Sophie Redman
Tactical Field Sales Representative
Watch the video below to see Sophie talk about the challenges of merchandising tobacco products, the importance of being a people person and the team-focused approach that Imperial Tobacco encourages.
Sophie Redman Video Profile - 1:40 mins
Sophie Redman - Video Transcript
My job at Imperial Tobacco is a tactical field sales representative. My job is to visit the smaller volume calls in my designated area, making sure they have all the brands on the unit and helping with merchandising and point of sale material.
The challenges in my role, obviously, the cigarettes we can't advertise and you're the front line for Imperial Tobacco in these traders, so it's important to build relationships with them and making sure that they like you, making sure that they like your brands, selling them in correctly, because, at the end of the day, we are the front line and people buy off, people, I believe.
I think the personality you need to have to do this job is to be outgoing, self motivated, you're out on your own, working in your area, so you need to be quite organised and structured in your day, but you need to be outgoing, personable, because you're meeting different people from different ethnic minorities, and, basically, being a personable, bubbly, outgoing person.
The training we had when we started has been second to none. We had sales training, we've had brand knowledge, we've had merchandising standards. We went on field visits with mentors so we're seeing how they work on a day to day basis, taking that back into our own roles when we started on our own area.
The team structure at Imperial Tobacco has been great. We work in teams, we're a very strong, bonded team. When we go out and do our merchandising drives, we go out together as a team and work that area. We all help each other out on a day to day basis. So, if any of us have got any issues or problems, we know we've got the whole team to fall back on.
I think, if you put 100% effort in and work hard from the start to seek your rewards, I think the progression within the company is excellent. There's always opportunities arising and I think if you put your head down and get on with your job there's no reason why you can't progress.