Corporates

When internal succession isn't enough

Corporates invest heavily in management development, and rightly so. Yet the internal candidate doesn't always fit what the business needs right now. A new strategy, a move to direct sales, a key account that needs to be served differently. Then you need someone who has done it before.

That is often where it gets difficult. The vacancy goes to an agency with a broad portfolio that knows less about sales. CVs arrive that look right on paper, but after the first interview the Sales Director already knows they are not the ones. Weeks later you are back where you started. For whoever owns the revenue, sales then feels like a black box: too little grip, too much quicksand.

How we work with corporates

We work with HR and with the manager who needs the role filled. HR safeguards the process and the policy, the business decides what the role must deliver. We make sure both come together in one profile.

Then we use Development Driven Search® to find the candidate for whom your role is the logical next step. In corporates, that is often a leader who would have to wait years for that step at another large organization.

1. One profile for HR and the business. What must the role deliver in 12 and 24 months, and which competencies go with it within your framework?
2. Targeted search. We approach candidates at competitors and in adjacent sectors, within the agreements we make together.
3. An assessment everyone can read. We test on the predictors of success in sales. For each candidate we write a recommendation that is useful to everyone involved in the decision.
4. Support until after the start. With the offer, also when it has to fit within a fixed salary structure, and in the first months.

On average this takes 8 to 12 weeks from intake to contract.

Discuss your 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.

Where we have done this

At Ford Netherlands, we found the Head of eCommerce & Marketing for the move to direct sales. At Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health, the Head of Strategic Business Unit. General Manager Kars ten Have: "Choosing someone with sector experience gave us a lot of credibility, both internally and externally."

We also found commercial leaders for Pladis Group, ANWB and Centum EMS, in FMCG, business services and industry.

Want to talk it through?

Whether you work in HR or lead the team that needs the role: a first conversation quickly shows whether we are the right partner. Ideally with HR and the hiring manager at the table together.

Call SalesQuarters on +31 20 226 90 00 or email info@salesquarters.nl.