Responsibilities of the commercial director, his role in the organization and main tasks. Salary level and basic requirements for the candidate. Commercial Director = General Director

21.09.2019

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 sales director?
At what enterprises can the commercial director be responsible for purchasing?

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

The term “commerce” became fundamental for the people who were the first in Russia to work as commercial directors. After all, many areas of the domestic economy in the 90s were based on resales. Therefore, the entire business was based on commerce - to purchase on more favorable terms and then sell at a higher price. These tasks were assigned to both ordinary shuttle workers and entire companies that today managed to reach millions in turnover.

At that time, many companies did not even have the positions of sales director or 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 speaks

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

Often people in the position of commercial director grow into successful owners and managers of enterprises. Such career progression is much less common among financial or administrative directors. Commercial directors in 80% of cases are specialists with experience in sales departments, as managers or executives responsible for VIP areas. Sometimes specialists who leave purchasing departments also become commercial directors.

The commercial director is assigned job responsibilities in several areas of activity simultaneously. Therefore, he has sufficient skills to advance to a higher position. Therefore, in the position of commercial director, a person gains quite valuable and important experience, mastering the necessary skills and forming useful connections for future work.

When all business and markets became more civilized, from commercial activities Individual tasks began to be highlighted - including the functions of marketing, purchasing 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 used examples to figure out for what indicators and in what amount the commander should be rewarded.

Job responsibilities and functions of the commercial director

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

Determines distribution channels for goods and services.
Strategic planning of the company.
Work with providers.
Regulating the work of the sales department.
Control of budgeting in all components of the company.
Coordination of company marketing.
Reducing business costs.

Some companies' interpretation of the position of commercial director may differ. Let's look at this issue in more detail using practical examples.

Commercial Director = Head of Sales Department

In this case, on commercial director assigned a minimum set of functions. He will only be responsible for the sales of his company. A more appropriate job title in this situation would not be Commercial Director, and sales director. To prevent a person from feeling demoted, you can rename a position during a change in leadership in that 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. We are currently engaged in the reorganization and restructuring of our company’s business processes. The purpose of such transformations is to increase the efficiency of our interaction with the market, and internal interaction within 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 unified policy of working with the market. In the future, when business processes have been formed, it is necessary to select workers from the existing sales department employees 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. The marketing director and commercial director in one person need the ability to perfectly navigate market trends, taking into account the specifics of the work of competing companies, customer preferences and expectations. But managing sales in the market often requires maximum efficiency, which is why marketing itself fades into the background. As a result Commercial Director may not have enough time for the marketing field. Consequently, there may be a lack of necessary marketing tools, as well as the skills to use them in practice, and a strategic view of the medium-term perspective of market development.

Material motivation of personnel. Advice from the General Director

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

The combination of marketing, sales and purchasing 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 the product (quite important when choosing products). This option becomes especially relevant, first of all, for intermediary and trading companies. But it should be used quite carefully if the company does not cooperate with regular suppliers, and therefore it is necessary to regularly analyze the competitive market to find the most suitable purchasing conditions. In such conditions, the likelihood increases that while striving to fulfill the sales plan, the manager will not have the opportunity to pay due attention to finding the best options for working with his supplier.

Expert opinion

Yulia Koroleva, Commercial Director of CJSC National Distribution Company, Moscow

The main principle of our organizational structure is efficiency of decision-making and mobility. Therefore, the entire sales block (including purchasing, marketing and sales) is united, and these functions are assigned to the commercial department. The tasks of the commercial director include not only control, but also the work itself with clients, concluding agreements on the supply of goods with large manufacturers, and 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 operational management of its business processes while reducing costs.

Commercial Director = General Director

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

Expert opinion

Dmitry Grishin, commercial director of the Aqua Star company, Moscow

I work as a commercial director, but in fact I am entrusted with the functions of a general director. Because the owner of our company, with his ambitious plans to conquer new directions (not related to our main field of activity), strives to achieve complete control of the company’s activities, but at the same time retain enough time to work on new projects. Consequently, some problems arise - they take too long to accept important decisions companies.

Through joint efforts we managed to get away from total control (over every penny spent); certain issues were highlighted that could affect the work of the company - functional characteristics equipment, logistics, financial factors related to loans and their repayment. I resolve these issues jointly with our general director. At the same time, all issues remain under the control of the General Director.

Consequently, the company really remains under the control of the CEO, but at the same time he has more free time.

Dmitry Kurov, commercial director of ISG, Moscow

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

In most cases, the reason for misunderstanding between the general and commercial director is their solution to problems different levels. I had to work when the general director set the vector of activity that impeded commercial development from the position of commercial director. In reality, what was more important was the company's share price, which was influenced by many factors.

What companies don't need a commercial director?

Companies in which selling services or products is not particularly difficult do not need a commercial director. Basically, these are companies that occupy a position in the market that is close to a monopoly (taking into account their location, the specifics of their products or other factors). The role of the commercial factor is low in companies that offer individual or exclusive developments. Work similar companies can work in any industry – from the development of highly specialized, professional software to complex engineering products. In this segment higher value assigned to representatives of the creative or production department, their role is limited to the display and presentation of developed products. Often salespeople are managed by one of the top managers, so the commercial director is not particularly relevant.

CEO speaks

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

The need for a commercial director arises when a company has to connect two factors - obtaining favorable terms of supply and sales. If one of these functions is absent or decentralized, then there is no need to appoint a commercial director.

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

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

In the case of large businesses, 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.

— 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 scope of activity and the organizational structure of the company. 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, understands the internal processes of the 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 specify 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 the production process and the process of generating 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 heavily used in marketing—it’s important to understand them at least at a basic level. A commercial director needs to understand the general principles of work and the 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 definition 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: how more company, especially since the commercial director faces strategic tasks;
Clients of a b2b or b2c company, how simpler 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 a company.

Functional responsibilities of the Director for Commercial Affairs:

1. Development of a commercial strategy for the enterprise.

The company's positioning, price segment, long-term and short-term goals, plans and ways to implement sales plans are determined.

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 specialist will influence the success of sales technical support. 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 of 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.

The responsibilities of a commercial director of a trading company, the responsibilities of a commercial director of a car dealership, the responsibilities of a commercial director of a construction company, as well as the responsibilities of a commercial director of a 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

A commercial director can be as sophisticated as he likes in management matters. 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 quantity each employee must perform daily in order to achieve the monthly financial goal for profit. 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.

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”

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 criterion 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 the 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”, clear model 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-minute meetings with separate groups of 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. Just hire someone or lecture about general principles Sales is a pointless activity. You won't get any results. All efforts in the field of managerial education must be targeted and focused. How to do it?

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 main responsibilities of a commercial director in different organizations are similar, and the requirements for his professional skills and functions depend on the characteristics of the industries in which the enterprises operate. As a rule, this specialist monitors and coordinates the activities of employees so that they are as efficient as possible and contribute to increasing the company’s income.

Kit responsibilities of a commercial director It is quite difficult to define clearly, although this position is certainly of great importance. In most cases, sales managers strive to take the place of manager of product sales and supply issues for an enterprise, because they are the ones who know the specifics of their company well and are well versed in the nuances of communicating with clients and concluding contracts.

Features of the work of the commercial director regarding his job responsibilities are adjusted depending on the needs of the organization and the following factors:

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enterprise size: in large companies, this manager is entrusted with a wider range of functions;
product range and clientele: fast and easy sales processes allow the head of the sales department to devote more energy and time to marketing-related responsibilities;
field of activity: on manufacturing plant The head of commercial affairs manages logistics mechanisms, material delivery schemes, and maintaining business contacts with suppliers. The less time a company devotes to production, the wider the range of functions of a given manager.

Not all companies' responsibilities include product promotion. In those companies where advertising activities are a priority, this post may be called differently: marketing manager.

Specialist on duty commercial director performs the following duties:

Development of an activity plan companies: current and long-term plans are drawn up with the participation of shareholders and the manager of the company. The responsibilities of a commercial director include responsibility for ensuring that all resources are used as efficiently as possible.
Development of strategies: searching for new ways to promote and strengthen the company’s market position.
Defining Trade Policy enterprises, taking into account market indicators and sales data, searching for opportunities to expand the company’s geographic presence, applying innovative methods in the field of product sales.
Sometimes the job responsibilities of a commercial director include work on creating and effective teaching teams of sales representatives.
Management of the sales department, determination of sales directions, cooperation with dealers.
The responsibilities of the Commercial Sales Director include the ability to develop assortment and pricing policies in close interaction with the marketing department, the ability to create various strategies to increase the level of implementation and the willingness to bear responsibility for their effective application.
The duties of the commercial director include logistics organization: work on packaging, delivery, warehouse management, drawing up plans for the company's needs for the long term.
One of the aspects of the activity of such a leader is the organization uninterrupted cooperation with suppliers, which involves making commercial purchases and establishing relationships with partners for the provision of services. A specialist in this position, in accordance with his job functions, also takes part in drawing up the company’s budget plan for the upcoming financial year.

Let's list briefly the main responsibilities of any commercial director:

determining directions for selling the company’s products and providing its services;
creation of strategic plans;
communication with partner suppliers;
managing the activities of sales managers;
budgeting management in all departments of the enterprise;
organization of marketing activities;
reducing business costs.

From this list of responsibilities, you can see that the commercial director solves strategic problems, which allows him to be considered the second main person of the company. There are different variations in the degree of responsibility that may be assigned to this specialist.

Commercial director as head of the sales department. In this case, his responsibilities are minimal. He is responsible only for the sales process, so it would be more logical to call such a specialist a sales director. To ensure that the employee working in this position does not feel that he has been demoted, you can rename this position at the moment when a new person is hired for this position.
Commercial Director as head of sales and marketing departments. This variation is quite popular abroad. A specialist who combines the duties of a marketing and commercial director needs knowledge of the characteristics and trends of market development, the ability to understand the nuances of the activities of competing companies and an understanding of consumer preferences. Managing sales processes in market conditions often requires maximum investment of effort, so there is no time and energy left for marketing development: there is a lack of necessary tools for product promotion, skills in their use, as well as a strategic vision for market development in the medium term.
Commercial Director as manager of the sales, procurement and marketing departments. This configuration assumes the concentration of responsibility for the development of processes for promoting, selling their products and purchasing for production needs in the hands of one specialist. This provides a set of significant advantages when choosing the most popular product in the current period of time, taking into account its qualities that meet consumer demand. This is most important for trading enterprises or intermediary companies. This combination should be used with caution in those companies where there are no regular suppliers. The manager may not have sufficient opportunity to work on finding optimal strategies for interacting with contractors. It is necessary to continuously analyze the market to select the most suitable purchasing conditions.
Commercial and general director rolled into one. In some cases, the CEO continues to formally hold the position of head of the company, but does not actually manage it. Usually in such cases Executive Director takes on the role of leader. In those companies where sales activities are a priority, management tasks are included in the responsibilities of the commercial director.

Despite the fact that the functions of the head of commercial matters vary depending on the nature of the company’s activities, a specialist applying for this position must in any case have certain qualities. It's not just about the ability to focus on results. In this job it is important to be able to make decisions in difficult situations, skillfully resolve conflicts, be honest, have a high level of stress resistance and loyalty. In addition, it is important to be able to find non-standard methods to solve problems and defend your opinion with arguments.

A potential commercial director must be clearly aware of his personal goals and the objectives of the entire company, among which the main place is given to regular income generation. For a good specialist, such qualities as breadth of views and thinking, a high level of responsibility are important (after all, he takes on the functions of managing all leading departments of the enterprise and controlling the cash flow within it).

Serious demands are also placed on the Deputy Director for Commercial Affairs, because his responsibilities are important for the company. They are to implement:

control over the work of subordinate departments;
supervision over the material and technical support of the company, over the fulfillment of the terms of supply contracts, over the correct use of loan funds, etc.;
creating working conditions for personnel that comply with norms and regulations.
control over the timely payment of wages to specialists of departments subordinate to the commercial director;
resolving other operational issues specified in labor agreement or indicated in the job description.

The issue of temporarily transferring the competencies of the commercial director to his deputy is the responsibility of the main person of the company.

Functional responsibilities of the commercial director of the enterprise

The commercial director resolves issues of economic, personnel, technological, political and other nature, being an indispensable assistant manager of the company. We list here some of the main recommendations for its activities.

Become right hand the first person of the company. One of the main responsibilities of the commercial director is close interaction with the management of the enterprise: he must know well all the weaknesses of the general director and, if necessary, support him. This is the most reliable way turn into an indispensable adviser to the head of the company and earn a high salary. If, for example, the leader of the company is a strong, charismatic and public figure, then it is best for the commercial director to become an eminence grise, quietly helping his leader. At the same time, he needs to be able to think analytically and strategically, accurately predict the behavior of his boss and direct his energy in a positive direction. However, if the main person of the company is a reserved person with weak communication skills, but with excellent strategic and analytical vision, then the commercial director can take on the role of moral and public leader in the team.
Create an effective team. The commercial director must know effective ways to motivate subordinates, be able to plan the company’s development in the long term and demonstrate a deep strategic vision of the future of the organization as a whole. He must also select the necessary specialists to carry out the effective activities of the enterprise. One of the key competencies of a commercial director is also the ability to understand what approaches can be used to increase profits from product sales.

Approach 1. Understanding the company's sales strategy. The sales policy of an organization is a special document that is developed and modified in accordance with the current state of the market, and is regularly supplemented with important data regarding the sales process. Many enterprises, unfortunately, do not pay due attention to it. An intuitive understanding of business processes allows you to realize that for a company to be successful, sales must constantly grow, that it is necessary to systematically work with clients and conduct data analysis. However, most often this idea is expressed in a set of actions that resemble chaos rather than system. Usually the result of such a strategy is not very impressive. It is not so rare that companies go bankrupt, the reason for which is not the market itself and its changes, but the fact that a systematic approach to sales management was not formed in a timely manner. In order for the sales strategy to be successful and bring good results, the responsibilities of the commercial director should include working with sales managers: making the most of their advantages and skillfully hiding shortcomings, as well as correctly drawing up forecasts and plans, making the most of the current situation, skillfully manage risks.

Activities to adjust the implementation strategy are a continuous process aimed at wisely using market influence in order to improve the company's sales performance. There are three main reasons why this work is important.

Reason 1. The company's potential clients are constantly changing.

Reason 2. Sales professionals or sales representatives cannot be allowed to become complacent.

Reason 3. You should expect surprises from the market and competing companies at any time, most often unpleasant ones.

With the help of these questions, the commercial director, within the framework of his job responsibilities, can diagnose the work of sales specialists:

Is the company's sales policy known and understandable to sales managers?
What personal tasks and goals will specialists work on as part of the company's overall sales strategy?
How are the personal goals of managers and the overall goals of the company connected?
How does each employee present themselves within the sales department?(Most often, such a unit is made up of individual specialists working on their own under general management.).
What matters most to sales managers? The answer to this question is great importance. It is quite rare to hear from employees that the most important thing in their work is sales and increasing sales levels. Most often, managers name something else that is not directly related to the trading process.

These questions allow you to find out and see how sales managers position themselves and their responsibilities within the company. Answers and work on them help to form common principles of sales strategy and an understanding of its importance for the success of the company.

A talented commercial director considers it one of his job responsibilities to pay attention to the internal aspirations and motivation of employees, strengthen and develop the strengths of specialists and reduce the impact of their shortcomings on the work process. Such a balanced and competent approach helps improve sales performance and bring the management team to a whole new level.

Approach 2. Sales discipline in your company. The process of managing and developing trade should allow managers to demonstrate and make the most effective use of their advantages in their work. Quite often, talented specialists lack discipline and consistency in their activities. Training employees in the art of sales is not easy, but many managers believe that special training that provides general information and universal knowledge can solve this problem. However, instead of teaching everyone everything, it is much more practical to pay special attention to creating the right motivation and inspiration in the preparation of a sales manager. Thanks to corporate training on trade issues, it is possible to diagnose specialists in order to subsequently, in accordance with these data, create a training program with an individual approach to each employee, using his true motives. Three questions can help with this:

Why do managers engage in these particular activities?
How exactly do they carry out their duties?
What results are being achieved?

Thus, the sales manager is trained in individual plan, the results of which are reflected in the company’s sales figures, which does not allow him to hide his shortcomings.

Approach 3. Show with an example. The commercial director is the best role model for sales managers. But it may happen that due to intense busyness management tasks he cannot always show in practice how to professionally perform his job responsibilities in the field of product sales. If a commercial director strives to understand his employees, he needs to try to walk “a kilometer in their shoes.” This approach will be especially important when a new specialist takes on this position. This position involves a wide range of responsibilities and therefore has high requirements:

education: higher economic or financial (in rare cases, technical);
experience in a managerial position - from 3 years;
Practical activities in the field of personnel management- from 3 years;
Experience in organizing and managing the work of a sales department;
deep knowledge in the field of marketing and advertising;
clearly demonstrated communication skills and leadership qualities;
Experience in negotiations and sales.

In addition, it is often welcomed:

experience in the company's profile (for example, Building company prefers specialists who have already worked in the construction field);
English language proficiency;
Experience in business process automation (most often sales).

In addition to the above requirements, the candidate must provide a well-written summary.

The hiring party does not have information about the unique skills, talents and knowledge of the applicant. Any specialist applying for the desired job must be able to present his resume in the most favorable light. In many ways, it will depend on this whether he will be accepted for this post or not.

Commercial director resume must contain the following information:

personal data (date of birth, registered address or place of residence, etc.);
education (higher education institutions and all courses);
work experience (name of companies, position and responsibilities);
professional skills and abilities (at this point it is important to indicate competitive advantages);
Additional Information(knowledge of programs and languages).

When writing your resume, you can use the following recommendations:

Try to describe your professional achievements using numbers and specific data.
Indicate the direction of activity of those organizations where you were previously an employee.
Try to see your resume through the eyes of a potential employer.

Implementing the company's development strategy, the commercial director is at the same time coordinator and head of several departments:

marketing department;
sales department;
supply department;
logistics department.

In addition, the commercial manager acts as a mentor for new employees.

Expert opinion

Commercial directors in 80% of cases are specialists with experience in sales departments

Ilya Mazin,

General Director of Office Premier CJSC, ErichKrause group of companies, Moscow

Quite often it happens that specialists who perform the duties of a commercial director for some time later become the top officials or owners of companies. For example, financial or administrative managers experience such career upswings much less frequently.

In the overwhelming majority of cases (80%), commercial directors become experienced sales specialists who have led work in VIP areas as managers or leaders. Sometimes professionals from the purchasing department can also grow into managers of this rank.

The responsibilities of a commercial director mean solving problems in various areas of activity. This assumes that a specialist who successfully copes with these functions is capable of occupying a higher position. Thus, working as a commercial director is a very valuable experience from the point of view of acquiring important skills and professional qualities, as well as forming useful connections for future activities.

With the changes taking place in the business sphere and with the development of the market in the commercial field, separate areas began to form: marketing, purchasing, sales. Due to these variations, the role of the commercial director in the company is also being reviewed and adjusted.

It should be remembered that the development of the competencies of a commercial manager is influenced by the specifics of the industry in which the enterprise operates. For example, responsibilities of a commercial director of a trading company include:

knowledge of the rules for acceptance, storage and certification of goods;
understanding of the situation in specialized products, the competitive environment and consumer markets;
skills in using techniques for analyzing and forecasting trade: factor method, SWOT, margin, and others;
understanding the intricacies of the process of organizing the sale of goods.

Responsibilities of a commercial director of a construction company assume that the specialist is well versed in:

in construction and engineering services;
in developmental features construction market and its current state;
in preparing documents for participation in tenders and competitions;
in the development of contracts for the provision of engineering and construction services.

Director of commercial affairs for a catering company Performs duties similar to those of a similar position in a trading company. For example, he is responsible for:

organization of all work of catering enterprises, from their equipment to the sale of products;
planning and organizing the opening of new facilities;
development of new directions for the sale of goods and services.

At a manufacturing plant, commercial director must perform duties related to knowledge of:

production technologies and product certification;
industrial capacities of the company;
the economy of its production.

Responsibilities of a commercial director of an LLC assume the presence of the following distinctive features:

in an LLC, he is appointed to the position of the head of the enterprise, to whom he directly reports, and takes on the role of one of the company’s managers; one of the founders of the company can become a commercial director, he can also be elected and approved by the minutes of the general meeting of the founders;
The commercial director of a private entrepreneur manages the company or is one of the managers in certain areas, reporting to the owner.

The amount of remuneration for a commercial director is influenced by many various factors. As a rule, monthly income ranges from 50,000 to 500,000 rubles. It often happens that if the commercial director’s salary is low, then his job responsibilities are limited only to managing the sales department, and with higher pay, this specialist can take on the role of company manager. The average level of monthly remuneration for a commercial director is set at 100,000 rubles. A social package is added to this amount: the costs of maintaining official transport, mobile communications are reimbursed, medical expenses, vacations, sports, etc. are paid.

Rights and responsibilities of a commercial director

In addition to the required salary, the commercial director becomes the owner of certain rights:

representing the interests of the company in negotiations - this is one of the advantages that allows you to request information and papers related to the commercial affairs of the company;
take an active part in the preparation of orders and instructions, estimates and agreements in order to generate profit for the company;
certify with your signature documents related to the trade sphere of the enterprise’s activities;
encourage and punish your subordinates in order to increase the efficiency of their activities, develop various ways to motivate them;
send proposals to the head of the company to hold employees and heads of related departments accountable for disciplinary and material reasons (based on the results of inspections).

The commercial director is responsible for the personnel training process aimed at improving the personnel of the enterprise. He can himself conduct corporate lectures and seminars, organize and initiate trainings, explain to employees what the meaning of the overall development strategy of the company and its mission are. The responsibilities of the commercial director of a trading company will include negotiating and organizing meetings with partner supplier companies. Marketing strategy also occupies an important place in the activities of this leader: he carefully develops it and thinks it through, since without advertising “only a mint can make money.” Another important responsibility of the commercial director is to take action to reduce costs and expenses, especially during periods of growing company profits.

Monopolistic companies are able to do without such a specialist who promotes the brand, because they do not need to advertise or popularize their brand. In small manufacturing and trading companies, this position is also often abolished, since all the responsibilities of the commercial director can easily be distributed among ordinary managers.

Expert opinion

Very large and very small companies do not need a commercial director

Ilya Mazin,

General Director of the Office Premier holding, ErichKrause group of companies, Moscow

If a company needs to obtain attractive terms of supply and sales, then it needs the position of a commercial director on staff. Otherwise, such a position is not so necessary. Huge or, conversely, small organizations can also work without a commercial director. The expenses for a top manager are considerable, and companies with small incomes will not be able to pay for such a position: very often the responsibilities of a commercial director in such companies are assumed by the owner. If an enterprise has several founders, they can distribute different functions among themselves: someone deals with areas related to profit and income, someone takes on administrative and business issues, etc.

In companies representing big business, the duties of a commercial director are performed by the heads of individual areas. At the same time, enterprises in the medium-sized business sector need the position of a commercial manager, because the level of income of the entire company depends on his activities.

Unfortunately, in higher educational institutions there is no opportunity to study the specialty of a commercial director. But even the presence of education does not mean that a person has high professionalism in your area. More important than a diploma are special knowledge, skills, and competencies. In addition to knowledge of special computer applications, experience in the field of product promotion, understanding of consumer psychology, as well as the structure and features of the sales process are important. It often happens that an ordinary employee is able to perform the duties of a commercial director better than a specialist who comes from outside. The key factor is the ability to apply administrative skills and achieve real results in the growth of enterprise income. It is important to understand that such a leader is, first of all, an organizer and manager, and only then a performer.

When starting to perform the duties of a commercial director, a specialist must carefully get acquainted with information about the enterprise and the features of its activities, namely:

study the laws governing the work of commercial companies;
understand the organizational structure of the enterprise; provide for yourself complete information about the range of products and the technology of their production;
understand the methods of analyzing existing markets, and also have an idea of what methods allow you to look for new techniques;
learn about all existing, as well as promising or alternate directions for selling products;
get an idea of the current situation in the industry in which the company operates;
familiarize yourself with the rules and procedures for concluding contracts with suppliers and customers; study theoretical aspects marketing;
collect information about foreign innovative practices in managing the company’s work in the field of promotion and sales of products;
know the standards for ensuring personnel safety.

The following situations may have consequences for the commercial director in the form of sanctions and fines:

improper performance of official duties or evasion of them;
ignoring the orders and instructions of a superior employee;
abuse of official position and official powers in order to satisfy material or other personal needs;
provision of distorted data and reporting to the head or government inspection bodies;
irresponsible attitude towards fire safety and other circumstances that pose a threat to the life and health of employees;
non-compliance labor discipline, as well as failure to take measures to ensure it within the work team;
offenses of an administrative, civil or criminal nature;
causing material damage to the company as a result of unlawful actions or negligent inaction.

Today, in almost every company, the value of an employee lies, first of all, in the effectiveness of his work. This indicator is very important, because often the size depends on it wages and the nature of management recommendations.

The following aspects can help assess the quality and effectiveness of the duties of a commercial director:

Unquestioning adherence to every point of the job description.
Compliance with established order and subordination. The ideal commercial director is a responsible employee with a high degree of self-discipline and organization, aware of his responsibility for the present and future success of the company.
Achieving results in accordance with the current business plan of the enterprise. The company's activities must constantly occur in accordance with the developed strategies and be subject to verification (as well as economic indicators). Failure to comply with the deadlines for the implementation of any item may have Negative influence for the development of the company in the future.

The following persons or authorities verify the effectiveness of the duties of the commercial director:

the head of the company monitors the actions of his subordinate on a daily basis and is in constant and close relationship with him on management issues;
a special certification commission at least twice a year audits all documentation of the enterprise, and also checks the work of the commercial director for the effectiveness and efficiency of fulfilling his official duties.

In both cases, the assessment takes place according to specific parameters: how well the specialist copes with the functions assigned to him and how completely and accurately he compiles the reporting documentation.

The main difficulties in the work of a commercial director

Managing the sales process requires relentless attention and constant monitoring of sales performance. Another difficulty in fulfilling the duties of a commercial director may be rooted in the fact that sometimes you have to fight with your own employees.

1. Take a closer look at your opponents.

Some of the rank-and-file employees of the commercial department or the heads of other services may secretly strive to occupy the position of a higher-ranking person.

Subordinates. They are competitors in the truest sense of the word, as they demonstrate activity, ambition and perseverance in their movement towards their intended goal: to take the place of a leader. Subordinates are ready to prove with their results and achievements that they are worthy of taking on the responsibilities of a boss. In addition, managers tend to be very critical of those who manage them. The authority of a commercial director in their eyes will be very low if they believe that he does not have the talent to sell, knows nothing about marketing and is not able to come to an agreement with an important partner or client.

However, what managers overlook is the fact that they do not work side by side with their boss and therefore cannot evaluate him objectively. professional quality. Therefore, it is extremely important to maintain the authority of the commercial director among his subordinates high level, confirming his competence with examples of successful sales or concluding important transactions.

Top managers. They are not direct competitors of the commercial director. Heading a commercial department is not easy; its manager has many diverse responsibilities and a high degree of responsibility for mistakes. At the same time, it is important to know that there is an exception: if the company’s sales and advertising functions are separated, then the marketing director can file a claim with the goal of becoming the head of both areas.

As a rule, such competition can arise in companies whose corporate culture is not particularly well developed, business processes are not well established, and it is not entirely clear to employees what exactly their responsibilities are. It is not surprising that they are trying to compete for resources and territory, in which they gain more opportunities for decision-making and power. This state of affairs can only be significantly changed chief executive companies by accepting management decisions for clear structuring of employee activities.

2. Stay fit.

The commercial director must continuously confirm his competence in his position: demonstrate effective work with clients, effectively manage your department, and professionally perform your job duties. This will help nip possible difficulties in the field of personnel management in the bud.

To do this, you should regularly double-check the data that comes from managers and not trust 100% of the veracity of their reports. There is a possibility that subordinates are not averse to taking the place of their leader and therefore provide deliberately false information in their reports about sales figures and the state of affairs in the industry. It is better for a commercial director not to isolate himself inside his own office and take an active interest in what is happening with the market, what innovations and technologies are emerging, what changes are observed in consumer behavior and in their attitude towards the company’s products.

A key competency is necessary for any manager in order to feel confident and not encounter difficulties in managing personnel. In order to protect yourself and your position, it is important to identify your own strengths and abilities that will be especially valued by employees, peers and management. For example, if a commercial director is excellent at organizing effective relationships without disputes and contradictions between the sales, production, marketing and finance departments, then it is this skill that will allow him to maintain his place in the company.
Indispensability. This is a property with An employee becomes noticeable when he goes on vacation or sick leave. It is at such moments that people in the company note that in his absence they are faced with additional problems and difficulties. At the same time, it is not recommended to specifically demonstrate to colleagues that you are indispensable, because it is very easy to irritate others with such behavior. Management may perceive this as a potential danger and try to get rid of such employees.

3. Work with staff.

One of the main responsibilities of a commercial director is to establish relationships with sales managers. Competence will be his faithful assistant in this process: it must be demonstrated in a short time to both employees and the head of the sales department.

Establish contact with subordinates. Try to communicate more actively and more often with managers.

4. Build a line of defense.

The key to resolving HR problems may be having a closer relationship with the company's management, which means an expanded range of opportunities to resolve issues compared to competitors.

Show managers your competence. In the event of complications, you can demonstrate to your subordinates your ability to competently resolve problems with one phone call to the right person. With this simple action, you will reveal the incompetence of applicants for your post in resolving key issues.
Threaten your opponent. Sometimes the situation may require more decisive action against your competitor: you must make it clear that his position in the company may become more difficult if he does not want to interact peacefully. Explain to your opponent that you will be present at all meetings where he must report all difficulties and actions taken. If he shows incompetence regarding his work tasks, the decision will be yours.
Explain your position to the CEO. First, you need to understand exactly what actions your opponent took to deal with the problematic situation. If it turns out that a competitor has simply appropriated the result of a team activity, for example, a new sales strategy, prove to the manager what contribution you made to this work. Show your boss that you know exactly when the first results will be visible.
Get board support. Try to explain in a reasonable manner what the danger of such career aspirations is for the company as a whole. Will the creation of a similar precedent pose a threat in the sense that other department heads will want to get rid of their leadership?

5. Work systematically.

Continuous monitoring of the situation in the company will contribute to effective counteraction to rivals and elimination of difficulties in personnel management. The more clarity there is in understanding the state of affairs within the team and the active exchange of information with employees, the more secure the commercial director will be able to feel in his place. It is important to be able to openly and clearly demonstrate your professionalism and competence to both subordinates and senior management.

Danger signals. The first warning sign is a decrease in the amount of information that your subordinates provide you with, or its unreliability. The second danger signal is claims expressed in an aggressive form by the head of the sales service or his ordinary employees. As a rule, the head of the department tries to blame his mistakes and blunders on the commercial director. A situation in which employees turn to senior management, bypassing the commercial director, indicates a third alarming sign. To avoid these moments, it is better to strive to be aware of all the nuances of the sales department’s work and prevent possible attacks. This will allow you to gain the trust of management even in a difficult conflict situation, which will help you maintain your position in the company.

TOP 5 useful books for a commercial director

“Lean Provisioning. How to build effective and mutually beneficial relationships." In their next book, James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones introduce readers to the synthesis of the mechanisms of consumption and provision, in which the main role is given to the latter. In order to fully satisfy your customer, you need to effectively solve his problem by providing what is required, in right time and in in the right place, in full accordance with the wishes of the customer. This book will be useful and interesting to managers of middle and senior management, businessmen, employees of consulting agencies, students and teachers of higher education educational institutions economic orientation.
"Deal Navigator: Strategic Sales Practice from A to... A." the author of this book Alexey Slobodyanyuk understands the specifics of selling products to entire organizations and tries to understand the mechanisms for making purchasing decisions. One of the author’s main recommendations is to draw up a specific action plan and work with the client in strict accordance with it, starting from the first phone call and the first meeting.
"Survival Guide: Selling." Vaughn Aiken John tries to understand, together with readers, exactly how you can increase profits in your business by taking the initiative in the process of concluding transactions into your own hands. By acting in this way, it is possible to increase profits even in the event of economic problems and instability of the market system, when customers are lost, company budgets and market volumes are reduced.
“How to become a sales wizard: rules for attracting and retaining clients.” Jeffrey Fox gives witty advice in his book that can help readers cope with their rivals in any field. The author's recommendations are of an applied nature and not devoid of wisdom, so they will be useful to all interested people, and especially to sales specialists and top managers.
"Hard Selling: Get People to Buy Under Any Circumstances." Book Dana Kennedy will be an excellent assistant on the path to achieving wealth, independence and power. The author gives advice on what kind of sales specialist should be today in order to conquer professional heights in this field.