Director of Commercial Activities. Commercial director: responsibilities and functions. Who is a commercial director

Recruitment of personnel for a large construction company.

Responsibilities:

• Search and attraction of new volumes of construction and engineering services.
• Development of construction, design and other areas of the company’s activities;
• Conducting commercial negotiations within the framework of sales and supply policies, business correspondence with Customers in the interests of the company.
• Analysis of the competitive environment of the construction and engineering services market.
• Formation of a sales plan for the services of a general contracting construction company and ensuring its implementation.
• Organization of work on the preparation of tender documentation and participation in competitions; preparation and calculation of commercial proposals, conclusion of contracts, interaction with Tender Committees.
• Management of the activities of the company's structural divisions, supervision of current projects.
• Monitoring compliance with work quality standards, ensuring the organization fulfills its obligations.
• Monitoring the execution of design and construction schedules.

Requirements:

• Construction equipment is desirable;
• Experience in a key management position in construction for at least 5 years;
• Experience working in the structures of a general contractor and technical customer;
• Knowledge of processes and technologies for the construction of class A buildings;
• Knowledge of economics and pricing in construction;
• Experience in managing project managers;
• Experience in construction management and commissioning of large projects.
• PC knowledge: user of office applications, AutoCAD;

How to define functionality commercial director companies? 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, 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– the less the company creates itself and the more it engages in sales, the greater the functionality of the 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 Commercial Director is responsible for: - proper organization of work on sales of products in accordance with the approved programs (plans) of the Company; — performance and labor discipline of commercial service employees; — safety of information (documents) containing information constituting a commercial secret of the Company, other confidential information, including personal data of the Company’s employees; — ensuring safe working conditions, maintaining order, and complying with fire safety rules in the sales premises. 1.6. Persons with higher professional (economic or engineering-economic) education and experience can be appointed to the position of commercial director economic work at least 5 years in management positions. 1.7.

Rights and responsibilities of a commercial director

Ensure the preparation of reports on the results of commercial activities, statistical reporting, as well as their submission in the prescribed manner to the relevant authorities. 2.15. Ensure reliable protection of information (documents) containing information constituting a commercial secret of the Company, other confidential information, including personal data of the Company’s employees. 2.16. Manage the training of subordinates, create conditions for them to improve their skills, professional growth, business career development and job promotion in accordance with personal merit and level of qualifications.
2.17. Monitor compliance by subordinates with labor protection and safety rules, industrial sanitation and fire protection. 2.18. Use the granted rights in relation to subordinates to encourage them (hold them accountable). 2.19.

Commercial director: responsibilities, requirements and personal qualities

The main activity of this employee is in this case is to promote the brand and products of an enterprise on the market in order to make a profit. To achieve these goals, work is organized in several directions:

• determination and construction of marketing policy;
• control over accounts receivable;
• formation of procurement and sales plans, supervision of their implementation;
• selection and training of a sales team;
• creation of a motivation system and certification of managers;
• sales process inspection;
• monitoring customer requests.

The responsibilities of the commercial director of a trading company additionally include planning and managing assortment policy, knowledge of logistics and the basics of product distribution, interaction with key clients that are important for the enterprise, and participation in negotiations that are important for the organization.

Commercial Director

The responsibilities of a person holding this position in a large construction company are, as a rule, the following:

• he searches for new customers in need of construction services;
• is engaged in the development of such areas of the company as construction, design;
• negotiates with suppliers and customers;
• analyzes competing organizations;
• prepares documentation and commercial proposals regarding the provision of construction services;
• prepares documents for participation in tenders;
• controls the quality and timing of construction services provided by the company.

The main tasks of a commercial director in a trading company are somewhat different, since all his activities are aimed at selling and promoting the goods sold on the market in order to increase sales and profits.

Responsibilities of the commercial director, his role in the organization and main tasks

The commercial director is one of the key and significant figures in the management system of each enterprise. In the same time common understanding, what he should do does not exist. 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. They simply recruit individual managers for various divisions, while job responsibilities The commercial director can be taken over by the manager.

Job responsibilities of the commercial director

The main thing is not having a diploma, but having the necessary qualities, skills and competencies. In addition to professional knowledge of computer programs, the applicant for the position must have experience in promoting various products, know the psychology of buyers, and understand the structure and specifics of the sales mechanism. Sometimes a specialist who comes from the ranks of ordinary managers can bring more benefit to the company than an employee hired from outside.
The main thing is that the candidate has management skills and shows results in increasing profits. After all, a commercial director is not a performer, but an organizer and leader.

• 01.04.2016

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• Commercial director: responsibilities and functions.

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

1. Together with shareholders and the general director - developing a work plan (current and future) for the organization, ensuring effective use all resources.
2. Developing strategies, searching for new opportunities for successful development companies on the market.
3. 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.
4. The commercial director, whose responsibilities are quite varied, is also responsible for creating and effectively training a sales team.
5. Sales department management, selection of sales channels, dealer network management.

What are the job responsibilities of a commercial director of an LLC?

What role does the commercial director play? Since this manager has a wide range of responsibilities and tasks, it is quite possible to assume that in the company he plays one of the leading and significant roles. Without his participation, not a single important meeting of the company’s shareholders takes place, plans and prospects for the development of the organization are not discussed, a budget for the financial year is not formed, and only with his approval are contracts concluded with suppliers and companies providing services. Due to the fact that a commercial director is a person with certain powers, it is important to pay attention to his personal characteristics when hiring, so that you do not have to deal with his use of his official position for personal purposes.

Personal qualities A candidate for such a high position as a commercial director, whose duties involve constant contact with people, must have certain personal qualities. Namely:

• Ability to interact with people, communication skills.
• Qualities of an organizer and leader.
• Strategic thinking.
• High efficiency.
• Ability to work with numbers and other data, analytical skills.
• Mobility, ability to make decisions quickly.
• Responsibility, initiative, results orientation.
• High resistance to stressful situations.
• The desire for self-development and growth.

Who reports to the commercial director of the enterprise

Create optimal conditions for the timely and high-quality implementation of the daily tasks assigned to it by the sales service in strict accordance with the approved work procedures (regulations), marketing technologies, and product sales plans. 2.3. Manage the work to formulate a sales policy and marketing strategy, determine its main directions in accordance with the development strategy of the Company and measures for its implementation. 2.4. Take part in the development of business plans for the Company's organization in terms of meeting its current and future needs for the sale of products of a certain quality, quantity, range and range. 2.5. Ensure the necessary level of development of the sales infrastructure and its constant growth, proper effectiveness of marketing decisions, and a steady increase in the efficiency of the sales service. 2.6.

Attention

A commercial director is a person who, through his actions, mobilizes, controls and directs the company’s personnel to achieve maximum profit. Depending on the area of ​​activity, production or trade organization, the requirements for the qualities and abilities of the candidate for this position and the functional responsibilities of the commercial director of the enterprise may differ slightly. The role and main tasks of the commercial director Despite the importance of this figure in the enterprise management system, his responsibilities and functions are not always clear.

Without delving into the essence of the work, one might think that sales department completely follows the line-staff principle. The commercial department is not a single whole: its functions and sales are divided into autonomous components, but at the same time they have the same value and are equivalent for the work of the entire department. Their only common goal is to force the buyer to purchase a particular product. The fact that each component works independently in the commercial department should not negatively affect the work; each side of the activity makes its own small contribution to the activities of the entire enterprise.

What does the commercial department do in a company?

The distinctive features of any activity are the presence of its direction and the organization of tasks to achieve the desired peaks. The purpose of the commercial department is the acquisition by individuals or legal entities goods and services offered on the market, or exchanging them for other goods for mutual benefit. Interestingly, the elements operated by marketing are also operated by the commercial department. The organization of the commercial department is complex, but at the same time allows it to perform many tasks.

The main goal of the commercial department is to create a specific system of measures aimed at regulating the processes of purchase and sale, meeting demand and making a profit.

All processes regulated by the commercial department of the enterprise are divided into two types: technological and commercial.

Technological processes are related to logistics. This concept refers to all operations performed during the transportation of cargo (transportation, unloading, storage, packaging, packing). These operations are a continuation production process, and direct traffic.

Commercial transactions represent all processes related in one way or another to buying and selling. This list also includes organizational and economic processes. It cannot be said that they are directly related to buying and selling, but these processes definitely affect the systematization of trade flow.

Commercial operations are also functions of the commercial department:

• study of demand for a product, its forecast. Consumer demand research for certain groups goods;
• search and identification of suppliers;
• all actions related to the formation of a product range;
• assortment management;
• economic justification for choosing a particular supplier;
• organizing relationships with suppliers;
• organization of service;
• conclusion and termination of contracts, all work with documentation;
• selection of marketing techniques for selling goods;
• the use of marketing in social networks, advertising on the Internet, etc.
• assessment and study of one's own activities.

Examples of standards for the commercial department

The basis for the use of any techniques and actions in commercial activities should be the conditions currently prevailing in the market.

Correct and productive work of the commercial department of an enterprise will only develop if all personnel fully understand what the tasks of the commercial department are:

• implementation;
• sales forecast;
• implementation policy – ​​sales and service;
• studying the market situation;
• advertising, marketing, trade development;
• setting prices for the entire range of goods;
• packaging and distribution;
• commercial staff.

Responsibilities of the commercial department

Many firms still outsource advertising responsibilities to specialized agencies. The management of the enterprise determines only the policy for conducting advertising campaigns. But it’s time to understand that advertising largely determines the policy of the company itself; the perception of the company by clients directly depends on it. The best solution in this case would be to introduce the position of commercial department administrator.

This person is needed to ensure that advertising reinforces company policy, but does not establish it. Good advertising is one of the important conditions for selling and purchasing goods. The company needs to time its efforts according to sales, production and distribution capabilities.

Market research

It does not matter where the information about the current state of the market was obtained from (application to advertising agencies, personal observations, use of general information as a source), it is the most important component for carrying out marketing campaigns. Responsibility for information retrieval placed on top management will render any knowledge acquired useless and unnecessary. It would be much better to assign it to the “working layer”, then any information received will become a powerful planning tool for you. This market research technique helps organize the activities of all layers of employees in the commercial department, and also forecasts sales. Market research is not yet so widely used in the work of enterprises.

Planning the product range and setting prices

Setting prices in commercial departments by administrators has not yet taken root in domestic companies. The fact that prices should be set in the commercial departments is considered heresy. But the fact that employees of the commercial department should have influence on the range of goods is clear to everyone. The compromise to get out of this situation will be the creation of a new price setting headquarters, which will be supervised by commercial administrators.

Forecasting and planning of income and salaries

The planning of future sales volumes and income depends on the planned profit. This responsibility is usually assigned to all levels of management. However, in order to calculate the planned profit, you need to create a sales forecast. This is what the commercial department does, where the current market situation and past sales are studied. This is the only way to get the most accurate forecast.

Sales organization in general commercial activities

One of the advantages of this concept is the ability to coordinate the work of personnel services in the commercial department. Another undoubted advantage is that the use of this concept implies the coordination of commercial operations with other components of the work (production, administrative work and finance). But the most significant contribution made by this concept is that sales becomes closely linked with other types of business activities. Thus, the department head receives greater freedom of action and a lot of new means of managing the commercial department. The department head establishes relationships with management in advertising, research, planning, and operations development. Through joint efforts, guided by the general policy of the company, they achieve their goals.

What does the structure of the commercial department of an enterprise look like?

When a new organization emerges, the commercial department appears by itself, it develops spontaneously, its work is not coordinated. The commercial department in such companies does not have clearly defined boundaries of responsibility, and levels of subordination are established using the organizational structure. However, this does not prevent the department from continuing its work.

Typically, the blame for unproductive department performance is placed on salespeople. But the responsibility also lies with the entire commercial department. Every mistake of the subject affects the entire sales system as a whole.

Many different types of structures have been created, each of which is designed to perform specific tasks and achieve set goals. Compliance is critical commercial structure and the company’s distribution policy, only in this way will it be possible to effectively implement strategic objectives for business development.

Among the many sales departments, the following principles for organizing the work of the commercial department are most often used.

Geographical. To use this type of organization, it is necessary to locate a sales unit in each region in the form of an official representative or branch.

Grocery. It implies competition between teams, each of which is responsible for selling a specific product, in the same markets.

Client. This type of organization divides departments into categories that specialize in a specific customer level. Typically, departments are divided into a corporate customer service department and a retail sales department. But there are commercial service departments with a large number of divisions.

Functional. The case when the sales process consists of the sequential implementation of the following stages:

• search and selection of a client base;
• discussion of working conditions and trial sales;
• follow-up cooperation and service;

This type of specialization considers the division of departments into sales stages. A division is often used into commercial department specialists working with the customer base and direct sales, and back specialists involved in subsequent sales and service provision.

Matrix. It is most advantageously used by organizations that sell complex goods, both intellectual and technical. Sales of such companies are formed in the form of projects. Typically, such enterprises recruit leading specialists in each of the areas used in production, and they all take turns working with the client. A good example of companies using this structure would be consulting agencies, IT companies, etc.

Key principles of productive work of the organizational structure of the commercial department:

1. Full compliance of the structure with the goals and priorities of the enterprise.
2. Building a structure around certain functions.
3. Fixing rights, responsibilities, and powers in the structure.
4. Establish the degree of control depending on sales volumes and the independence of sellers during transactions.
5. Develop structure flexibility. It must adapt to market conditions, the availability of certain products, and price fluctuations.
6. The structure must be balanced and take into account the interests of other departments: supply department, financial department, marketing department.

A well-developed structure is one of the most necessary aspects of a company’s development, but not all enterprises can boast of having a commercial department. Most consider it a formality, but the absence of these components leads to widespread disorder. While more experienced employees fully understand the “hierarchy” of the enterprise, this may be a problem for newcomers. Creating a certain structure will help them adapt faster. Systems without structure are beneficial for middle managers, in such situations they try to gain undeserved authority.

Each company remains unique, so it cannot be said that the processes in them are the same. The structure created for a large company may be very different from the structure created for a small office. In order to draw up the correct structure, it is necessary to draw up a diagram of possible departments of commercial activity.

Characteristics of the key structural elements of the commercial department

Composition of the commercial department

In some commercial companies, a Board of Directors meets to solve important problems. This is the name given to a meeting of leading specialists from the commercial department. Open discussions help them jointly achieve their goals, find the best options for solving production and commercial problems, and avoid fragmentation of departmental interests.

The following option for constructing an organizational structure is also possible. The Marketing Director becomes the direct supervisor of the Commercial Director or indirectly manages him.

Another option for developing the organizational structure is to introduce the position of executive (commercial) director of departments. This scheme will be useful to those enterprises that need to reduce the number of responsibilities of the general director and give him the opportunity to deal with more urgent and important tasks. For example, he may spend his time establishing business relationships with companies or suppliers. The executive director may also take over the security or commercial department.

Sales department

Not only the sales department, but also other components of production are responsible for commercial success. However, this department brings the main profit to the enterprise. The sales department system must be clearly debugged, and the employees must be motivated, only then the enterprise’s income will be as high as possible.

For convenience, the heads of each division are called senior managers of the commercial department. In simple words, each department has its own head, who completely controls its work. Various variations of the names of these positions are possible, but the essence does not change.

The statement that the sales department is the heart of the company is confirmed by the numerous flows of finance and information connecting it and other departments.

Operational commercial groups

Operational groups are divided according to certain criteria and their number depends on market segmentation, but there are other factors that influence this. If the range and volume of goods supplied is small, commercial groups are divided according to region. Otherwise, commercial groups are divided into groups of goods supplied to the regions concerned. It is more profitable for organizations that sell or receive goods from a wholesale company to form groups in relation to these counterparties. The same scheme is used for sales organizations to other enterprises.

Such a group consists of 2-4 people, there is no specific leader, and all decisions are made collectively. Accordingly, the entire team bears responsibility for the mistake of one participant. This method of organization leads to faster work processes, full dedication of each employee, increased efficiency and quality of work in general, simplified training of new employees and creates a certain competition between groups. The group also carries out some analysis of the commercial department.

Work in the commercial department is productive if these immutable rules are observed:

1. It is forbidden to miss phone calls during the working day.
2. Each employee must be “savvy” in the area where his group works and cannot afford to have knowledge gaps.
3. If the group is not competent in the client's issue, he is redirected for service to a group that has the necessary knowledge.
4. Group members must choose their own lunch hours, and also substitute for each other while one of the employees is on vacation. If the issue cannot be resolved peacefully, it is referred to senior management for consideration.

The ideal placement of commercial groups looks like this: all groups are in one room, separated by screens. Each employee has his own telephone and personal monitor connected to the common network.

Coordination and Procurement Department

The organization of commercial activities depends almost entirely on the work of this department. He works closely with both other specialized departments and commercial groups.

The tasks of the Coordination and Procurement Department are as follows:

• distribution and control of incoming goods;
• control over the implementation of tasks by departments;
• tracking the efficiency of deliveries and providing guarantees to customers;
• maintaining a reserve of in-demand goods in warehouses;
• control of the unity of the enterprise policy;
• creating proposals to change the range of goods in relation to their demand;
• creation of commercial groups to work with suppliers.

Department of Transport and Customs Operations

The department is headed by a commercial director. The main tasks of the transport and customs services department are as follows:

1. Search for the most profitable methods of transportation.
2. Control of customs documents, registration of transaction passports.
3. Organization of product support at the customer's request.
4. Creation of new warehouses or transshipment areas for justifiable reasons.
5. Providing transport means, including shipping ones.
6. Monitoring the timeliness of deliveries and the receipt by the customer of the necessary documents.
7. Providing cargo with insurance documents.

The Marketing Director manages many departments. Let's take a closer look at the functions and tasks of some of them.

Marketing and Pricing Department

This department is responsible for the continuous study of the buyer market and the enterprise market. The information received gives them the opportunity to offer the marketing director many options for promoting a particular product, among which you can find:

1. Changes in the range of goods relative to the forecast and the current market situation.
2. Proposals to replace suppliers with more competitive ones (offering goods cheaper or of better quality than those available).
3. Improving the sales market.
4. Entry of the company to more developed levels of the market.

This department keeps records of all materials purchased and sold by competitors, collects all existing information about pricing policies in the market, competing sellers and current indices. At the same time, the department collects data on those companies with which they have ever had contact.

The department's pricing team advises commercial groups on prices prevailing in the market in this moment, checks the reports they have completed and sends them to the head of the commercial department for review. The price group also issues new proposals to change the range of goods.

Before large-scale meetings, the department justifies the reason for discussing new pricing policies, changes in the market and other important issues within their competence.

Required to perform the following tasks:

1. Monitoring the effectiveness of advertising for a particular product, as well as the company as a whole, compiling characteristics of the commercial department.
2. Organization of advertising campaigns and calculation of costs for their implementation, justification of the reasons for their decisions.
3. Implementation of the approved event plan by concluding deals with advertising companies.
4. Sending trial or promotional versions of products.
5. Sending the company's products to participate in various exhibitions and fairs.

Small companies can afford to combine the two above-mentioned departments.

Intermediary department

Engaged in the development of sales schemes. For high-quality work, the department needs the support of other components of the company: the marketing and pricing department, the customs (transport) department, the maintenance organization department, the procurement and sales coordination department. All commercial groups interested in promoting the product being sold are also involved.

Having developed a proposal, the intermediary department submits it for consideration by the board of directors. And after its approval, the proposal turns into a target plan.

Now the department just has to find promising commercial intermediaries, prepare all documents for signature and begin cooperation with them. After signing the contract, the department monitors compliance with the conditions specified in the document, as well as the work of the departments. Negotiations on the conclusion of the contract are conducted by the marketing director.

General Director speaks

Sergey Miroshnichenko, General Director of Srednevolzhskaya Gas Company LLC, Samara

We are among the natural monopolies, we are a service company, so we do not have divisions involved in sales and purchasing in the standard sense. Deputies, heads of branches and structural departments report to the General Director of the company. Each department is a fairly independent structural unit, with financial isolation, a work plan, a procedure for carrying out work and payments. Each purchase is aimed at providing financial resources for the construction and transformation of networks. The purchase of the main part of the necessary goods is carried out by the Department of Production and Technological Equipment (UPTK), which is part of the parent company; it reports to the Deputy General Director of the commercial department of the enterprise. Over the course of several years of operation, the company has acquired a list of trusted partners, the work structure has been streamlined, and therefore, I consider it inappropriate to form a purchasing department and provide a position for the head of this department.

UPTK employees and employees responsible for tendering (carrying out activities under the leadership of the First Deputy General Director) select a supplier. After which, the bidding department analyzes the correctness of the purchase procedure, the selection of a supplier, either through a request for quotations or through a competition. The final selection takes place in the bidding department, and a protocol is drawn up. As a rule, this process is carried out when signing serious and large contracts. A unique product is usually purchased from a specific supplier, since here attention is primarily paid to quality. The department supplies products to the main warehouse at the request of other departments.

How to organize competent management of a commercial department

The financial component of a company’s activities does not happen on its own; it needs to be managed competently.

The commercial department management system is a complex of components, the relationships between them, as well as the manipulations of the enterprise carrying out commercial activities.

To systematize the management of the commercial department it is necessary:

1. Prepare goals for implementing commercial activities.
2. Disperse production and business management functions.
3. Distribute tasks among sales department employees.
4. Streamline the interactions of commercial department employees and the sequence of functions they perform.
5. Acquire a new product manufacturing technology or reconstruct it.
6. Optimize the incentive system, supply and sales.
7. Carry out the manufacturing of products and the trade and technological process.

The management structure is based on several subsystems: methodology, process, structure and management technique.

The process of managing the commercial department of a company is a component of the management sphere, which includes the development of a communications structure, the creation and implementation of management decisions, the creation of a structure information support manuals.

The organization of management of the commercial department is based on the following elements:

1. Development.
2. Formation.
3. Establishing the properties of isolated parts based on tasks.
4. Creation of a coordination scheme that guarantees the ability to adapt to changing commercial circumstances.
5. Separation of responsibilities for commercial activities.
6. Formation of a data provision scheme that will help in decision making.

The goals of the company’s commercial activities are divided into specific tasks, united by the scope of activity:

• purchase of goods;
• its storage system;
• sales routes, etc.

The following principles are considered the basis for creating the organizational structure of the commercial department and its management:

1. Defining a clear and precise goal for organizing a commercial department.
2. Formation of an attitude for the commercial department to achieve the overall goals of the organization.
3. Formation of mutual work among departments.
4. Formation of a clear apparatus and management system with unified subordination and correct hierarchy in the enterprise. Precise division of responsibilities among different participants management.
5. Building a versatile approach for management work.
6. Striving for a minimum number of links in the management chain.
7. Formation of orientation of the leadership system.
8. Providing executive information.
9. Flexibility and adaptability to the fluid environment of market conditions.

Business management is inextricably linked with the management of the entire enterprise. Thus, when creating the structure of a commercial department and when choosing a method for managing it and its activities, you need to remember the relationship of each element that is part of the management system.

Management methods are a means of influencing management and processes associated with the business department. They consist of administrative, organizational, economic and legal. The above leadership methods imply a fruitful combination. Their interaction depends on any operating conditions of the trading organization and the market environment.

• Sales department: 4 steps to organizing effective work of managers

Key positions in the commercial department for the effective functioning of the company

To competently manage a commercial service department, you need the participation of people and systematization of work. It is necessary to select specialists from the commercial department and their high-quality training, systematize and manage the activities of commercial departments, and establish fruitful cooperation between departments involved in customer service. We have already found out, referring to the functional communication of the sales department, that most departments are involved in these processes. In this regard, the main task of the organization and sales management is the availability of professional personnel, on whom everything depends.

Head of commercial department

At the very first stage of organizing a commercial department, it is necessary to find the responsible head of the commercial department, assign him a position and determine his powers, then orient him to the goals of the work.

The job title is not a formality. Do not take the job title without the necessary responsibility. Behind the position of an employee who works in the commercial department, the essence should be visible: the duties of the employee, his responsibility to the enterprise, capabilities and powers, as well as requirements for him.

The commercial department is, in most cases, headed by a commercial director. Departments related to the circulation of money in the company must carry out manipulations, turning specifically to him. Sometimes, depending on the size of the production, similar in activity workplace has a different title: sales director, sales and marketing director, or head of the sales department.

Primary tasks of the commercial department and its director. Firstly, he must stimulate and in every possible way monitor the process of sales of goods and its increase. Secondly, improve distribution connections and master the regional network. The head of the enterprise must clearly formulate job responsibilities that the commercial director can understand and perform.

Another form of interaction is possible - the director himself analyzes the organization of the commercial department, finds new ways for their development and the progress of the entire enterprise. At the end of the formation of ideas, an employee of the commercial department puts them forward to the general director or presents them to the board of directors. Only after such events are the main goals set and further prospects formed.

The job description or regulation of the commercial department provides an example of behavior for such cases. It addresses the above-mentioned issues related to determining the goals and objectives of the work of a commercial director, building a production hierarchy, a system of employee interaction, methods of assessing work activities and a list of main tasks.

Business Specialists

Specialists of the commercial department participate in the organization and implementation of processes of logistics and sales of products, sales of services, conduct marketing research and advise on these issues.

Their responsibilities include:

1. Participation in the planning and organization of logistics, monitoring the fulfillment of contractual obligations, receipt and sale of funds for raw materials, materials, fuel, energy and equipment.
2. Definition of requirements for material resources and finished products and their compliance with quality standards, technical specifications, contracts and other regulatory documents, drawing up claims for supplied low-quality inventory items and preparing responses to customer complaints.
3. Conducting a comprehensive study and analysis of markets for goods and services in order to actively influence consumer demand to expand product sales.
4. Preparation of proposals for planning the production of specific goods (services) and prices for them in accordance with changes in market conditions.
5. Participation in planning and organizing sales of products (transportation, storage, delivery to consumers).
6. Participation in planning and organizing services.
7. Development and participation in promotional events.
8. Consulting on marketing issues and other aspects of organizing commercial activities.
9. Perform related duties.
10. Supervising other employees.

Examples of professions included in this basic group:

1. Commercial department manager is a specialist directly involved in trade operations: purchasing and sales. The responsibilities of a commercial department manager depend on the specifics and size of a particular enterprise, the niche it occupies in the market, etc.
2. Marketing specialist (market research and analysis).
3. Advertising specialist.
4. Commodity expert.
5. Economist for contractual and claims work.

General Director speaks

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

The head of the commercial department is needed to organize the work of the commercial department. If it is necessary to connect two components: obtaining favorable commercial conditions at the input, that is, delivery conditions (either components or finished products), and achieving favorable sales conditions. If one of these functions is absent, there is no need for a head of the commercial department.

Very small and very large companies do not need to manage a commercial department. Small because, most often, it is difficult for them to pay for a large management staff. Usually in such situations, the functions of the head of the commercial department are performed by the owner; if there are several of them, then usually the areas of management are divided between them: someone can deal with administrative and economic issues, someone controls financial turnover and profit (and is essentially a commercial director). In large businesses, on the contrary, the responsibilities of a commercial director are often distributed among line directors.

But for medium-sized businesses this is a key figure. The head of the commercial department is a top manager who ensures the most important thing in the company - the creation of a profitable part.

How to analyze the performance of the commercial and sales departments

It doesn’t matter where your position is in the hierarchy of the company if your responsibility is to work in the commercial department and strategic planning its activities or, to put it another way, market and marketing strategy, then you are responsible for achieving a certain number of sales and economic growth of the company.

Often the expected sales turnover is not achieved due to inflated sales prices, high prices for raw materials, insufficient funding for advertising or low employee motivation. If at least one of the listed or similar problems is well known to you, then when organizing the work of the commercial department of the enterprise, you miscalculated in planning. This means that you have not conducted an in-depth study of the previous stages and have not discovered the real factors that influence the increase and decrease in sales.

If it was not possible to make the area of ​​your responsibilities of the commercial department accessible and understandable; If you do not have ways to timely determine the state of the enterprise’s commercial activities, then you should wait for real financial results. But this does not apply to companies that have a competent CEO.

A good CEO will usually be interested in not only how much you aim to sell next year and how many hot clients you have, but he will also be interested in the facts on which your confidence is based. He will not be satisfied with the information that the company has doubled its sales level for several years, and now there is a need to hire more highly paid specialists from the commercial sales department, which requires an 80% increase in income. He will also analyze market growth in the industry, which can be as high as 50%. The conclusion suggests itself, doesn’t it? The answer is obvious: the company has stopped in its development, but exists because of previous successes.
Let's say you're a manufacturing company or a professional services firm, for example. With any chosen method of effective promotion, there must be employees among the organization’s employees whose main responsibilities will be interaction with clients. These methods include active sales, advertising, marketing programs, client recommendations, etc. How deeply did you analyze the commercial department? Have you given an accurate description of the commercial department? Does your analysis system answer the questions: why is our turnover the way it is, what should we do to sell more, and how much sales do we need? The proposed analysis system that we will consider can solve similar problems of the commercial department.

What needs to be analyzed in the activities of your managers?

1. Result of work:

• turnover;
• the established number of active clients and the percentage of clients recently introduced into the process;
• average number of customer purchases;
• further prospects in working with the client and our capabilities in working with him;
• the number of lost clients among those with whom interactions have already been carried out and those who were only potential clients;
• number of clients lost in the past.

By entering this information into an Excel worksheet and calculating the necessary indicators, you can obtain data on the results of the work of each specific manager who works in the commercial department:

• turnover will notify you of all the financial profit brought by the manager for the company;
• the number of active clients and the number of new active clients will indicate to you how purposeful the employee is in terms of attracting;
• the average number of sales per client will indicate the quality of clients with whom the commercial department manager works;
• the client’s ability to purchase your product will inform you about how deeply the employee has analyzed the client, in addition, you will receive data for further monitoring of sales;
• the remaining data will indicate the development of the manager’s abilities in the field of working with clients.
  All individual indicators of managers, individually and in total, are compared with each other; it will be a plus to take into account the average indicator for the entire department, this will help you objectively look at and evaluate the results of the annual financial turnover.

A start. It is worth noting that when evaluating results you will not find the reason why managers' performance is so different from each other. And if you don’t know the reasons, then you cannot properly manage them and correct errors and inaccuracies. In this connection, it is necessary to continue the analysis of the commercial department, going deeper into it.

2. Activity and effort expended.

If you want to find out the complete data of the employees of the commercial department for working with clients and the efforts they expended to achieve success, then you need to first describe the totality of all actions, that is, carry out a description of the indicators of processes in the field of sales.

There are different indicators, it all depends on the characteristics of your business. Typically, the real information content comes from the following indicators: calls, meetings, offers. Naturally, they can pursue many different goals, of which there can be many - exchange of information, discussion of a presentation, financial calculations, features of the payment system or its confirmation, etc. Well, if they serve as a step to a new stage of relations with the customer, the ladder of such development looks something like this: getting to know the client, then studying him deeply, based on the data obtained, you need to attract him, then develop these relationships and retain him to complete this transaction with a future perspective cooperation.

The most convenient tool for presenting sales processes and searching for connections between activities and a certain stage of sales is the use of the following sales algorithm.

Each period determines the sales process and stage of sales at which the customer is located. If you compile statistics on current customers, you will be able to find the average duration of the transaction process, which will provide initial information for building a sales forecast for “hot” customers. By applying these tactics to failed clients, you will discover the stage at which the client decides to abstain from dealing with your company, so you can learn how interesting your proposals look. The sales algorithm should look like this:

1. Request a meeting and determine its subject.
2. First meeting.
3. Establishing customer needs and your company's ability to meet them.
4. Sending minutes of discussions and client expectations questionnaires.
5. Schedule a new meeting to discuss the proposal.
6. First presentation.
7. Sending an “offer”

Of course, when creating this system, you must provide for all options. It is not a fact that the proposal for a meeting will be accepted, even if the client agrees to see each other, he does not always sign the contract, so you need to be prepared for many scenarios. For example, if you are refused to sign an agreement, and a specialist from the commercial department was able to find out the real reason for the refusal (he must be able to do this), the client is not satisfied with the cost. Next, you can send thank you letter and notify him whenever the price of a product he is interested in changes. With a large base of such customers, you can arrange a sale to increase market share. It is also possible to consider the option of introducing savings cards, which, upon reaching the required number of purchases, will reduce the price to the desired level.

To analyze the commercial department, you must obtain data from the results of the description of sales business processes:

• identifying business contacts with the client;
• determination of sales stages;
• assigning a transaction stage to identified business contacts.

Assessing the performance of your managers.

To achieve this, you first need to familiarize your sales team with the rules for successful interactions with customers. You must convey the advantages of dividing the sales process into stages and determine the goals for which you need to record clients. If you can confidently express your thoughts and convince employees of the benefits of your proposals, then the information will be learned and adopted.

Your managers' final report should include the following items:

• inventory of current customers and determination of their sales stage and source of appearance;
• the amount of annual profit, data for each client: date of start of work and last contact, their result;
• when refusing, you must indicate the reason and the stage at which the client decided to refuse.

Be prepared that, unfortunately, you may receive an incomplete report. Sometimes this is not part of the responsibilities of a commercial department manager. If you insist on recording the history of work with clients, despite everything, you risk receiving misleading information. We advise you to introduce this practice when working with new clients.

For large companies with a huge customer base, it seems logical to focus on key customers, usually about a quarter of the total number of customers.

After reporting on current clients, the manager needs to indicate the number of active manipulations towards each client, this can include calls, meetings, special offers, etc. By dividing clients into groups: “buying”, “new buying” and “never bought”, it will be easier for you to calculate the indicators that determine the success of your managers:

• calls, meetings, offers of everything;
• calls, meetings, offers to new clients;
• calls, meetings, offers to old clients;
• calls, meetings, offers to new purchasing clients;
• calls, meetings, offers to old buying clients;
• calls, meetings, offers to non-buying clients.

By combining the information received about the manager’s activities, his activity and the resources spent into a table, you will find out the answers to the following questions:

1. What is the amount of effort expended by the sales department manager on working with clients?
2. Is each manager focused on large, medium or small clients?
3. Which clients bring the most profit?
4. How much effort (calls/meetings/offers) does an employee need to spend in order to receive an order?
5. Does the manager work with new or old clients?
6. What is the proportion of purchasing customers in the entire database?
7. After passing what stage does a manager get closer to signing a contract?
8. At what stage does a client usually refuse a manager?
9. What are the main reasons for refusal?
10. Does the manager have a deep or superficial attitude towards working with the client, does he reveal his full potential for interaction with your company?
11. What is the percentage of lost customers?

By making a comparison between KPIs and financial results, you can calculate the average number of calls, meetings or proposals for signing one contract and its average price.

Data statistics will say something like this: a specialist monthly calls about 80 clients, makes appointments with half of them, and receives 20 offers; as a result, 10 customers begin to cooperate with a contract amount of about $5,000. With reverse calculations, you will be able to notice the required degree of expenditure of professional effort by the manager to obtain a profit in the desired amount. By developing a percentage remuneration system, you will be able to control the activity of employees thanks to financial incentives and bonuses.

The resulting data will provide you with objective information about the capabilities of the commercial department manager, you will be able to identify his areas of growth and assist in the development of the required capabilities in order to increase his productivity. For example, if a manager conducts a sufficient number of meetings per working month, but only a small part ends with the signing of an agreement, and the department’s usual indicator clearly exceeds its success, then you need to establish the reason for the failures and help your employee to function successfully and increase income. If you notice that an employee spends quite a lot of effort working with new partners, but they are ineffective, study the list of his clients. It often turns out that the manager worked in a non-target segment. If an employee is busy with an outdated client base without attracting a fresh stream, you should stimulate the employee's interest in a different approach, even if the manager's performance is above average. A system for introducing bonuses for new partners can help you.

At the moment, commercial service departments give preference to finding opportunities to reduce organizational costs in favor of their own benefit, which depends on meeting the client’s needs. So, in modern market relations, the economic principle of “consumer benefit calculation” is at the very center of attention of departments that control the organization’s finances.

The main responsibilities of the commercial director in different organizations are similar, and the requirements for its 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 quite difficult to define clearly, although this position certainly has great value. 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: at a manufacturing enterprise, the commercial manager 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 training of a team 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:

1. determining directions for selling the company’s products and providing its services;
2. creation of strategic plans;
3. communication with partner suppliers;
4. managing the activities of sales managers;
5. budgeting management in all departments of the enterprise;
6. organization of marketing activities;
7. 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.

1. 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.
2. 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 promotion of products, skills in their application, as well as a strategic vision for market development in the medium term.
3. 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 merchants 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 the search optimal strategies interaction with contractors. It is necessary to continuously analyze the market to select the most suitable purchasing conditions.
4. 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. Typically, in such cases, the executive director takes on the leadership role. 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 a commercial manager 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, and 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 work issues specified in the employment 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 to the manager of the company. We list here some of the main recommendations for its activities.

1. Become right hand the first person of the company. One of the main responsibilities of a commercial director is close interaction with the management of the enterprise: he must know everything well weak sides General Director and, if necessary, support him. This is the most reliable way to become 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.
2. 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 the formation of 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 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 undergoes training according to an 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 his intense busyness with managerial 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 post assumes doing wide range responsibilities, therefore high demands are made:

• 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, a construction organization prefers specialists who have already worked in the construction field);
• possession English language;
• 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 different areas activities. 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 in terms 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 directions 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 the features of the development of the 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 different 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 bring the disciplinary and material nature employees and heads of related departments (based on inspection results).

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 takes important place in the activity 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 actions 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 large businesses, 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 having an education does not mean that a person has high professionalism in his field. 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 product sales;
• 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 buyers; study the theoretical aspects of 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 official position and official powers in order to satisfy material or other personal needs;
• provision of distorted data and reporting to the manager or authorities state inspection;
• irresponsible attitude towards fire safety and other circumstances that pose a threat to the life and health of employees;
• failure to comply with 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, managers lose sight of the fact that they do not work side by side with their boss and therefore cannot objectively assess his professional qualities. Therefore, it is extremely important to maintain the commercial director’s authority among his subordinates at a 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; the 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 win for themselves more opportunities to make decisions and wield power. Only the chief executive of the company can significantly change this state of affairs by adopting 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 allow you to 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, colleagues 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 short time 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 is discovered that a competitor has simply appropriated the result of a team activity, e.g. new strategy sales, 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, at the right time and in the right place, in full accordance with the customer's desires. This book will be useful and interesting to middle and senior managers, businessmen, employees of consulting agencies, students and teachers of higher educational institutions of 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.