Santosh Hirlekar

About Santosh Hirlekar

With over a decade of experience at LANXESS, I currently serve as Associate General Manager, leading sales and business development for the Rhein Chemie business unit in India, the Subcontinent, and the Middle East. My role focuses on developing and executing sales strategies, managing cross-functional collaboration across sales, production, R&D, supply chain, and customer service teams, ensuring accurate sales forecasting to drive operational efficiency.

Experience

1. Associate General Manager - Head of Sales & Business Development for India,subcontinent,middle East

   LANXESS

   May 2025 — Present

   Business Unit: Rhein ChemieBusiness Line: Functional Tyre AdditivesArea of Handling: India, The Subcontinent & Middle EastProduct Range: Rubber Chemicals - Accelerators, Antioxidants, Retarder for Tyre and Non-Tyre Industry, Fuel additives for oil industries.•Lead regional sales operations by formulating and executing effective strategies for assigned territories. Ensure the development of accurate sales forecasts and collaborate with local and global supply chain and production teams to optimize logistics and raw material management.•Coordinate cross-functional teams, including sales, production, R&D, and customer service, to ensure seamless operations and successful execution of business strategies.•Develop and implement marketing plans, encompassing market research, product positioning, pricing strategies, and new product launches, to achieve sales and market share objectives.•Identify and capitalize on opportunities in undeveloped markets through direct sales efforts and by fostering strong distributor partnerships.•Maintain strict control over receivables, achieving key performance metrics such as DSO, and implement rolling forecasts with key accounts to sustain optimal inventory levels (DSI).•Provide timely updates to senior management on market trends, demand-supply dynamics, and pricing strategies to support informed decision-making.•Drive business growth by identifying and managing new opportunities with existing and potential clients, ensuring alignment with company objectives. Regularly engage with key accounts to strengthen the company’s reputation and market position.•Lead and manage a team of sales professionals by understanding their expectations, leveraging their strengths, and fostering collaboration to achieve shared goals. Enhance team performance and productivity through training and support. Supervise and train distributors and the sales team to meet sales targets, negotiate favorable terms.

Education

• Indo-German Training Centre

  Master of Business Administration - MBA

  2017 — 2018

Skills

• Key Account Management
• Business Analysis
• Sales Process
• Sales Management
• Analysis