Strategic Sales Manager

Wild Marketing Group•Eau Claire, WI

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

Wild Marketing Group is seeking a highly driven, Strategic Sales Manager to lead and grow our retail business, with a primary focus on the Menard’s account. This individual will take a solution-selling approach, uncovering Menard’s category goals, merchandising challenges, and end-customer needs, then building and selling tailored programs that address them. They will play a critical role in winning new business, expanding existing customer partnerships, and driving strategic growth across multiple product categories, ensuring Menard’s remains a top priority in all planning, execution, and relationship management efforts. The ideal candidate combines strong product knowledge, retail expertise, and business acumen with an infectious personality that builds trust naturally with customers and internal teams alike. They lead with questions rather than pitches, act as a trusted advisor to buyers, and know how to turn customer insights into compelling, data-backed solutions. They bring deep familiarity with Menard’s business culture, buying processes, and expectations and are energized by the challenge of growing and protecting that relationship. They are highly motivated, resilient, detail-oriented, and thrive in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment.

Requirements

10+ years of sales, account management, or retail business development experience, with a proven track record of meeting or exceeding sales targets
Demonstrated success using consultative or solution-selling methodologies (e.g., Solution Selling, SPIN, Challenger, or similar) with retail buyers
Experience selling to large retail accounts, preferably within top 25 retailers
Deep knowledge of big box retail environments; direct Menard’s account experience is strongly preferred and considered a significant differentiator
Understanding of product development, packaging, merchandising, and retail presentation
Proven ability to analyze data and translate insights into actionable business strategies
Excellent interpersonal, communication, presentation, negotiation, and relationship-building skills
Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and problem-solving abilities
Entrepreneurial mindset with the ability to work independently and collaboratively across teams
High integrity, accountability, and a positive, solution-oriented attitude
Able to be in the Menards office 3-4 times per week and lives within the Eau Claire community

Responsibilities

Develop and grow strategic relationships within defined major accounts and across various product categories, positioning Wild Marketing Group as a trusted solutions partner
Lead a consultative, solution-selling process with Menard’s: uncover category goals, pain points, and growth opportunities, then develop tailored product and program solutions that address them
Maintain a high level of responsiveness, accessibility, and partnership with customers
Identify, qualify, and close new business opportunities within existing and prospective customers, owning the full sales cycle from discovery through program launch
Use sales data, product trends, and market insights to build compelling business cases and customer recommendations that clearly demonstrate value and ROI
Collaborate cross-functionally with product development, engineering, sourcing, creative, merchandising, supply chain, and operations teams to execute customer initiatives
Present product concepts, packaging, merchandising, displays, and complete category solutions to customers, tying each recommendation back to the customer’s specific objectives
Manage business at the SKU level, understanding product performance, assortment opportunities, pricing, margins, freight, and promotional impact
Partner closely with factories and sourcing teams throughout the product development and fulfillment process
Build and manage a sales pipeline and forecast, consistently meeting or exceeding revenue and margin targets
Effectively manage multiple priorities, projects, and deadlines while maintaining a high level of customer support and execution