Central Sales Head

Role Purpose :

To head Liger's complete Sales Department and drive sustainable pan-India growth through personal customer acquisition, sales team leadership and scalable business development across freight forwarding, customs clearance and integrated logistics services. Ensure complete customer onboarding and handover, including KYC, credit approval, agreed scope and rates, billing instructions, customer SOP, escalation matrix and internal ownership.

Primary Business Focus

• Acquire and grow customers requiring customs clearance and related logistics services at Visakhapatnam.
• Develop business for shipments originating from any Indian port. Ocean freight is the present priority, with scope to add air freight and other modes as Liger's service portfolio expands.
• Develop customers requiring customs clearance and related services at ports across India through Liger's centrally coordinated operating model.
• Cross-sell suitable combinations of freight, clearance and allied logistics services to build deeper and longer-term customer relationships.

Roles & Responsibilities :

Sales Growth and Market Development

• Develop and execute Liger's pan-India sales plan across services, ports, territories, customer segments and industries.
• Personally identify, develop, negotiate with and close strategic customers while maintaining an active sales pipeline.
• Build a balanced portfolio across exporters, importers, manufacturers, traders, logistics partners and other businesses requiring Liger's services.
• Identify new geographies, industries, trade lanes and opportunities, including future air freight and allied logistics solutions.
• Maintain a qualified pipeline, realistic forecasts and timely intelligence on customer demand, competition, pricing and port opportunities.

Team Management & Leadership :

• Head the complete Sales Department, including team structure, manpower planning, territory allocation, target setting, coaching and performance management.
• Establish a disciplined sales rhythm covering prospecting, follow-ups, pipeline reviews, CRM updates, conversion and account ownership.
• Guide the team in customer meetings, solution discussions, negotiations and closures, while remaining personally active in the market.
• Build sales capability through structured induction, product knowledge, commercial understanding, joint calls and regular feedback.
• Own profitable growth of Liger’s external customer portfolio, with balanced focus on gross contribution, new customer acquisition, retention, credit quality and service-line mix.

Commercial and Customer Management

• Understand customer requirements and coordinate with Freight, CHA, Operations and Accounts teams to design workable solutions and quotations.
• Protect margin, credit quality, collection feasibility and operational capability while pursuing revenue and volume growth.
• Ensure complete handover of confirmed business, including scope, rates, routing, credit terms and service expectations. • Own senior customer relationships, retention, repeat business, cross-selling, escalation management and collection support.
• Ensure compliance with approved quotations, KYC and credit processes, CRM discipline, customs requirements, confidentiality, anti-bribery standards and company policies.
• Ensure pricing, credit terms, routing, capacity, transit commitments, free days and special service requirements are commercially and operationally validated before being committed to customers.

Candidate Profile

• Experience: Minimum 5 years of B2B sales experience in freight forwarding, customs clearance, CHA or integrated logistics, preferably in leadership roles.
• Personal acquisition: Proven record of personally acquiring profitable customers and converting them into repeat business; a purely supervisory profile will not be suitable.
• Domain knowledge: Strong working understanding of freight pricing, customs clearance, margins, credit, carriers, quotations and logistics operations. Ocean freight and CHA exposure are important; air freight exposure is an advantage.
• Market network: Relevant relationships across Indian exporters, importers, manufacturers, traders, forwarders, CHAs, carriers and industry networks. • Leadership: Demonstrated ability to build, guide and hold a sales team accountable across multiple territories or service lines.
• Systems: Working command of CRM discipline, sales analytics, forecasting, spreadsheets and management reporting.
• Education: Bachelor's degree required; MBA or equivalent postgraduate qualification preferred. • Mobility: Willingness and ability to travel extensively across India