Regional Business Manager at Sun King
Role: Regional Business Manager
Location: Across the Country
Reporting To: Country Business Leader
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About Sun King
Sun King is the world’s leading off-grid solar energy company, combining cutting-edge product design, fintech, and field operations to deliver energy access for the 1.8 billion people who live without an affordable and reliable electric grid connection. Sun King has connected more than 20 million homes to solar power across Africa and Asia, adding over 200,000 homes each month.
Sun King makes solar products affordable to low-income households and businesses via ‘pay-as-you-go’ purchase financing. Sun King installs solar after customers pay a small deposit. Customers then make small, manageable payments of as little as US $0.11 a day via mobile money or cash.
Instead of paying for expensive, polluting, and health-damaging kerosene for lighting or diesel for power, customers unlock savings through accessing solar power and after one to two years of payments, customers own their solar equipment outright.
To date, our Sun King solar products have saved customers more than $4 billion cumulatively.
Sun King collects payments digitally through mobile money systems and its 28,000 field agents — over 650,000 payments each day. Embedded electronics inside each Sun King device regulate usage based on payments, similar to the operation of a pre-paid mobile or electricity meter.
From cost-effective solar systems that provide home lighting and phone charging to robust solar inverters that can power high-energy appliances such as laptops, computers, refrigerators, and more, effectively acting as a full stand-in for grid power, Sun King’s products cater to a wide range of income segments and energy needs. Leveraging its proven distribution network and brand, Sun King is expanding its range of products and services to encompass clean cooking, electric mobility, entertainment, and more, aiming to address the needs of our underserved customers.
Sun King employs 2,800 full-time staff in 12 countries, with specialities spanning product design, data science, logistics, customer service, sales, software, operations, and more — all with a passion to serve off-grid families.
Sun King is committed to gender diversity in the workplace. Women represent 44% of Sun King’s workforce.
About the Role:
The Regional Business Manager will lead sales, collections and entire business operations in the region they are assigned to, for the direct distribution of Sun King Solar products sold on Pay-As-You-Basis (also called and recognized as “EasyBuy” Business unit). This is done through a large network of agents called as “Energy Officer” who visit door-to-door and sell. EasyBuy technology and services allows customers to purchase units by paying for their Solar products in small installments, thus ensuring they are extremely affordable for off-grid or rural customers. The Regional Business Manager is ultimately accountable for generating sales, ensuring collections are timely and accurate and keeping the entire direct distribution network growing rapidly in a sustainable manner, with the help of his team that typically consists of Area Business Managers, Sun King Store Executives, and Energy Officers of the region.
Key responsibilities:
- Hire, retain and motivate the entire regional team for superior performance: Regional Business Manager’s team typically consists of Area Business Managers, Sun King Executives, Regional Mentor, Customer Loyalty Executives and Energy Officers (there may be some variations depending upon the region). RBMs are expected to ensure they create world-class winning team in their regions, who are disciplined, process-driven and committed to deliver the best customer experience.
- Training: Provide training to the ABMs and Energy Officers on several aspects of the business such as sales, collections, product, technical, inventory and logistics related. Ensure that they are fully supported and lead in the best professional manner demonstrating highest levels of integrity, ethics and professionalism while dealing with Sun King customers.
- Provide role clarity to ABMs, Regional Mentors, and Sun King Store Executives and Customer Loyalty associates, Area Retail Coordinators: Provide complete clarity to the regional team related to their day-to-day tasks, sales & collections plans, routes and targets. This includes, ensuring that your sales team has a pre-agreed sales route/area to sell in, they understand how to demonstrate and sell Sun King products, they have the confidence to be able to present and resolve basic customer queries on the spot and they have access to Regional Business Manager at all times in case of questions and concerns.
- Field visits: Have a weekly touchpoint with every ABM and Top 10 Energy Officers in each area – either through in-person meetings, making a joint sale or having a call. Resolve all possible issues faced by the Energy Officers and report them to your Regional Business Manager, every week. Ensure that first 10 sales of each Area Business Manager are done along with the Regional Business Manager in the area, along with some Energy Officers to ensure that the core sales and collection process is fully understood by each ABM.
- Conduct Joint Field work with ABMs: Conduct joint field work with a group of Energy Officers to provide sales and collection training on a weekly basis and drive EO engagement. This includes doing night activations, market activations, visiting local communities and gatherings such as SACCOs, Self Help groups, retail centres and markets to make group sales.
- Exceed your sales & collections targets: Meet or exceed sales and collection targets established and agreed on 2nd of every month with your sales leadership. Provide daily, weekly updates on sales, EO recruitments, Customer issues and resolutions, New Area Launch preparations as expected and agreed with your Manager.
- Drive robust field sales processes: Review sales and collection progress with your ABMs daily and provide adequate training to them on driving better collections in your areas. This includes, customer and area profiling, ensuring regular and timely collection follow-ups, resolving customer issues to ensure they make payments and ultimately repossessing the systems as a last recourse in case the customer defaults.
- Remain externally focused: Keep an eye on competition within your region and ensure you take adequate measures to protect and grow our business from competitive pressures. Pro-actively inform your leadership team and take measures to ensure Sun King remains a paramount brand name in solar products for your area.
- Resolve customer issues: Provide world-class support to your customers as it relates to product delivery, training on how to use and make payments, installation, after sales warranty issues. Ensure that you work with your Energy Officers to establish clear expectations and processes to resolve all customer issues within 24 hours.
- Control Marketing & Other Support spend: Provide adequate marketing support & equipment (such as smartphones) necessary to all your Areas. Ensure we get maximum return on investment for all the costs we incur in areas of marketing, supply chain, store maintenance and smartphone issuance.
- Review meetings with Areas: Ensure that ABMs are conducting periodic table meetings and reviews with all Energy Officers under their purview. Conduct surprise visits to field meetings and areas to ensure that the sales processes and standards observed are that of the highest quality. Recognize outstanding performers from time to time and ensure the motivation of the entire regional team is maintained at an all-time high.
- Grow Retail presence: Ensure the retail network in your Area grows with the help of an Area Retail Coordinator, hired under each ABM. Ensure all retail-related activities are followed per process and the base of high-selling retailer grows exponentially within your area of operation.
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The ideal candidate has:
- Degree or Diploma in any educational background.
- At least 4 years of field sales experience in the same region. Preferably having worked in Micro-Finance, Banking or Telecom field sales role.
- Passionate about working with rural, off-grid consumers and resolving their issues.
- Entrepreneurial Spirit with qualities of being able to work independently and figure things out with innovative thinking, problem-solving skills and presence of mind.
- Process oriented individual and work style, is able to work independently and lead the area.
- Driven by the social mission to provide energy to consumers and employment to rural communities. Should be a values-driven individual.
- Good communication and interpersonal skills to be able to build and lead large EO teams.
We are looking for someone who is driven, passionate and excited about the opportunity to bring honest, affordable, energy to homes in Africa and Asia. If this sounds like you, we would love to hear from you.
Greenlight Planet offers competitive compensation, a fun, supportive work environment, and opportunities for continued professional growth within a fast-growing global enterprise.
Greenlight Planet believes in equal opportunity for all people: We do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, national origin, HIV/AIDS status, or disability.
How to Apply:
To submit your application, please follow the link provided below.
