Professional qualities of a commercial director. What are the responsibilities of a commercial director?


Responsibilities of a commercial director of a trading company, responsibilities of a commercial director of a car dealership, responsibilities of a commercial director construction company, as well as the responsibilities of a commercial director manufacturing enterprise, differ from each other only in some minor and rather specific aspects of activity characteristic of the industry.

In general, the commercial director is a leader whose goal is to create a stable revenue stream. This common goal is realized through personnel management in the context of 5 main functions: activity planning, motivation, organization, control and training.

Job responsibilities of a commercial sales director: 3 steps in planning

Commercial Director can be as sophisticated as you like in matters of management. However, if he does not take into account the psychological side of planning, then beautiful plans will remain on paper. Therefore, you can use this algorithm.

1. Get into the numbers

Indeed, from the very beginning, you need to plan the activities of employees in such a way that you understand what actions and in what quantities each employee must perform daily in order to achieve the monthly financial profit goal. These indicators can be calculated by decomposing the planned profit.

First, set the projected profit figure based on internal and external factors. Then find the revenue by the percentage of profit in it. After this, using the average check, you can easily calculate the number of transactions that need to be closed in the planned period. The total determines the number of leads that need to be processed in order to reach the planned number of transactions. After this, intermediate conversion between stages will allow us to find the daily number of actions that managers must perform at each of them.

2. Take care of managers

Correct calculation by the decomposition method does not mean at all that even with a sufficient number of sellers, the plan will be fulfilled. Therefore, you need to understand the psychological mood of the staff and, perhaps, correct it.

People tend to have their head in the clouds. And this is exactly what can disrupt any plans. Therefore, you should talk to each employee and find out whether he has fallen into one of the two most common traps: “living in the past” or “living in the future.” Both will have a detrimental effect on sales. You can diagnose the condition of a subordinate using the following markers.

  1. Markers of “life in the past”
  • “People are no longer as interested in the service/product”
  • “My income was higher before”
  • “It’s no longer so easy to sell”
  1. Markers of “life in the future”
  • “The low season is about to end...”
  • “They’ll install CRM for us...”
  • “Here they will give me an assistant...”

3. Engage in employee goals.

Employees should have a tangible personal goal in mind. Your job is to identify it and show how it can be achieved simply by doing your job.

1. Identify the goal. Usually the list of everyday “standards” includes: buy an apartment, visit the Maldives / Bahamas / Seychelles (underline as appropriate), buy a car, save for children’s education, pay off debts, etc. If, despite all your efforts, you continue to observe a dull look and a certain lethargy on the seller’s face, then it is better to replace him altogether.

2. Making the goal achievable. At this stage, a tool for specifying and assessing goals such as SMART helps a lot. He passes the goal through criteria filters that will not allow you to stray from the intended path:

  • Specific (specification of the goal),
  • Measurable (indicators by which it will be clear that a person is moving in the right direction),
  • Achievable (achievability as a result of actions taken),
  • Relevant (relevance of the goal),
  • Timebound (deadline by which the goal will be achieved).

3. Once a specific goal has been set, you should increase the overall level of proactivity of the seller by talking with him about what he would like to achieve in 3, 5, 10 years.

4. And finally, do not “let go” of the employee for more than a day. Constantly remind him of what he wants to get. The use of “new” marker phrases is very suitable for this. The marker phrase is keywords from the goal formulated by the manager: “apartment”, “Maldives”, “car”, etc.

Job responsibilities of a commercial director: 3 levels of motivation

It should be taken into account that staff motivation should be worked out by the commercial director at 3 levels.

The first level is “I”. This is the basic level - material motivation, the size of which depends on the performance of the subordinate. It is built on the principle of “complex” income for the seller: fixed salary (up to 30-40%) + soft salary for meeting indicators (10-20%) + bonuses (50-70%). Well, and, of course, don’t forget about the marker phrases: “car!”, “apartment!”, “Maldives!”

The second level is “You”. Here, employees are motivated non-materially, by involving them in contests, competitions, or vice versa, teamwork and corporate events. As a result, the team becomes more and more united and friendly.

The third level is “Business”. So, it will not be possible to immediately explain to employees why they should perceive the goals of the company in which they work as their own. We will have to develop a whole range of measures to promote corporate culture and ethical behavior with clients. Advanced training, encouragement of the most “cultured”, and a clear model of career growth are integral elements of this complex.

Functional responsibilities of a commercial director: 3 ways of organization

To keep employees on their toes, hold meetings. If you think this management tool is a waste of time, then you simply don't know how to use it.

First, prepare an agenda.

Secondly, require sellers to publicly indicate their plans for the month/week/day.

Third, record their promises.

Fourth, send these promises as a general mailing to all employees.

Fifth, check with everyone about the results at the next meeting.

There are 3 types of meetings. And each has its own functionality.

  • Big weekly meeting
  • Daily planning meeting
  • Five minutes with separate groups employees

What are the responsibilities of a commercial director: 4 types of control

The commercial director must organize a continuous process of training and professional development for salespeople. Simply hiring someone or lecturing on general principles of sales is a pointless exercise. You won't get any results. All efforts in the field of managerial education must be targeted and focused. How to do this?

1. Create a skill model - a document that describes a set of specific skills that are needed to make transactions specifically in your field.

2. Record and listen to calls. Thus, a database of cases is accumulated for working out typical objections and mistakes.

3. Organize a quality control service that will evaluate the skills of sellers using development sheets ( technological maps), collect them into development folders, and then analyze clients’ performance using the “Traffic Light” system.

We looked at 5 basic responsibilities of a commercial director. Use the proposed algorithms and fill them with your own specifics.

The commercial director is one of the key and significant figures in the management system of each enterprise. At the same time, there is no common understanding of what he should do.

It should be said that in some organizations the responsibilities of a commercial director involve managing marketing, sales, purchasing, and advertising, so the position may sometimes sound different, for example, director of sales and marketing. In other companies, such a department as marketing does not report to him. If we talk about small organizations, then, as a rule, they do not have such a position. There they simply recruit individual managers for various divisions, while the commercial director can be taken over by the manager.

It is worth noting that the commercial director reports directly to the head of the company. This position plays a crucial role in preparing as well as implementing strategies aimed at the development of the enterprise.

In most cases, tasks related to sales are solved by the commercial director. His responsibilities include developing a sales plan, its implementation, as well as overseeing the sales, logistics and marketing system. He must also constantly maintain contacts with shareholders.

If the activity of a particular company is production, then, first of all, the commercial director is responsible for the purchase of materials, supplies, logistics, transport, as well as for relations with suppliers. If we talk about large structured organizations, then these 3 areas are controlled by individual line directors, headed by the commercial director.

Responsibilities

As noted above, the position of a commercial director is very multifaceted, so his responsibilities may include the following areas:

    Together with shareholders and the general director - developing a work plan (current and future) for the organization, ensuring effective use all resources.

    Development of strategies, search for new opportunities for successful development of the company in the market.

    Determining the company's trading policy based on market analysis and past sales performance, determining the geographical areas of the company's work, implementing the latest sales strategies.

    The commercial director, whose responsibilities are quite varied, is also responsible for creating and effectively training a sales team.

    Sales department management, selection of sales channels, dealer network management.

    Together with the marketing department, the commercial director is also required to develop assortment and variety programs that can increase the company's sales. Successful implementation These policies and programs are also the responsibility of the commercial director.

    Organization of logistics - packaging, warehouses, delivery and so on. Planning and forecasting future needs, as well as creating a structure for the effective delivery of goods, searching for suppliers of warehouse and transport services.

    For uninterrupted cooperation with suppliers, for commercial procurement, the selection of services and suppliers, as well as the entire coordination of supply issues, is the responsibility of the commercial director. His responsibilities also include participation in the development of the organization’s budget for the financial year.

Personal qualities

A candidate for such a high position as a commercial director, whose duties involve constant contact with people, must have certain things, namely:

    Ability to interact with people, communication skills.

    Qualities of an organizer and leader.

    Strategic thinking.

    High performance.

    Ability to work with numbers and other data,

    Mobility, ability to make decisions quickly.

    Responsibility, initiative, results orientation.

    High resistance to stressful situations.

    The desire for self-development and growth.

The commercial director is one of the first persons in any large organization. We can say that this is the first person after the chief manager, because he is responsible for both the internal and external environment. In addition to prestige, such a position also carries with it enormous responsibility. Sometimes it happens that a given person in an organization becomes practically equal to the general director.

Who is a commercial director

Undoubtedly, each individual employee is invaluable to the enterprise. However, the role of the commercial director in the successful functioning of the organization cannot be overestimated. It's not easy right hand manager, but he is also the face of any organization. He is responsible for almost all processes that are associated not only with supplies and sales, but also with some production issues.

Despite the fact that there is a generally accepted instruction for a commercial director that defines the scope of his responsibilities, in fact these boundaries are quite blurry and depend on the specifics and scale of the organization’s activities. So, if the enterprise is large, then the commercial director has a fairly wide range of responsibilities associated with almost all departments. In smaller organizations, this position allows you to concentrate on working with the external environment and expanding sales channels.

Also, do not forget about such a position as deputy commercial director. He has the same rights and responsibilities as his immediate superiors if he acts on his behalf and on his instructions. The commercial director delegates a number of his functions to his subordinate, who at the same time has a smaller area of ​​responsibility.

The commercial director of LLC, CJSC, OJSC and other companies is also responsible for working with shareholders and shareholders. He is engaged in informing them, as well as searching for new participants.

Job description of commercial director

When choosing a profession for yourself, you need to clearly understand what kind of work you will have to do. Thus, the job description of a commercial director contains the following responsibilities:

  • drawing up strategic and operational plans for economic and production activities organizations;
  • analysis of current work and quick response to deviations in the production process in order to normalize the situation;
  • studying financial indicators for the purpose of making management decisions;
  • control over compliance with the budget for the enterprise as a whole and for its divisions;
  • monitoring the execution of developed plans not only for the enterprise as a whole, but also for individual divisions and departments;
  • development of measures to expand sales markets and increase sales volumes.

What rights does a commercial director have?

A person holding the position of commercial director has not only responsibilities, but also a number of rights in the organization:

  • making independent decisions regarding the effective marketing of products within the scope of competence;
  • the opportunity to put forward proposals to the general director to improve the operation of the enterprise;
  • the right to reward subordinates for special merits(or submit similar requests to the manager);
  • the opportunity to participate in the collective bodies of the enterprise when it comes to improving the production process, expanding distribution channels, and marketing policy issues.

Functions of a commercial director

The commercial director's instructions allow us to highlight a number of mandatory functions that this position entails:

  • identifying and expanding distribution channels for goods and services;
  • drawing up long-term strategic plans;
  • conducting negotiations with suppliers and buyers;
  • management of sales activities;
  • budget execution control;
  • development and implementation of marketing policy;
  • development of measures to reduce expenses.

What should a candidate for the position be able to do?

It's not an easy job. A commercial director must be able to perform a fairly wide range of responsibilities. In this regard, the applicant for this responsible position must have a range of knowledge and skills:

  • be able to regulate the movement of finished products both within the enterprise and outside it;
  • know the intricacies of budgeting;
  • have the ability to search for sales channels;
  • have basic knowledge regarding enterprise personnel management;
  • have negotiation skills;
  • be familiar with the development of advertising projects.

It is also worth noting some personal qualities that a commercial director must have:

  • communication skills;
  • stress resistance.

Special knowledge of the commercial director

The commercial director of the company must thoroughly familiarize himself with the following information about the organization’s work:

  • rules of law governing the activities of commercial enterprises;
  • organizational structure of the company;
  • comprehensive information about the range of products and their manufacturing technology;
  • methods of research and analysis of existing markets, as well as methods of searching for new ones;
  • existing, as well as promising or reserve sales channels;
  • general information about the state of affairs in the industry in which the organization operates;
  • rules and procedures for concluding contracts with suppliers and customers;
  • theoretical aspects of marketing;
  • foreign best practices in managing marketing and sales activities;
  • standards for ensuring worker safety.

Powers of the commercial director

Of course, the main person who manages all processes in the organization is general manager. The commercial director has the following divisions of the enterprise under his control and subordination:

  • advertising and marketing departments that create the organization’s image in the external environment;
  • public relations department, which ensures recognition of the enterprise;
  • the sales department, which determines sales channels, as well as the logistics department, which determines the most profitable ways to deliver goods from the manufacturer to the consumer;
  • warehouse service, where raw materials and supplies are received, as well as unshipped products.

Working conditions

The work of a commercial director has a number of characteristics and features:

  • The work schedule and workday schedule are determined by the internal labor regulations (however, due to high responsibility, it is sometimes necessary to work overtime);
  • one of the responsibilities of the commercial director is to go on business trips related to the need for business negotiations with suppliers or buyers of products;
  • in some cases, the commercial director is provided with official transport or the cost of fuel consumed during business trips is covered;
  • the commercial director has the right to sign a number of documents that fall within the area of ​​his responsibility and job responsibilities.

Area of ​​responsibility of the commercial director

The commercial director bears quite serious responsibility for the activities of the organization. It implies the following points:

  • organizing processes for marketing products and delivering them to intermediate or final consumers;
  • compliance not only with one’s own labor discipline, but also with control of these processes regarding subordinates;
  • ensuring complete confidentiality of all information regarding the organization of production, technological features, financial transactions, marketing methods and so on;
  • ensuring proper working conditions for their subordinates;
  • responsibility for safety, including fire safety, in those premises where units controlled by the commercial director are located.

Failure to comply with rules and failure to fulfill duties

Sanctions and penalties may be applied to the commercial director in the following cases:

  • improper performance of one's duties or evasion of them;
  • failure to comply with orders and instructions from senior management;
  • abuse of authority or use official position to achieve material or other personal goals;
  • providing false information and reporting to management or government agencies;
  • negligent attitude towards fire safety and other circumstances that pose a threat to the life and health of employees;
  • personal failure to comply with labor discipline, as well as failure to take measures to ensure it among employees;
  • criminal, administrative or civil offenses;
  • causing material damage to the organization, which arose both as a result of unlawful actions and as a result of negligent inaction.

Who evaluates the quality of work of a commercial director

To determine the quality of the commercial director’s work and the conscientiousness of the performance of duties, inspections are periodically carried out. The following persons or bodies may be involved in this:

  • daily control is carried out directly by the general director of the organization, who interacts quite closely with the commercial director on almost all issues related to management;
  • at least once every two years special certification commission conducts a review of all documentation, as well as the results of the commercial director’s activities.

In both the first and second cases, the work of this specialist is assessed according to certain indicators: the quality of task completion, as well as the completeness and accuracy of reporting.

How to find a job

Of course, for many applicants a position such as commercial director is quite desirable. Vacancies in this area are constantly available, as companies strive to find the most professional and valuable employees. But not everyone will be accepted for such a position.

A prerequisite for employment will be the presence higher education in economics or marketing. In addition, the cumulative experience in management positions must be at least 5 years. Thus, if you have just graduated from university or have no previous management experience, then you are unlikely to be able to immediately become a commercial director.

If you want to get into a prestigious organization that provides decent wages and working conditions, then you should not look for vacancies on the Internet or in newspapers. Most best option- This is to directly send your resume to those companies where you would like to work.

In 80% of cases, large organizations prefer to appoint their own employees who have sufficient work experience and are well familiar with the structure and specifics of the enterprise to the position of commercial director. Therefore, if you do not immediately manage to get a high position, this is not a reason to give up. By conscientiously fulfilling your duties and showing initiative, you have every chance in a few years to become a highly paid commercial director from an ordinary specialist.

An interesting fact is that a number of enterprises do not see the need for a commercial director. It's about mainly about monopolistic organizations for which marketing their products is not a particular problem. Also, this position is not necessary in the case where the responsibilities for organizing supplies and sales are already distributed between individuals or departments. This is also possible in the case when an enterprise has several founders who can distribute these areas of responsibility among themselves.

— Director for Development of New Projects at Yandex. Previously, he was involved in regional expansion in Gett taxi and the coupon service Vigoda.ru, and worked as commercial director at the freight transportation company Deliver.

We talked with Artem about what a commercial director is responsible for and what skills he must have in order to form an effective commercial department.

There is a stereotype that a commercial director deals only with sales.

In reality, there are many more responsibilities. A commercial director can be responsible for four areas simultaneously - sales, purchasing, logistics and marketing. But this is an ideal situation.

In practice, everything depends on the field of activity and organizational structure companies. For example, in many companies that provide services, there is basically no logistics department, and in some companies the production department is responsible for purchasing. But it is more effective if these departments are managed by one person.

Deliver is a freight transportation company. In fact, logistics is the main product, so it is not separated into a separate area. Everything related to sales, purchasing and marketing of the company was subordinate to the commercial director.

Initially, at Deliver, the company's founder, shareholder and CEO were responsible for sales. But if a business needs significant growth in some area, they hire a specialist in that area. It was the same with us. When it was necessary to move to a new level, we decided to hire a commercial director.


At Deliver, he was responsible for sales, purchasing and marketing. We have transformed each of these areas.

#1. Changing the sales system

When I joined the company, the sales department was already working. Contracts were signed with the first clients, but:

the approach was unsystematic

the demands placed on managers were unreasonable

the department structure was complex

there was no clear tariff and credit policy

First of all, I rebuilt the department: distributed tasks among employees and systematized work with clients.

We focused on direct sales, but at the same time began testing other channels. We launched agency sales through warehouse complexes, and later partner sales with tender sites and banks, including Sberbank, Otkritie, and Tinkoff Bank.

#2. Regional expansion

In parallel with this, I was engaged in regional expansion. We opened two offices - in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. But in the regions it was difficult to find return loads for our machines. Moscow is a hub that accumulates cargo and distributes it among the regions, but cargo does not arrive from the regions in the same volume; there is mainly intracity and intraregional delivery.

To solve this problem, we decided to grow deeper into the regions. Tested during operation different groups clients - from individuals to giant FMCG companies, whose cargo is transported by hundreds of vehicles every day.

#3. Working with clients

Many suppliers of goods and services want giants as their clients. We were no exception. But we encountered difficulties in working with such companies:

long deferred payments
individual document flow
specific product requirements

We focused on large local manufacturers and distributors of local goods - food, building materials. Medium-sized companies have fewer requirements and organize all processes much more simply. The profit margin of business with them is higher.

The transition to customers of a different scale provided growth that allowed Deliver to become a market leader.

#4. Selection of sales channels

We started with direct sales. Then we tested marketing channels, spent huge sums on marketing and PR, participated in conferences and exhibitions, tried agency and affiliate referral programs and loyalty programs.

Having assessed the cost of attracting one client and his life cycle, we realized that direct sales are more profitable than others. And so we focused on them.

Marketing performs a supporting function - it is not an independent department, it helps direct sales. The task was to analyze these channels. We had several teams: one was involved in marketing, another was involved in PR projects, and the third was involved in BTL activity, indirect impact on consumers. Together we analyzed the results and looked for the most effective channels for attracting customers.

Any commercial company aims to make a profit. In fact, the commercial director and his department are the structure that generates this profit. The commercial director communicates with clients and understands internal processes organization and, naturally, influences financial indicators companies.

I studied the experience of successful commercial directors and managers in global companies and compiled a list of five key qualities and skills of a commercial director.

#1. Leadership

A commercial director is a leader who is able to make quick decisions in a rapidly changing situation and lead people to their goals.

#2. Strategic Thinking

A commercial director must be able to rise above the routine, above the situation and decide in which direction to move. Be able to apply new techniques and generate innovative ideas.

#3. Sales and communication skills

The work of a commercial director is closely related to communication - with clients, employees, suppliers and colleagues. He must be able to negotiate and understand the principles of sales.

#4. Organizational skills

One of the main competencies of a commercial director is the desire and ability to work in a team and organize it. By motivating employees, encouraging and controlling them, the commercial director achieves success in his department.

#5. Personal effectiveness

Like any other leader, a commercial director must have a flexible mind. To do this, it is important to constantly develop, improve yourself, take courses and trainings.

In general, creating a commercial department consists of three steps.

Determine the profile of the target client. It is important to describe in as much detail as possible who, why and how will use your product or service.

Select the main sales channels. Based on the client's profile, you determine the main sales channels: direct, through dealers or distributors, with an emphasis on online marketing or agency sales.

Select and train employees. Once you decide who you will sell to and how, assemble a suitable team.


Often the head of the sales, purchasing or logistics department is appointed to the position of commercial director. These employees are more immersed in production process and the process of making a profit, directly influence it and know some of the tasks. It is easier for them to take on other tasks.

The commercial director also comes into contact with marketing. But the set of tools that he must master directly depends on the industry and the company’s products.

Online tools are intensively used in marketing - it is important to understand them at least basic level. The commercial director needs to understand general principles work and basic metrics that measure the effectiveness of campaigns. And you shouldn’t separate marketing and PR - they are interconnected.

The main task of the commercial director is to determine the group of clients who will be targeted by marketing campaigns and test tools, finding the cheapest and most capacious acquisition channels.

The commercial director interacts with stakeholders - interested parties. Internal stakeholders are divided into three types:

founders
investors
staff

Investors And founders companies influence the determination of business strategy, budget approval, products and company profits. From personnel The speed and quality of work on creating a product, the provision of services and, in general, the speed of development of the company depend.

In interaction with managers - top management - in my opinion, the main thing is not to engage in political games. It is important to understand the tasks and goals of other departments and build communication based on the overall goals of the company. If you have the right argument and you say rational things, it’s not difficult to convey to your colleagues the usefulness of your proposal. The main thing is honest and open dialogue.

How to determine the functionality of a company's commercial director? What to write in a job description for a commercial director? What are his responsibilities? What is beyond his competence? The answers to these questions may vary from company to company. Eat three main factors influencing the duties and powers of the commercial director:

  • Company size: the larger the company, the more strategic tasks the commercial director faces;
  • Clients of a b2b or b2c company, the simpler the product and the sales process, the less the commercial director is concerned with specific sales and the more involved in building a system and marketing;
  • Availability of production- how smaller company creates it herself and the more involved in sales, the greater the functionality of a commercial director.

Of course, there are many more company features that influence functions and responsibilities of a commercial director, such as: the participation of the commercial director in the founders, family ties, high leadership qualities and the participation of the head of the commercial unit at the stage of formation of the company, but we will not be able to evaluate all of them. Let us dwell on those functions that are most often prescribed in job descriptions for the commercial director of the company.

Functional responsibilities of the Director for Commercial Affairs:

1. Development of a commercial strategy for the enterprise.

The positioning of the company is determined, price segment, long-term and short-term goals, plans and ways to achieve sales plans.

2. Organization of interaction between commercial and other units in the company.

All employees are involved in sales in the company. Even the actions of the secretary and technical support specialist will influence the success of sales. The task of the commercial director is to ensure the actions of non-selling departments so that they help, and do not hinder, sellers and sales managers.

3. Determination of sales channels.

Select the most promising channels. Define performance criteria. Protecting your business from having only one channel and constantly developing existing channels is one of the main functions that affects the stability of sales.

4. Formation of an algorithm for the operation of each sales channel.

For a sales channel to be effective, it is necessary to determine the business processes through which sales occur in the channel. Write down these algorithms and consolidate them in the instructions. And the most important thing: make sure that these algorithms work and are not a pile of documentation that interferes with business.

5. Operational control sales managers.

Even with a perfectly designed strategy, victory depends on the actions of each soldier. A tactical task that determines the success of the entire strategy: how to ensure that outsiders do not interfere with the leaders’ ability to pick stars. And the solution, or rather not the solution to this problem, is the scourge of most companies in Russia.

6. Assessing the performance of the unit and implementing measures to improve results.

It is impossible to build an ideal sales system once and for all. It is important to measure results, innovate, measure again, adjust and do it constantly. Stopping is equivalent to death...

7. Connection to work with key clients.

The famous Pareto rule: 20 percent of customers generate 80 percent of revenue. It is these 20% that the commercial director must personally control; of course, depending on the size of the company, he will control from 1 to 50% of clients.

8. Organization of training for managers.

It is the responsibility of the commercial director to build a training system for new and existing managers. Sometimes personal participation in training managers is necessary.

9. Work with company suppliers.

In a trading organization, this is a sacred duty. In a manufacturing company, the production unit can also handle deliveries, but the commercial director must control this process, since cost is important when selling.