Fiona
Customer Business Manager, Nestlé UK
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I knew I wanted to embark on a Marketing and Sales career in FMCG as I felt it could offer me challenges and excitement. Through visiting career fairs, websites and looking at employment publications, I gained an understanding of the opportunities open to me. The Nestlé Sales Graduate Scheme stood out from the rest. As well as being tailored to my individual needs, it offered continuous support in my career development.
Having investigated different career options through the early stages of my university degree, it became very apparent that a good degree qualification was not going to be enough to secure a graduate placement within FMCG. For that reason, I made sure I got involved in numerous non-academic activities. Working on a two-month project for Reebok gave me great insight into the roles and responsibility within marketing and sales. I also spent two summers working in Greece, which further confirmed my passion for a career in sales.
I currently work within the Forecourt and Travel team as a Customer Business Manager responsible for our confectionery business with Total Oil and Esso. I'm tasked with delivering profitable growth and market share acceleration in line with our commercial plan.
Networking is a huge part of the role. Within Nestlé I am in regular contact with our Marketing team, Category Managers and, vitally, our Demand Planners who ensure we have enough stock to meet customers' needs. I have also expanded my customer contacts matrix – moving beyond Confectionery Buyers to include the Customer Supply Chain and Merchandising teams.
Nestlé are committed to each individual's career and development plan. Since joining the company I've been on numerous training courses focusing on selling, negotiation, presenting and financial training. The great thing about Sales is that there's real variety in terms of your working environment. For instance, sometimes I'll be at my desk in our open plan office, while on other days I'll be out in the field conducting store visits across the UK.
Fiona graduated from Lancaster University with a Bsc(Hons) in Marketing.
