Marketing, sales & communications

Hire an interim commercial director in Greece and Cyprus

Someone who has run a sales organisation in your category, owning the revenue line for a period rather than advising on it.

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An interim commercial director owns the revenue line for a period: the sales team, key accounts, trade terms, pricing and channels. In Greece and Cyprus the seat opens in a few familiar ways:

The commercial director leaves and the pipeline leaves with them
A fund wants margin from a sales force only ever pushed for volume
Sales has always been the owner, and someone else has to carry it
A new channel: modern trade, foodservice, export or e-commerce, with nobody who has sold through it

The interim commercial directors on Hellenic Talent are elite professionals who have been commercial directors and general managers in consumer goods, food and beverage, foodservice and business-to-business distribution, often in multinationals' local subsidiaries.

What does an interim commercial director actually do?

Own the commercial plan and the forecast the board plans against
Lead the sales team: structure, targets, incentives and a weekly rhythm
Run the key accounts personally where the relationship decides the year
Hold the discount line with finance, so volume is not bought with margin
Manage distributors and channels, and open the one the plan depends on
Recruit the permanent commercial director and hand over a team that keeps selling

How to choose the right interim commercial director

What to test in the first conversation, whoever you end up hiring.

Has run retailer negotiations
Has led the annual trade-terms negotiation with a retail chain or a distributor, and can say what was traded for what.
Knows margin by account
Can tell which of their last accounts made money after trade terms and rebates, not only which grew.
Has sold through the channel
Has sold through the channel your plan depends on, whether modern trade, foodservice, distributors or export, and knows its buyers.