With hundreds of staff performing various tasks on a daily basis, there is a rather unlikely, yet significant department which helps many successful businesses thrive and these are the van salesmen. Although not all of them are necessarily vehicle drivers, they are silently propelling various industries by delivering goods and services to customers, while building lasting relationships between firms.
A van salesman at Guinness Nigeria reflects on his duties in the internationally renowned company.
“Having strong selling and communication skills are necessary for any successful van salesman as we are required to visit various places to sell new products to the decision makers in each business. This is done through sharing a cost benefit analysis with the buyers, so they see the value they gain by bringing new products on board.”
Van salesmen have one of the most interactive roles in Guinness Nigeria. They are given the privilege of interacting with new people from different walks of life, daily, whether it is decision makers or other employees at each location that they visit, they are afforded the opportunity to build a network, as well as meaningful relationships which can help spur the company ahead.
Quality is everything. Concerning culture of maintaining quality, the Quality Assurance Manager at the Guinness headquarters in Lagos, Henrietta Udolisa, confirms that “the quality of our process starts from raw materials until it gets to brewing and then till it gets packaged.” This includes the analysis of every single bottle starting from the brew until it gets to the fermenters. Ultimately, despite this important and highly necessary stage, the final quality control duty falls on the van salesman. He plays an important role in ensuring that all of the products in his charge are standard. Specifically, it is his duty to ensure that labels are intact and expiry dates are well off in the future and he does this meticulously, everyday.
Every role is important when aspiring to realise a lofty goal. In the same way it takes a village to raise a child, the van salesmen are in a department with several talented, dedicated and determined people who maintain, uphold and grow the successful business that we know as Guinness today.
Guinness Nigeria – the nation’s leading beverage manufacturer – recently acquired the right to distribute Diageo Plc’s International Premium Spirit (IPS) brands in Nigeria. The company also announced the acquisition of the right to distribute McDowell, a United Spirits Limited brand in January 2016. These acquisitions fill the gaps in the spirits brand base of Guinness Nigeria, allowing it to compete across all categories of the alcoholic beverage market in Nigeria, thereby deepening its operations and boosting its balance sheet growth potential in 2016 and beyond.
