Commercial Director

Most of these assignments come from owner-managers and family businesses. We also take them on for PE portfolio companies that want to professionalise their commercial function, and for corporates with a division that needs its own commercial face.

The commercial function needs an owner

Perhaps you have been the commercial leader of your company for years. That worked, until growth demanded more time than you had. Or you have good people in sales, marketing and e-commerce, but each of them works from their own island.

A full CCO feels too heavy for your organisation. A Sales Director is too narrow, because this is about more than revenue alone. That is where the Commercial Director sits: one person who oversees the whole commercial function and owns the result.

In family businesses there is something else at play. You want a heavyweight, but not a corporate type who does not understand your way of working, or takes it over.

Commercial Director Benchmarking

Sometimes there already is a Commercial Director. An assessment gives you an independent view of where your current leader stands and what is needed. If a successor is the best step, we search confidentially.

Our approach

Development Driven Search® starts with two questions. What does your company need? And for which experienced commercial leader is your company exactly the place to make a difference? That second part matters. Good Commercial Directors choose deliberately. They want influence, room to act and an owner who trusts them.

1. Role analysis. We discuss your growth plans, the role of the owner next to the new director and the culture of the company. With this role, the last of those often weighs the most.
2. Searching off the beaten track. For Wijs & van Oostveen we found the best candidates outside the financial sector. A creative search direction like that often produces the strongest match.
3. Assessing evidence and fit. The predictors of success in sales, combined with an honest view on cultural fit. You receive a substantiated recommendation for each candidate.
4. Support until after the start. We stay involved in the offer and the first months. That is when it becomes clear whether the cooperation with the owner works.

Expect 8 to 12 weeks on average. For an urgent vacancy, we bridge the gap with an interim commercial leader.

Discuss your Commercial Director vacancy with SalesQuarters. Call +31 20 226 90 00 or email info@salesquarters.nl. A first conversation commits you to nothing. Would you like to hear how it went for others first? We will put you in touch with a client as a reference.

What it delivers

Wijs & van Oostveen searched for a long time without result. CEO Steven Sarphatie: "In the beginning nothing worked. We preferred not to poach people from competitors, and with bankers we missed the cultural fit." After our search the commercial team grew by five new people. "SalesQuarters has a deep understanding of our business and knows how to communicate it clearly to others."

At Ford Netherlands the commercial portfolio extended to e-commerce and marketing during the move to direct sales. At GR8 Roofs we found a commercial manager in a smaller B2B setting.