Heading all Commercial functions

Nu övergår jag till en permanent tjänst efter 3 månader som konsult.

Ett uppdrag i en koncern, verksam i Sve/Fin/No/Dk och Irl, där uppdraget handlade om att dels mappa den kommersiella processen i respektive land samt komma med förslag på hur att synkronisera dessa på en optimal nivå. Dessutom tillkom uppdraget att mappa de olika ländernas S&OP-process såg ut för att även här skapa en plan för en optimal och harmoniserad process i alla 5 länder, då detta inte fungerade som företaget önskade.

Uppdraget var att skapa och implementera ett gemensamt arbetssätt för säljarna, men tydliga KPIer för att kunna styra arbetet på ett bra och fungerande sätt, samt att skapa en dialog med kunderna centralt på respektive HK för att utveckla den gemensamma affären. Detta skedde enligt den brief jag fick och genom ett nytt arbetssätt och bättre säljstyrning förbättrades resultatet, och är i stora delar även det arbetssätt de arbetar med än idag.

When I was contacted for a role in Carlsberg Sweden, where a total turn around was planned after volumes, market shares and profitability had declined for several years and needed to be changed, I saw this as a great opportunity for me since I have a strong passion for deliver results and develop people/teams. During the first year I had changed 3 of 5 Key Account Managers (which really was needed) and also changed the Field Sales team, and hired a new Field Sales Manager and reduced number of regions (4 => 3) and a new way of working in the field. Under the second year 8 reps was replaced which was needed due to “non suitable” profiles or attitude, and so we started the real turn around in 2011. Since 2011 we have created a growth in volume, market shares and absolute profit. Between 2011 to end of 2019 the growth in volume was 37%, market shares up with 7,3% and the profitability with +48,5%. With the new team in place skills and competencies were in place which was the driver of this achievement and has been recognized in the annual customer survey (Barometern.nu) where we been top 5 of all suppliers in Grocery Trade the last 5 years with a number 1 position in 2 of these years. The growth came from all categories (Beer/Soft Drinks/Water) and the growth on the brand Pepsi was double-digit in 2012-2014 and for that I received PepsiCo’s finest award, called “Chairman’s Ring of Honor”. The growth of Pepsi brands has continued to grow double digit annual ever since.Even if Grocery trade was the main channel within my responsibility, I was also responsible for our business in Convenience trade and Export (German Border trade). During these years I had the full responsibility for the P&L in Off Trade, which in 2019 ended in a Net Revenue of 1.858 mSEK and a team of 52 FTEs. As VP for Off Trade I was also part of the Swedish management team for Carlsberg Sverige AB.

After almost 12 years within Unilever, I was approached for a new challenge, where Atria had decided for a restart of the Swedish business, where also an acquisition of Sardus AB was part of the journey. A part of the acquisition was also to re-build our own Field Sales organisation, which I did, based on the sales reps that Sardus had and expanded this with 10 more reps so a total of 25 reps. Same customers but a different category vs. HPC but I learned a lot when it comes to profit optimization in a company where freshness and low scrap was the key to profitability, and again a close customer cooperation would be so crucial. I lead our project with ICA regarding pre-packet ready chilled meals and handled the pre-packet meat business with Coop. In cooperation with Marketing and SC I was part of the team that launched the sausage brand “Sibylla” in Swedish grocery trade, which was a true success.

After 2 strong years I was offered the role as Sales Director with the full responsibility of the Key Account team and the whole Field Sales organisation. In this role, I managed 35 FTEs and had full responsibility of the P&L with a Net Revenue of 785mSEK (in 2006), and I was also member of the Swedish management team. During the years as Sales Director I generated new customers, when we started up doing business with both Lidl (that entered Sweden in 2003) and with Ö&B (Överskottsbolaget) and Rusta which generated further growth of the business. In this role I was engaged in the European network Unilever had for Sales Directors where we supported each other both in our own development and in specific situations/challenges.

With the strong change in Coop and the way I did it, I was offered the role as Head of Key Accounts, where I got the responsibility to drive the change in how we worked with all customers, to improve our outcome further. Different customers has different business models and structure, but during the time I had this role we grew both Market shares and profitability in all customers due to joint planning instead of the “inside out” as use to be the way to do it before.

My plan was after delivering in my role as National Field Sales Manager move on into a Key Account role, and since we then only had 3 KAM-roles I moved into the first KAM-role that became vacant which was the role managing Coop. Within the first 6 month in the role I hade improve listings (important for baseline sales) as well as I hade improved the promotional plan for the full 2001, where we started to grow our business again after several years of decline. This was achieved trough improved listings in the customers, which was a result of a joint plan for growth (of both volume and profitability). It started with me asking what their targets for 2001 was and that question they had never got before…

After 3 strong years as Area Sales Manager I was offered the role a National Field Sales Manager for Unilever HPC (Home & Personal Care) with the brief to merge the two field sales teams to one combined, with a reduction of 5 FTEs. I created and implemented the restructuring, started the work on a cultural change that was needed to get this to work. During this reconstruction of our field sales team we maintained our so important Market shares the first year and started to grow during year 2.

I was recruited to Unilever to re-start the field sales in northern part of Sweden, after the big issue that Unilever faced with “Via Power in 1994. Managing 4 reps where we regain the important Market shares of detergent (Via) within 2 years, where I also was part of the core-team for launching the first CRM-tool for our sales reps.

After some years at On Off I was open to a new challenge and this was what I was looking for. Managing a region with 4 reps which helped me to further develop my leadership, now also in distance.

After military service I was offered to return to On Off where I had worked during weekends and time off from school, and I was offered the role as store manager. This was my first ordinary job and I managed 5 FTEs.