Sales Manager - Direct Retail

Role overview

This role is focused on running direct-channel sales for a housing finance business in Indore, with responsibility for builders, connectors, brokers, references and other direct sources. The position supports branch goals by guiding the Sales Officer team, improving customer relationships, maintaining portfolio quality, and coordinating closely with Risk, Operations and Sales Governance teams. It also involves promoting cross-sell opportunities across housing finance and broader financial products based on branch objectives and customer needs.

Organizational background

The company is part of Aditya Birla Capital Limited and operates as a housing finance company registered with the National Housing Bank under the National Housing Bank Act, 1987. Its offerings include home loans, home improvement and construction loans, balance transfer and top-up loans, loans against property, and construction finance. It received its license on 9 July 2014 and has ambitious expansion plans.

The business has continued to expand while maintaining strong asset quality. The market is highly competitive, with a rising opportunity in affordable housing and self-employed customer segments. The company aims to grow its book to 5X, or Rs. 40,000 crore, over the next five years, with a goal of reaching the top 5 percentile among housing finance companies in the country.

The sales organization serves three broad customer groups: retail individuals, institutional clients, and builders. Retail business contributes the largest share. Customer profiles also vary between salaried and self-employed borrowers, each with distinct needs and decision-making patterns.

Job context

The business covers housing finance for homebuyers, loans against property, commercial property purchase, lease rental discounting and construction finance for builders. Because the business is largely retail-led, it depends on large transaction volumes and strong customer relationships. Performance is influenced not only by product quality, but also by process efficiency, people capability, channel performance, relationship management and risk control.

Success is measured by loan book growth, profitability and low delinquency. For institutional and builder relationships, the role must handle complex requirements, tailor solutions carefully, and remain fully compliant while doing so.

Key challenges

The role requires setting sales targets with the team while taking local market realities into account, such as competitor activity, existing connections and new business opportunities. It also calls for building the financial and operational capability of both self and team members, especially around negotiation, relationship building and loan processing. Another major expectation is improving conversion, sanction and utilization levels while keeping a strong and healthy sourcing pipeline.

Key responsibilities

Sales planning and management: Plan branch sales activity with the Area Sales Manager, map targets to the team, review market trends and competition regularly, and keep business goals on track through active monitoring and intervention when needed. Share clear target expectations, product understanding and selling points with the team. Use schemes and planning levers to support growth while maintaining cost discipline. Prepare and share MIS updates covering disbursements, profitability, NPAs, expansion and other business metrics.

Customer acquisition and engagement: Identify growth areas in the local market and support customer acquisition efforts. Step in for important or complex cases to help close transactions smoothly and maintain customer satisfaction. Handle complaints and grievances when required, escalating matters appropriately to protect customer relationships.

Operational effectiveness: Ensure efficient functioning across the full customer lifecycle, including sourcing, approval, servicing and collections. Coordinate across channels and work with senior stakeholders to keep operations running smoothly. Improve turnaround time and process efficiency by working with Risk, Operations and Sales Governance teams and applying better practices wherever possible.

Cross-selling: Drive cross-sell activity in line with the strategy agreed with the Area Sales Manager. Support the team through communication, training, guidance and direct customer interface when needed.

Team and stakeholder management: Coach and develop team members to strengthen acquisition and engagement outcomes. Recommend relevant technical and behavioral learning programs and encourage self-development. Maintain alignment with internal stakeholders so that branch goals are executed smoothly.

Portfolio and risk management: Partner with Risk, Operations and Sales Governance to ensure disciplined and compliant sales processes. Train the team on early warning practices to reduce NPA risk and maintain portfolio health. Prepare accurate and structured MIS on NPAs and credit trends and share insights on factors affecting portfolio quality.

Qualifications and experience

The position calls for a graduate candidate with 5 to 7 years of overall sales experience in the banking or NBFC sector, including at least 2 to 3 recent years in housing finance sales.

Additional notes

The role demands strong commercial judgment, leadership ability, communication skills, market awareness and execution capability. Success in the role depends on balancing growth, customer service, operational discipline and risk control.