Who reports to the commercial director of the enterprise. Responsibilities of a commercial director of a trading company

A commercial director may have a different field of activity depending on the industry sector of the company, the profile and scale of its activities. However, in any case, it plays a key role in the enterprise management system. He oversees the company's strategic planning and implementation of the sales plan, builds relationships with suppliers, determines distribution and logistics channels, oversees budgeting in this area, and coordinates the implementation of the marketing strategy. It is this top manager who is responsible for the formation of the final performance indicators of the enterprise, including maximum magnification revenue side of the budget.

Often, the commercial director maintains close ties with shareholders, as he plays one of the key roles in the management of the company. In organizing sales training, the commercial director cooperates with the HR director. In matters of determining the sales strategy, pricing policy and in other matters, the commercial director cooperates with the financial director.

Profession functionality

1. Together with the CEO and shareholders - long-term and current planning of the company's work, ensuring effective use its resources;

2. Together with the CEO and shareholders - developing a strategy to expand the portfolio trademarks, search for new opportunities for the development of the company's presence in the market and free niches for the company's products;

3. Determination of the company's trade policy, taking into account market research and sales performance in the past, determining the geography of the company's work, formulating and implementing regional sales strategies;

4. Creation and training of an effective sales team;

5. Selection of sales channels, creation and / or management of a distribution network, dealer network, management of the direct sales department;

6. Sales planning, responsibility for the implementation of the sales plan;

7. Coordination of work (or direct participation in work) with key clients, including negotiating;

8. Together with the marketing department - the development of an assortment and pricing policy, various programs to increase sales (trade marketing: special promotions, including their budgeting; discounts; bonus programs, etc.). It is the commercial director who is responsible for the successful implementation of these programs and policies;

9. Organization of logistics - delivery, warehouses, packaging, etc. The key point of the logistics function is forecasting and planning for future needs, creating necessary structure for the delivery of goods, as well as the search for new suppliers of transport and storage services;

10. Participation in the development of the company's budget for the financial year (including marketing and sales budgets), approval of budgets and monitoring their implementation;

11. The commercial director is also responsible for commercial purchases, smooth work with suppliers, selection of suppliers and services, coordination of all supply issues.

12. Organization of a system for advanced training of sales managers.

Features in companies of different industries

Features in companies of different sizes

If the company is small, then marketing is also part of the functional responsibilities of the commercial director. Thus, in small company of any profile, the functions of sales, purchasing and marketing can be the responsibility of one specialist. The number of departments reporting to this top manager may vary depending on the specifics of the business. How to create a commercial department and manage it professionally, read the Executive.ru publication. AT big company the above three areas are supervised by line directors who report to the commercial director.

Candidate requirements: competencies

Experience effective work in branch. Experience in effective sales. Higher education, preference in the field of economics or business. The advantages are knowledge of quantitative methods, fluent English. An MBA degree is also an added advantage.

The commercial director must constantly work on professional development. Regular passing different kind trainings and seminars on the profile will be a definite plus.

Candidate requirements: personal qualities

Responsibility and result-oriented, excellent negotiating skills, communication skills, team management skills, thoroughness, structuredness and consistency in work, leadership qualities, ability to make decisions in non-standard situations, ability to generate new ideas, strategic thinking, entrepreneurial spirit, stress resistance, high efficiency .

Compensation level

The range is from $5,000 to $15,000 per month, depending on the size of the company and its location. The bonus of commercial directors is usually not lower than 20% of the base remuneration, the most common rate is 25-50%, sometimes up to 100%. The bonus calculator can be tied to the fulfillment of the sales plan. Including in the bonus calculator can be made additional terms: expansion or renewal of the product line, sales growth in a certain segment or region, indicators of profitability of sales.

First of all, the commercial director is responsible for all matters related to clients and the main profit of the company. But there is always confusion about commercial director job responsibilities.

The fact is that in different companies, commercial directors perform different functions. Also, two different positions are very often confused - commercial director and sales director. The maximum segment where a commercial director can work is the simultaneous management of sales, logistics, procurement and marketing services. It is also often thought that the duties of a commercial director include only the management of the sales department.

Where the skills of a commercial director may be required

Today, there are a lot of vacancies for this position, but the requirements for a commercial director are not small. The whole specificity of vacancies for this position lies in the fact that they are open very long time. This leads to the conclusion that the search itself and further selection of candidates takes a very long time. Also, the vacancy is very often vacant due to the fact that new commercial directors cannot hold out for a long time in their place (up to a year of work). All this is due to the complexity of building relationships with the founders of the company.

Most often, the vacancy of a commercial director is open in poorly structured companies in Russia. The reason is that such companies have never had commercial directors up to this point. The volume of transactions within the company is gaining volume and managing the company by the same methods becomes practically inefficient. As a result, the owners of the company are trying to increase the level of efficiency of the company by attracting experienced managers and commercial directors.

It also happens that during the entire existence of the company it had only one commercial director, who was one of the founders of the company or an employee who worked from the beginning of the company's opening, and then was promoted to the general director and now a new commercial director is required. In this case, stringent requirements will be imposed on the new candidate - management literacy, new methods to achieve the goal.

If a we are talking about structured companies, then in this case mood or personal liking will play a lesser role than the level of professionalism. In this position, the commercial director is a person who performs clearly defined functions in the structure of the company's business processes.

Most often, only Western companies have any clear requirements for education or skills. As for Russian companies, they just want to find a "magician". That is, they need a person who will come and personally solve all the problems and raise the company to a new level.

Key Responsibilities of a Commercial Director

The main responsibilities of this position include the following:

The commercial director must organize the management of the material and technical supply of the enterprise, as well as engage in activities for the storage, transportation and further marketing of products.
The director should coordinate the development and draft long-term plans logistics and subsequent marketing of products.
Manages the development of all norms and quality standards for manufactured products.
Recommends further development strategies to department managers and specialists of the financial department. Controls their quality of work.
Responsible for the timely delivery of budget and financial documents, calculations, reports on the implementation of the plan.
Oversees financial and economic indicators and spending money
Responsible for negotiations on behalf of the company with various counterparties of the company on any business or financial activities
Acts on behalf of the company at auctions, stock exchanges, advertising campaigns and other events

It is also worth noting (as we said above), in some companies the duties of a commercial director may differ. His list of duties may also include:

Development of a plan to promote a new product or service
Discussing the budget and its calculation together with the CEO
Control all distribution channels
Creating a program for material motivation enterprise employees
Participate in the creation of a new personnel policy firms
Manage sales reporting
Negotiate with clients
Develop new methods of pricing policy
Make final decisions on advertising campaigns

It is worth noting here that if a person gets a job in this position in foreign company, then the following may be required:

MBA diploma
Own English language at a good level
Have at least five years of management experience

Functions of the commercial director

As we have already understood, the main tasks of the commercial director are the organization and direction of the activities of all departments that are in his segment. It is worth saying that his duties directly depend on the specifics of the industry of the company and the size of the organization.

In the course of his work, the commercial director interacts with various heads of different departments of the company. This list may include: accounting, marketing department, IT, logical service, financial department. Most often, the main functions of this position are joint strategic planning with different departments, the formation of marketing, pricing, financial, and personnel policies. He is also obliged to control the sale of goods and plan further sales. Its functions include monitoring competitive environment and the market for goods and services. The commercial director must also expand and control all supplier relationships and form the budget for the entire commercial block.

Personal skills of a commercial director

Here it is worth telling in more detail, since personal qualities are one of the key points when choosing a person for this position. The personal qualities of a commercial director should include a special management style, delegation of authority, and skills in interacting with company employees. Naturally, such a position requires high level communication skills and the ability to properly manage staff. Any company will be interested in people who have general management skills and the ability to organize forecasting and budgeting.

Despite the above, each company has its own criteria by which the personal qualities of a commercial director are evaluated. Everything will directly depend on the current goals of the company and on the period of its development. So, it all depends on the life cycle in which the organization is now. Depending on this, the requirements are changing not only for leadership positions but also to all employees of the company. We will talk about each life cycle of the company, and what personal qualities a commercial director should have in each of the cycles.

Initial stage of development

A person must have successful experience in building business models of companies from scratch. He must be able to form a new experienced team. Among personal qualities, during this period, innovation, creativity, rigidity in decisions, structuredness will be valued. At this stage, the commercial director must be able to quickly and efficiently make the necessary decisions. Have an objective point of view to deal with competitors.

The heyday of the company

During this period, sales are growing, there are already ideas for future periods in general market trends and plans for development in organizational plan. In this case, the owners of the company most often need a person with successful experience in structured companies, who has considerable experience in optimizing all business processes. During this period, the director must be able to quickly and competently delegate authority and have a methodical approach to any problems. Already at this stage, thoroughness and consistency in the performance of work are more valued. It is necessary to work deeply into each problem in order to find the most effective and least expensive solution. At this stage, the director must adhere to normative guidelines and be tuned in to the systematic promotion of the goal.

In every growing company, there comes a time when it is simply necessary to expand the staff and redistribute responsibilities. It was then that the deputy directors of the company for various issues. These are people responsible for supply, production, advertising and promotion, as well as finance. The commercial director is practically the second person in the company after the general director. He has his own duties, tasks and rights. The commercial director must have specific and operational skills. What kind of person is this, what exactly does he do and how to write a resume in a good company?

Who is a commercial director?

The sphere of finance is quite wide, so each applicant must clearly understand the essence of the chosen profession, the scope of duties and responsibilities.

So, a commercial director is a specialist who is directly involved in various trading operations and their support. Wherein full list duties depends solely on the specifics of the enterprise and its size. But we can definitely say that it is thanks to the commercial director that the company makes a profit, the course and pace of development are determined.

Such an employee manages not only the purchases and sales of products, but also the marketing and logistics departments. Also, the commercial director forms and maintains relationships with large and key clients of the company and is responsible for concluding particularly profitable deals.

In general, we can say that this is a key figure in the structure of any company. That is why the requirements for the applicant are quite high and tough.

The place of the commercial director in the organizational structure of the company

Very often confused with the head of the sales department. But the commercial director has a well-defined place in the management hierarchy. It is thanks to this distribution of responsibilities that the company works like clockwork.

The post of commercial director belongs to the second level of management. This is the next step after the director. At the same time, a financial deputy is appointed, and also removed from office exclusively general manager companies.

On all working issues, the commercial director reports and reports directly to the director. These are issues of operational management, trade and money turnover and financial planning. At the same time, he is personally responsible for the safety of various material resources and signs an appropriate agreement with the management.

If the chief financier is absent from the workplace due to illness, business trip or vacation, then another employee of the company is appointed in his place by a separate order of the head. The Deputy Commercial Director has the same rights and obligations that he receives on certain time. He also bears financial responsibility.

What does a commercial director do?

To choose the right place in the company, you need to clearly understand what tasks and goals you face. This will allow you to more efficiently and rationally distribute your time and effort. Besides, given fact is valuable for both the job seeker and the employer. After all, having outlined the scope of duties and tasks, you can safely demand from the employee concrete results. You can also constantly monitor the effectiveness of its activities.

The only thing that appeals Special attention is the company's revenue. The commercial director of the company must constantly monitor the situation and take prompt measures when this indicator decreases. To do this, he can request any commercial documents from other departments, as well as coordinate actions with other department heads.

This indispensable employee can represent the financial interests of the enterprise in relations with various institutions and government bodies. In this case, he is the face of the company and has full authority to resolve emerging problems.

Main responsibilities

A commercial director is a person who is entrusted with enormous powers and responsibilities. Accordingly, he must fully comply with all the instructions of the director of the company, develop and expand commercial relations, and also adhere to the existing business plan.

As such, he has the following responsibilities:

Control and coordination of the development of standards for the quality and storage of products or services, as well as their quantity. It is the commercial director who determines final cost goods, their assortment and production volumes.
Coordination of the development and implementation of the marketing strategy of the enterprise. directly affects the future financial well-being companies.
Responsible for training and supervising the work of employees.
Monitor the timely preparation of reporting documents, as well as provide them to management in a timely manner. In addition, the tasks of the commercial director include the sighting of all financial papers.
Follow up overall business plan as well as the company's budget. Ensure timely and complete payments wages.

In addition to these requirements, each company has the right to introduce its own terms of reference for the commercial director. It all depends on the size, specifics of the enterprise and the management structure. In Russian companies, the specific wishes of the founders can also influence the completeness of job duties.

The main qualities that a professional should have

A commercial director is a very difficult position, requiring from an employee not only relevant working skills, but also certain personal qualities. And this is due not only to personal sympathies and preferences, but rather, the peculiarity of the chosen post.

So let's start with professional qualities and skills. Most companies present the following criteria to the applicant, which the commercial director must indicate in his resume:

Ability to work and knowledge of the specific market in which the company operates.
Ability to shape and control existing and proposed distribution channels.
Navigate the marketing system in order to effectively implement various advertising projects.
Ability to communicate with VIP clients, sign contracts to conclude large transactions.
Proficiency in English for communication and work with documents.

If we talk about the personal qualities of the candidate, then here the requirements of the employer are quite standard. As in many other positions, the future commercial director must be goal-oriented and stress-resistant, sociable and charismatic. He must be a leader, effectively interact with the staff and any audience. Efficiency and non-conflict are also especially appreciated.

Which companies use this position

Now in the labor market you can find quite a large number of vacancies for commercial director. Their peculiarity is that such ads can hang for a long time. There are several for this objective reasons: firstly, the employer conducts a rather strict and thorough selection of candidates, and, secondly, newly hired employees do not withstand the full scope of job duties and the rhythm of work.

The approach to finding a financier and the requirements for his knowledge and skills differ significantly between Western and domestic companies. Here one should take into account the mentality and history of business development in Russia and abroad.

In domestic companies, the position of commercial director appears as a result of the expansion of the enterprise or the restructuring of the management structure due to its inefficient performance. Therefore, the requirements for candidates are very vague. Here, the commercial director is a universally trained and experienced specialist who is able to quickly deal with the problems that have accumulated over the years.

In Western companies, the functionality and requirements for applicants have long been clearly defined. Therefore, it is much easier for the applicant to find out what exactly he is responsible for, what his main tasks and responsibilities are. In addition, attention is paid here to professionalism, and not to subjective sympathies.

Salary level and basic requirements for the candidate

What can the future commercial director expect as compensation for his difficult work? After all, the job description of a commercial director provides for a fairly wide range of duties and huge responsibility.

It is worth noting here that the salary will directly depend on the size of the company and even on its location. For example, the highest salary of a commercial director is observed in Moscow or St. Petersburg. Here, an employee can count on a monthly income of 80,000 rubles. The farther from the capital, the lower the reward will be.

In addition, higher requirements are also imposed on higher salaries: work experience in the relevant position for at least 3 years, passing various sales courses and trainings, experience in financial planning and effective negotiations. An MBA degree and knowledge of English is also welcome.

Wherein average age the future commercial director is about 40 years old. Most often these are men with higher profile education. In addition, each candidate must have good recommendations from a previous job.

Also, the employer may present specific requirements for the applicant. For example, this is the ownership of vehicles, consent to perform duties outside of working hours, the presence of certain diplomas, etc.

Hiring a Commercial Director

This issue in each company is resolved in accordance with and existing legislative acts. Previously, the candidacy is agreed with the owners of the company. If there is no way to find professional employee on the side, most often the chief accountant of the enterprise is appointed to this position. This man has everything necessary knowledge and skills for this position. At the same time, a corresponding record of the transfer is made in work book.

The order on the appointment of a commercial director is signed personally by the general director or the head of the enterprise. In the same way, an employee is dismissed from this position.

Due to the fact that again accepted person there is a huge responsibility, it is advisable to conclude with him labor contract. In it, as in job description, all rights and obligations of the future commercial director are indicated. There is also a clause on confidentiality and non-disclosure, about liability and conditions for early termination of an existing contract.

However, in any case, the personnel department makes a corresponding entry in the work book about the time of acceptance and the number of the order.

Job description for commercial director

In the structure of the enterprise, a special manual is drawn up for each employee, which indicates all aspects of the activity and the nuances of the position held.

The job description of the commercial director contains the following items:

General provisions. Here, as a rule, the main definitions and terms, requirements for professional and personal qualities, and the basic rules of work at the enterprise are deciphered.
Employee duties. This paragraph clearly spells out all the points for which the commercial director is responsible.
Rights. This section specifies the capabilities and powers of an employee.
Responsibility. This point is especially important, because. contains information about the obligations of the commercial director to the company and legislation.

Also, this document may indicate working conditions, requirements for the employee and other items at the discretion of the management of the enterprise. An employee may be fired for non-compliance with the job description.

How and by what indicators is the work of a commercial director evaluated?

Now, in any company, one of the main indicators of an employee's performance is his/her performance, i.e. what he brought to the table and what benefits it turned out to be. Or it may be the value of the final profit received by the firm for the period of work of a person. This is a very important indicator, because it can subsequently directly affect the amount of salary and recommendations.

The performance of most commercial directors is evaluated according to the following criteria:

Accurate execution of own job description. Here, compliance with each clause of the contract is assessed.
High level of discipline and subordination. The director of commercial affairs must be a highly organized and responsible person, since he is responsible for the present and future well-being of the company.
Implementation of the existing business plan of the firm. The company's work with financial performance calculated carefully and accurately. If any item is not completed on time, this can have a rather negative impact on her future.

Writing a compelling and meaningful resume

The employer cannot know about the unique personal qualities, skills, experience and other nuances of the personality of the future employee. Therefore, any applicant needs to be able to correctly compose his resume. After all, it depends on whether they take him to the team.

So, in the resume, the commercial director should indicate:

Personal data (date of birth, place of registration or residence, etc.).
Education (higher educational establishments and all courses).
Work experience (name of enterprises, position and responsibilities).
and skills (the item should represent a competitive advantage).
Additional information (knowledge of programs and languages).

In addition, there are some tips for filling out a resume:

More specific information and figures in the description of professional achievements.
It is better to indicate the scope of activities of companies in which you worked before.
Look at your resume through the eyes of an employer.

How the concept of "commercial director" has evolved.
Job responsibilities and functions of the commercial director.
Which companies do not need a commercial director.
In what cases is it advisable to rename a commercial director to a sales director?
At which enterprises the commercial director can be responsible for purchases.

Commercial Director deals with activities related to the supply, economic and financial activities and sales of the company.

The term "commerce" has become fundamental for people who were the first in Russia to start working as commercial directors. After all, many areas of the domestic economy in the 90s were based on resale. Therefore, the whole business was based on commerce - to acquire on more favorable terms, in order to then sell at a higher price. These tasks were assigned both to ordinary shuttle traders and to entire companies that today managed to reach millions of turnovers.

At that time, many companies did not even have the positions of sales director, purchasing director, and the term "marketing" was known only to a few. The commercial director was assigned a second role after the general director, who was usually a shareholder or owner of the business.

CEO speaking

Ilya Mazin, General Director of ZAO Office Premier, ErichKrause group of companies, Moscow

Often people in the position of commercial director grow into successful owners and managers of enterprises. This kind of career progression is much less common among financial or administrative directors. Commercial directors in 80% of cases are specialists with experience in sales departments, in the positions of managers or heads responsible for VIP areas. Commercial directors sometimes become specialists who have left the purchasing departments.

The commercial director is assigned official duties across multiple lines of business at the same time. Therefore, he has sufficient skills to move to a higher position. Therefore, in the position of a commercial director, a person acquires quite valuable, important experience, mastering the necessary skills and forming useful links for future work.

When all business and markets have become more civilized, from commercial activities separate tasks began to be allocated - including functions of marketing, purchases and sales. Therefore, the role of commercial directors in the work of companies has undergone certain changes.

KPI for commercial director: calculation examples

The editors of our magazine, using examples, figured out for what indicators and in what amount it is worth rewarding the commander.

Job responsibilities and functions of the commercial director

The area of responsibility of any commercial directors includes a number of basic functions:

Defines distribution channels for goods and services.
Strategic planning of the company.
Work with providers.
Managing the work of the sales department.
Control of budgeting in all components of the company.
Company marketing coordination.
Reducing business costs.

For some companies, the interpretation of the position of commercial director may differ. Let's consider this issue in more detail with practical examples.

Commercial director = head of sales department

In this case, on commercial director assigned minimum set functions. He will only be responsible for the sales of his company. More appropriate name positions in this situation will not be Commercial Director and director of sales. To prevent a person from feeling downgraded, you can rename the position during the change of leader in this position.

Expert opinion

Andrey Milyaev, Commercial Director of the Hosser group of companies, St. Petersburg

In our company, the commercial director will manage two sales departments - complex telecommunications projects and engineering equipment. Now we are engaged in the reorganization and restructuring of the business processes of our company. The purpose of such transformations is to increase the efficiency of our interaction with the market, and internal interaction in the company itself - between departments that are responsible for the areas of logistics, sales and production. It is important that management in the company is provided from one point - for a single policy of working with the market. In the future, when business processes have been formed, it is necessary to select employees from the existing employees of the sales department, who will become the heads of these departments.

Commercial Director = Sales Director + Marketing Director

This option corresponds to the position of director of marketing and sales, which has become common in Western practice. A marketing director and a commercial director in one person need the ability to perfectly navigate the market trends, taking into account the peculiarities of the work of competing companies, the preferences and expectations of customers. But to manage sales in the market, maximum return is often necessary, which is why marketing itself fades into the background. As a result Commercial Director may not have enough time for marketing. Consequently, the necessary marketing tools may be lacking, as well as the skills to apply them in practice, a strategic view of the medium-term prospect of market development.

Material motivation of personnel. CEO Tips

Commercial Director = Director of Sales + Director of Marketing + Head of Purchasing

The combination of marketing, sales and purchases in one hand provides a set of important advantages when choosing the most popular product at the moment, also with an understanding of the consumer qualities of products (quite important when choosing products). This option becomes especially relevant, first of all, for intermediary and trading companies. But should be used quite carefully if the company does not cooperate with regular suppliers, and therefore should be regularly analyzed competitive market to find the most suitable purchasing conditions. In such conditions, the likelihood increases that when striving for the implementation of the sales plan, the manager will not be able to pay due attention to the search best options work with your supplier.

Expert opinion

Julia Queen, commercial director of ZAO National Distribution Company, Moscow

The basic principle of our organizational structure– efficiency of decision-making, mobility. Therefore, the entire sales unit (including purchases, marketing and sales) is combined, these functions are assigned to the commercial department. The tasks of the commercial director include not only control, but also the very work with clients, the conclusion of contracts for the supply of goods with large manufacturers, monitoring price trends in their market. This organization of work allows us to have reliable information without distortion. For example, it can be distorted within companies in which these areas of activity are assigned to different departments (inconsistency of actions is possible). Thanks to the organizational principle, our company ensures efficient management of its business processes with cost reduction.

Commercial Director = General Manager

A similar option is possible when the General Director is not formally ready to transfer his functions as the head of the company, but in fact is not involved in operational management. Therefore, his tasks are assigned to his " right hand"- the first deputy, executive director, and in companies in which priority is given to commercial activities, these functions are assigned to the commercial director. Personally, I oppose such a combination of functions. The General Director needs to distribute resources in all areas of activity. And when conflicts arise (for example, between the financial and commercial departments), the CEO should become an independent arbitration. When managerial functions are assigned to the commercial director, there is a danger that these processes will be transferred in favor of the commercial departments.

Expert opinion

Dmitry Grishin, Commercial Director of Aqua Star, Moscow

I work as a commercial director, but in fact I am entrusted with the functions of the general director. Since the owner of our company with his ambitious plans in conquering new directions (not related to our main field of activity) seeks to achieve full control activities of the company, while maintaining sufficient time to work on new projects. Consequently, some problems arise - important decisions of the company take too long.

Together we managed to get away from total control(for any penny spent), certain issues were highlighted that could affect the operation of the company − functional characteristics equipment, logistics, financial factors related to loans and repayments. These issues are resolved jointly with our CEO. At the same time, all issues remain under the control of the General Director.

Consequently, the company does remain under the control of the CEO, but he gets more free time.

Dmitry Kurov, Commercial Director of ISG, Moscow

By personal experience I can say that a commercial director can achieve work efficiency, provided that he is “balanced” by a financial director. Because otherwise the commercial director's job responsibilities can be largely focused on commerce, which misses out on operational efficiency issues.

In most cases, the reason for the misunderstanding of the general and commercial director is the solution of tasks by them different levels. I had to work when the general director set the vector of activities that impeded commercial development from the position of a commercial director. In reality, the price of the company's shares, which was influenced by many factors, turned out to be more important.

Which companies do not need a commercial director

A commercial director is not needed by companies in which the sale of services or products is not particularly difficult. Basically, these are companies that occupy a position on the market that is close to a monopoly (taking into account their location, product specifics or other factors). The role of the commercial factor is low in companies that offer individual or exclusive developments. Such companies can work in any industry - from the development of highly specialized, professional software to complex engineering products. In this segment, greater importance is given to representatives of the creative or production department, their role is reduced to the display and presentation of developed products. Often one of the top managers manages the salespeople, so there is no particular relevance in the commercial director.

CEO speaking

Ilya Mazin, CEO of Office Premier holding, ErichKrause group of companies, Moscow

The need for a commercial director arises when a company has to link 2 factors - obtaining favorable conditions supply and marketing. In the absence or decentralization of one of these functions, then there is no need to appoint a commercial director.

Also, very large or too small companies do not need a commercial director. After all, small companies simply cannot afford the cost of managers. As a rule, the commercial director in this case is replaced directly by the owner of the company.

If the company has several founders, then they usually distribute management areas among themselves. One of them takes over the block of earning money, the second is assigned the administrative and economic complex, etc.

In case of big business, the tasks of the commercial director are often distributed among the heads of areas.

But in the work of medium-sized companies, the commercial director becomes a key figure - a top manager, on whom the profitable part of the business directly depends.

The commercial director is a key position for any company. He is primarily responsible for customer service and company profits. But there is some confusion about what is included in the duties of a commercial director. P. Shukhman and E. Evstyukhina, Ankor's recruitment consultants, talk about this.

In different companies, people in this position actually perform different functions. Recently, the position of commercial director and sales director is also often confused http://professional-education.ru/director-sales.html. The maximum range of what a commercial director can do is to simultaneously manage sales, marketing, procurement, and logistics services. Often the position of commercial director is perceived only as the head of the sales and marketing service, sometimes only as the head of the sales service. At present, there is a general idea that this person manages the company's sales.

Where is a commercial director needed?

There are a lot of vacancies for a commercial director on the labor market. It is very difficult to accurately calculate their number, but we can certainly say that there are more than a hundred of them, open all the time. The specificity of most of these vacancies is that they are open for a very long time. This is due, firstly, to the long process of searching and selecting a candidate, and secondly, to the fact that often, having come to the company, new commercial directors leave after less than a year, and sometimes less than three months. This situation, in turn, is explained by the complexity of building relationships with the founders.

Such vacancies are mainly open in poorly structured Russian companies. The reason for the long search is that the company has never had a commercial director, but the volume of operations is growing, and the management of the old methods is ineffective. The founders are trying to increase the efficiency of the business by attracting a competent manager from the outside.

Sometimes a company has had one commercial director in its history, and this is either one of the founders or an employee who has served since the company was founded. Now this person is switching to other tasks or getting promoted to general, and he needs a strong replacement. As a rule, in this case, the founders also rely heavily on the literacy of a specialist and on new management methods that will significantly increase efficiency.

If we are talking about a structured business (primarily Western companies), where moods and personal sympathies are less important than professionalism, then the situation here is fundamentally different: a commercial director is a position whose functionality is clearly spelled out in the structure of the company's business processes.

Perhaps only Western companies have clear requirements for education and skills. Russian companies very often ask to find a "wizard". This is a kind of dream of a know-it-all who will come and single-handedly, with little or no support, will take the business to a high level. In principle, such people exist, but they usually already own own business. In such cases, I enter into a process of negotiations with the client, often lengthy, the purpose of which is to identify the portrait of the commercial director that this company needs. It happens that it turns out that the company does not need the declared “know-it-all”, since in fact it requires the solution of specific local problems, and after that you can already think about more.

Basic requirements for a commercial director

This worker must be able to:

develop and supervise the promotion of the company's products on the market;
Discuss the budget with the CFO or CEO;
form and control distribution channels;
create, together with the director of the personnel service, a system of material motivation for the company's employees;
participate in the formation of personnel policy for hiring employees of the sales department and keep this unit under control;
control sales reports;
personally conduct especially difficult negotiations with large clients;
sign contracts;
participate in the development of pricing policy and discount campaigns;
approve or reject advertising projects, promotion programs, branding.

Note. For a Western business, the candidate must:

have an MBA degree,
speak English at least at the level of reading commercial documentation,
have a long experience in managing sales in a western company (from 5 years).

If a person’s functionality includes marketing, logistics, procurement, then experience in these areas is often required as well.

Director's portrait

Personal qualities are perhaps key moment when looking for a commercial director. They include management style, delegation of authority, features of interaction with subordinates. Of course, a commercial director requires high communication skills and the ability to manage people. His personality type itself should be determined by the corporate culture of the customer company, if it has been formed, or by the personality type of the founder or founders, if corporate culture not expressed in the company. Customers, as a rule, are also interested in general management skills and skills in organizing forecasting, planning, budgeting, etc.

Big salary for the chief merchant

The commercial director (director of sales) receives one of the most significant remuneration in the company. Average offers start at around $5,000 in gross monthly income. Behind Last year the maximum I've seen is up to $20,000 in total monthly income in a major Russian company.

Western companies and some Russian companies also offer a social package, which usually includes:

medical insurance;
car (or compensation for the use and technical care own car);
nutrition;
mobile phone traffic.

Reliability check

The candidacy of the commercial director is necessarily checked, but each recruiting agency has its own methods. In any case, unfortunately, none of the existing assessment methods gives a 100% guarantee. The only relatively objective assessment is the direct work of the candidate in the employing company, i.e. probation which for this position is usually six months. If a person for some reason does not pass it, then the recruiting agency makes a one-time free warranty replacement.

What attracts candidates in the first place?

In order to find the most suitable top manager for your company, formulate requirements for the position, explain to candidates their future responsibilities and not scare professionals away with unreasonable expectations, you must first imagine yourself in the place of a future commercial director and live in your imagination the usual working day of this manager . Many illusions about how much one person can do in 8-10 hours disappear after such an exercise, and a fairly clear description of the position appears.

It is very important that the general director (founder or owner) clearly defines for himself the following parameters, which will be transferred to the commercial director:

degree of his freedom;
terms of reference;
available resources.

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