Overview:
An exciting career opportunity exists for a Business Development Manager – UAVs for Agriculture. In this role, you will take ownership of introducing and promoting the company’s UAV portfolio for crop spraying, seed spreading, and fertilisers in the Western Cape, as well as a few neighbouring countries. This will entail educating the market on the use of UAVs for these tasks, actively developing new customers, and maintaining existing customers in the region. You will collaborate closely with the Business Development & Innovation team as well as the existing agricultural (Vantage) sales team in the region, to establish the company’s go-to-market approaches.
The successful candidate will be responsible for direct sales of the company’s UAVs for agriculture in the region, specifically for crop spraying, seed spreading, and fertilisers. If you are someone with a keen enthusiasm and an affinity for agricultural technology and believe you can explain to customers the far-reaching potential of the company’s solutions, we look forward to hearing from you!
A proven track record of sales and business development in the agricultural crop industry is essential. A Remote Pilot Certificate (RPC) will be required.
Duties:
- Educate your target market on the use of UAVs in agriculture
- Build and maintain long-term client relationships in the Western Cape
- Build and maintain long-term reseller relationships outside South Africa, in the neighbouring countries that we identify
- Register all sales activities and opportunities on Salesforce and keep records updated
- Own the full sales cycle from lead to close and achieve the sales targets
- Manage the sales pipeline, producing good and reliable forecasts, and closing deals with a high conversion rate
- Collaborate with the Marketing division to optimise brand awareness
- Showcase technology solutions at trade shows intending to generate visibility and awareness among potential customers
- Assist in the ongoing development of effective sales strategies and participate in creating the annual budget
- Regularly analyse the competitor landscape
- Submit high-quality documentation to internal and external stakeholders, ie. forecasts, sales pipeline, presentations, financial reports, and quotations/proposals
Qualifications, Skills, and experience required:
- Minimum 3 years of domain knowledge gained in the agricultural crop industry
- Sound understanding of the application of drones in this industry
- A proven track record of sales and business development experience
- A Remote Pilot Certificate (RPC) will be required
- Experience with the DJI AGRAS drones will be highly beneficial
- Strong relationship-building and negotiation skills
- A proactive attitude and willingness to travel across your region to meet customers in person.
- A natural curiosity about technology and a demonstrated ability to navigate technical topics
Other Requirements:
- Willing and able to travel nationally, as well as within Africa and possibly internationally as required
- Valid driver’s license (Minimum code 8)
- Own a suitable & reliable vehicle to perform your duties (the company pays a kilometre rate for business travel)
Behavioural competencies, attitude, and approach needed to be successful:
- You are a natural connector – networking comes naturally
- You have a resilient spirit – rejections don’t deter you, they fuel your determination
- Convincing by nature – negotiation, and persuasion are your communication superpowers
- Goal orientated – setting and achieving goals is second nature to you
- You embrace technology – you are tech-savvy and open to leveraging the latest tools and platforms
- You possess a positive attitude – optimism is your constant disposition
- You are adaptable – you’re ready to evolve with it
- You have a passion for continuous learning – you want to learn more about the technology applicable to this industry
- You WANT to do the job – you want to add value and achieve results as well as build your future in sales and the organisation
The successful candidate must be able to align with the company’s core values as follows:
- Respect – have due regard for others & acknowledge our diversity
- Integrity – doing the right thing, even when no one is watching
- Trust – have a firm belief in the reliability, truth, and ability of others
- Ownership – be accountable for our decisions and actions
- Excellence – proudly committed to quality & success
- Balance – work hard, play hard