)
Assist and guide 10 other sales people to achieve their targets (R250k/R750k pm each) with special bid pricing and pricing to national customers
Set national pricing policies, price lists, compliance and standardisation
Mentor the regional manager and assist her in meeting regional objectives
First line contact with suppliers
Negotiate discounts with suppliers
Problem solving and customer relations
Assist with national debt collection
Key achievements/projects
I started the Gauteng office in 2008 working from home with no customers
A year later I employed another sales person
A year after that we took office space in Rivonia and employed two more people
By the time I left Gauteng to move to Durban in 2016 to get the sales effort there going I had a staff of ten and we were turning over R30m a year
50% of the company’s turnover
In Durban I managed to motivate the sales staff and we doubled the turnover in the three and a half years I was there
During that time our Gauteng office turnover declined by 20% and the staff compliment reduced from ten to six
I moved back to Gauteng in March 2019 to get the sales figures back up and in the three months I have been part of the team, travelling from Durban to Johannesburg for three days a week from January to 1st May, I have maintained and average of over R1m a month,
The average price of each unit we sell is about R5k
I have travelled to Kenya, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia and have done work in all of those countries.