Nicole Béraudo is sales manager for motorboats at Euro-Voiles in Hyères. An active woman, she has been working for several years for this important boat dealer which employs about fifty people and distributes among others the brands: Prestige, Jeanneau and Zodiac. She has been able to take advantage of her curiosity and then develop her skills to evolve within the company and its environment. Today she manages a team of sales and administrative staff
What training, diplomas and skills are required to hold the position of sales manager?
I like to understand what I'm explaining and what I'm selling
Nicole got into boating out of love for the sea and the love of a man, a diving instructor whom she followed from her native Drome to arrive on the coast of the Hyeres in 1993.
" When I arrived on site, I started looking for a job and Euro-Voiles accepted my application to replace the departure of the executive assistant who had left for a long short trip. At the time Euro-Voiles had about fifteen employees and was looking for a versatile person with nautical knowledge - mine was meagre - and above all who could work on a PC, which was my case. Indeed, after my commercial baccalaureate and various experiences, I quickly entered the world of work by starting as assistant to the French director of Imaje, a leading company in the market of inkjet printers for industry. A high-tech company and ahead of its time, I had to work on a laptop computer and exploit Excel files, which made me a choice. "
As the company developed and the distribution of certain renowned brands such as Accastillage Diffusion and Jeanneau increased, Euro-Voiles' business grew strongly and it became necessary to dedicate certain people to the sales department. Nicole's boss, having noticed her qualities as a negotiator, naturally offered her a sales position as a springboard to her current position.
" I think I had predispositions that are real classics: listening, customer care, pleasant contact, dynamism and reactivity. I learnt the job in the workshops in contact with the mechanics by following the assembly and preparation of the boats, because it's not innate to know what the difference is between a 2-stroke and a 4-stroke outboard engine, how they work, what option to offer? All this I learnt on the job. Curious by nature, I above all like to understand and I accept to be caught off guard when a customer asks me a question, but I'll go and find the answer so that it doesn't happen to me twice. "
What daily life, what are the responsibilities of this profession?
Leverage its database and spend the time needed to satisfy customers
" I compare my daily life to that of a car salesperson, i.e. I am a dealer, I don't have to go looking for the customer on the docks or find boats for sale, I have a database of prospects and customers that I use to enter into negotiations and close sales. Customers to which are added visitors passing through our showroom. Sales can be concluded quickly or require several phases of reminders, visits and negotiations.
Then in the middle of all this, I have to manage the current files, follow the financing, make sure that the supplies are programmed to respect the delivery schedules of the boats, in particular the specific or particular options and check that the invoicing is well done. "
Among her responsibilities as a manager, Nicole works in collaboration with her assistants to advance their files and help them in their daily life. Of course, she also reports to the company's management and monitors the company's figures and current business.
" Responsibilities include ", says Nicole, " there are also the unmissable events that are the 4 major boat shows, a season that usually starts in September with the Cannes Yachting Festival then Grand Pavois de La Rochelle followed by the Nautic de Paris in December to finish in Düsseldorf in January. But this will not be the case for the 2020/2021 season.
Since the pandemic, our way of working on a daily basis has evolved in the sense that staff were not necessarily all at the company, nor all together. We have therefore lost this synergy of working together. Fortunately thanks to the dynamism of our company manager who was able to propose new working methods using digital tools. Above all, we have kept the link by telephone. I therefore had to adapt my approach and negotiation methods with prospects and clients. "
Nicole reassured them that you can't just buy a boat for one season, you have to project yourself into the future, which has resulted in a lot of sales after the first confinement.
" Now since the second containment, it is up to us not to be forgotten and to remind that spring is coming, that's why our main partners are setting up important digital commercial actions. "
What are the possible evolutions of this profession?
Moving towards a leadership role while maintaining autonomy
Nicole thinks she has touched her marshal's baton at Euro-Voiles and with a few short years to go before she retires her ambition is to continue to manage sales.
" Working for a B to B boat builder to bring his experience to a distribution network could be a way. "
In any case, for Nicole the most important thing is clearly to keep her autonomy, which is what Euro-Voiles offers her.
