EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP · INTERIM COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR
An Interim Commercial Director with authority over price and terms.
CE Interim appoints proven Interim Commercial Directors when volume is holding and margin is not, when a key account is at risk, or when the commercial organisation has lost the leadership that held its customer relationships together.
Riservatezza garantita sin dal primo contatto. Un dirigente selezionato con cura e in linea con il mandato, pronto a entrare in servizio entro 72 ore dal completamento del brief relativo al mandato.
La linea gerarchica
CEO · MANAGING DIRECTOR · BOARD
INTERIM COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR
SALES · KEY ACCOUNTS · PRICING · MARKETING
1,500+
Incarichi assegnati ogni anno nell'ambito dell'alleanza
90+
Partner operativi in tutto il mondo
30+
Paesi interessati
95%
Mandati transfrontalieri
72 ore
Dall'incarico all'inizio della missione
Definizione
What is an Interim Commercial Director?
An Interim Commercial Director is an experienced executive appointed for a defined period to take control of the commercial position: revenue, margin, pricing, key accounts and the commercial organisation. The mandate covers the decisions that determine profitability, not only the activity that produces volume.
The distinction from a Sales Director matters. Where the commercial model is complex, with several revenue streams, channel partners, or major accounts alongside transactional business, a Commercial Director is the appropriate appointment. Where the model is a single, execution-focused sales motion, a Sales Director may be sufficient and the wider mandate more than the situation needs.
Volume can be bought with discount. Margin cannot. This appointment exists because someone has to be accountable for both at once when commercial decisions are fragmented across the organisation.
Condizioni di attivazione degli appuntamenti
When businesses appoint an Interim Commercial Director
01
A key account is at risk and nobody senior owns the relationship
A major customer is reviewing, escalating or tendering. The relationship was held by one person, and that person has left or is no longer credible with the customer.
02
Input costs have risen and prices have not
Material, energy or freight costs have moved and the contracts have not. Volume looks healthy, margin is eroding quietly, and nobody has had the conversation with customers that would fix it.
03
Discounting has become the answer to everything
Deals are closing because the price came down. Discount authority has spread through the organisation, the waterfall from list price to realised price is not visible, and the business is buying its own volume.
04
The order book is falling and the forecast is not believed
Revenue is declining, the pipeline shows something different, and the board has stopped treating the commercial forecast as information it can plan against.
05
The commercial leader has gone and taken the relationships
Departure at director level. In CE Interim’s experience, a permanent appointment at this level can take two to three months, and the appointee may then have notice to serve before meeting a customer. Pipeline momentum, relationships and commercial discipline decay throughout.
06
Two sales organisations are calling the same customers
After an acquisition, overlapping coverage, inconsistent pricing to the same buyer, and no agreed account ownership. The customer notices before the business does.
07
A growth case was underwritten and nobody owns it
Commercial due diligence promised a revenue or pricing improvement. The deal closed, the plan exists, and no one in the business has been made accountable for delivering it.
08
Entering a market with no commercial leadership on the ground
A new country or segment is being opened with no senior commercial presence locally, and the customers being targeted expect to deal with someone who is actually there.
È questo il posto giusto?
Does the situation require an Interim Commercial Director?
The determining question is whether the commercial position itself is the problem, or whether the commercial numbers are reporting a problem that lives elsewhere.
Appoint an Interim Commercial Director when:
- Margin is deteriorating while volume holds.
- Pricing, discount authority and contract terms need to be brought under control.
- A major customer relationship has to be rebuilt at senior level.
- The commercial organisation needs restructuring rather than motivating.
- The forecast has to become something the board can plan against.
Regola decisionale
When revenue and margin are both in question and the decisions that resolve them are commercial, this is the appropriate appointment.
Quando un ruolo diverso è quello giusto
Where customers are leaving because of delivery performance or quality rather than price or relationship, a commercial appointment treats the symptom: an Interim Plant Manager or Interim Quality Director addresses what the customers are actually reacting to.
Where the whole business lacks direction, an Interim CEO is the appointment.
Where the model is a single sales motion and the requirement is to lead a team executing it, a Sales Director carries the mandate and this appointment is more than the situation needs.
CE Interim definisce innanzitutto il mandato e, in secondo luogo, formula raccomandazioni sul ruolo.
Confronto tra ruoli
Di quale figura professionale ha bisogno l'azienda?
Scorri la tabella lateralmente →
| Direttore commerciale ad interim | Interim Sales Director | Interim CEO | Commercial consultancy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proprietari | Revenue, margin, pricing, key accounts | Sales execution and the team | L'intera faccenda | L'analisi |
| Model it suits | Multiple streams, channels, major accounts | A single sales motion | Any, when direction is the issue | Any |
| Decide | Price, terms, account strategy, structure | Territory, targets, activity | What the business does | Raccomanda solo |
| Nominato quando | Margin and revenue are both in question | The team needs leading | Direction is unresolved | The position needs mapping |
| Customer-facing | At senior and board level | At buyer level | Where it matters most | No |
| È ora di iniziare | Entro 72 ore dalla ricezione della nota | Entro 72 ore dalla ricezione della nota | Entro 72 ore dalla ricezione della nota | Dipende dalla portata e dal livello di coinvolgimento |
Direttore commerciale ad interim
Interim Sales Director
Interim CEO
Commercial consultancy
Modalità di guasto
Perché questi appuntamenti falliscono
A sales problem is diagnosed and a margin problem is left running.
Activity increases, the pipeline fills and volume recovers, on terms that were never fixed. The business is now busier and no more profitable, and the discount precedents set during the recovery are the ones the next negotiation starts from.
Commercial leadership is appointed to a delivery problem.
Customers are leaving because the business missed delivery dates or shipped quality problems, and a commercial executive is appointed to win them back. The relationships improve briefly and the customers leave anyway, because nothing they complained about has changed
Relationships are held by people rather than by the company.
The commercial recovery depends entirely on one person’s contacts. It works while they are there. The mandate ends, the relationships leave with them, and the business is back where it started having paid for the interval.
Discount authority is never actually withdrawn.
A pricing discipline is announced and the exceptions continue, because withdrawing authority from a team under target pressure requires a decision nobody wants to own. Pricing recovery can fail politically as readily as it fails analytically.
Ambito di competenza
What an Interim Commercial Director mandate should include
Una linea gerarchica ben definita, concordata prima dell’inizio.
Whether the executive reports to the Managing Director, the CEO or the board determines what can be committed in a customer negotiation. Customers establish the executive’s decision authority quickly, so the mandate should define what can be committed in the room and what requires referral before negotiations begin.
Pricing and discount authority.
The right to set price, terms and discount limits, and to withdraw discretion from people who currently have it. The mandate should make this authority explicit rather than leave it ambiguous.
Ownership of major customer relationships.
The mandate to be the senior counterparty to key accounts, not to accompany someone else. Where a relationship has to be rebuilt, the executive needs standing rather than introduction.
Contract and terms authority.
The ability to renegotiate payment terms, volume commitments, indexation and escalation clauses within defined limits, which is where much of the recoverable margin actually sits.
Authority over the commercial organisation.
The ability to restructure coverage, reassign accounts and address capability gaps, rather than to recommend those changes for later.
Ownership of the forecast.
Accountability for a commercial forecast the board can plan against, including the authority to change how it is produced and by whom.
Nota dell'autorità
Authority must be proportional to the decisions the mandate requires in its first thirty days. In a pricing recovery, an executive without the authority to say no to a discount has no mandate at all.
Responsabilità legale, ambito di applicazione e copertura
Responsabilità legale.
Where the mandate requires it, the executive may receive defined authority over price, terms and contract signature, delegated statutory duties or, where formally appointed and permitted by the local corporate structure, a statutory position. The scope is agreed before the start rather than assumed.
L’ambito di applicazione viene concordato prima che il dirigente inizi a svolgere le proprie mansioni.
Il cliente, CE Interim e il dirigente definiscono per iscritto le mansioni, i limiti di competenza e i limiti di firma.
L'assicurazione viene stipulata per ogni mandato.
I dirigenti dispongono di una propria copertura assicurativa per la responsabilità professionale e per la responsabilità degli amministratori e dei dirigenti. In alcuni casi, è il cliente a fornirla o a contribuire al suo costo. Anche CE Interim e ogni membro della Valtus Alliance dispongono di una propria copertura assicurativa.
Arco di mandato
How an Interim Commercial Director mandate unfolds
Every mandate is different. The sequence below describes a common pattern of restoring commercial control.
01
Days 0 to 21
Meet the customers, then look at the numbers
Visit the major accounts personally and early, because what customers say about the business is more reliable than what the pipeline says. Establish the real price waterfall from list to realised. Identify which volume is profitable and which is not.
02
Days 22 to 90
Take the pricing decisions
Set price, terms and discount limits, and withdraw the authority that has spread. Open the contract conversations where input costs have moved and prices have not. Rebuild the relationships that depend on someone senior being present rather than on history.
03
Dal 91° giorno in poi
Restructure and hand the discipline over
Realign coverage and account ownership so relationships sit with the business rather than with individuals. Rebuild the forecast so the board can plan against it. Establish the commercial governance that will hold after the mandate.
COMMERCIAL MANDATE · 9 TO 12 MONTHS
Pricing decisions can be taken inside ninety days. In CE Interim’s experience, three months is the minimum period in which a price position genuinely changes rather than simply being announced. Margin follows the contract renewal cycle, which in many industrial businesses is annual, so the mandate runs long enough to see decisions through to realised price rather than agreed price.
SOSTITUZIONE PER POSTO VACANTE · VERSO LA NOMINA A TEMPO INDETERMINATO
Where the mandate holds key accounts through a leadership gap, the priority is that relationships transfer to the business rather than leave with the departure. The mandate runs to the permanent appointment. Where price recovery is also included, the duration may extend through the relevant contract-renewal cycle.
Parla con un partner riguardo al mandato prima che sia la situazione a definirlo per te.
Risultati e passaggio di consegne
What effective interim commercial leadership should achieve
Margin, not only volume
The business knows which revenue is profitable and prices accordingly.
Pricing under control
Discount authority sits where it was intended to, and the waterfall from list to realised price is visible.
Relationships owned by the company
Key accounts are held by the business through defined ownership, not by one person’s contacts.
A forecast that survives contact
The board can plan against the commercial number because it has stopped being an aspiration.
Terms that reflect current costs
Contracts carry indexation and escalation appropriate to the cost base rather than to the year they were signed.
Passaggio di consegne
Pricing discipline, account ownership and commercial governance transfer to named people inside the business. Continuity without dependency is the objective, and a mandate whose gains leave with the executive has not succeeded.
Chi inviamo
The Interim Commercial Directors we appoint
Has recovered price, not only grown volume.
Has gone back to customers where the commercial position no longer reflected the cost base, renegotiated it and retained the relationship.
Has been received in a customer’s boardroom, not introduced.
Major-account recovery requires enough seniority and authority to negotiate directly with the customer’s decision-makers.
Has withdrawn discount authority from a team under target pressure.
Pricing recovery requires both the analysis and the authority to change behaviour when commercial pressure encourages exceptions.
Has renegotiated terms, not just prices.
Indexation, escalation clauses, volume commitments and payment terms can materially affect realised margin and should be considered alongside headline price.
Knows what the business can deliver.
Commercial promises that operations cannot meet can damage margin, customer confidence and delivery performance. Executives who understand the operational side of that trade-off price differently.
CE Interim works through more than 90 operating partners across the Valtus Alliance, in over 30 countries. That reach is what makes it possible to match sector, customer type and commercial situation within 72 hours.
Il modello di nomina
Da un briefing riservato alla nomina a un incarico dirigenziale
01
Resoconto della situazione
A Partner conversation under NDA. Where the commercial position stands, which relationships are at risk, what margin has been lost and what authority can be delegated.
02
Definizione del mandato e valutazione specifica delle sfide
CE Interim defines the scope, the reporting line and the pricing authority, then interviews each executive for this commercial situation and this customer base rather than against a generic sales profile.
03
Presentazione, nomina e governance
Riceverai una selezione ristretta di dirigenti realmente in linea con le tue esigenze, non un semplice elenco di curriculum. La decisione finale spetta a te, e un partner di CE Interim continuerà a seguirti fino alla conclusione del progetto.
Tensione transfrontaliera
Why cross-border commercial mandates are harder to govern
Di cosa ha bisogno la sede centrale
- A group price position that actually holds in each market
- To know what is really being conceded locally, and when
- A forecast it can plan against rather than hope for
What each market needs
- Terms that reflect what competitors are doing locally
- A negotiator the customer takes seriously, present rather than remote
- Authority to settle in the room instead of referring upward
A group price list that ignores local competitive conditions can produce either lost volume or local discounting that headquarters cannot see. The Interim Commercial Director therefore needs enough local presence and authority to understand what is being conceded and to negotiate directly where the customer relationship requires it.
I settori in cui operiamo più spesso
Moduli di situazione
Typical Interim Commercial Director mandates
Turnaround Operativo
Margin is eroding while volume holds, and a key account is under review. The mandate is to recover price, rebuild the relationship at senior level and make the profitable volume visible.
Governance, visibilità e controllo
Discount authority has spread and the forecast is not believed. The mandate is to bring pricing under control and produce a commercial number the board can plan against.
Integrazione post-fusione e scorporo
Two sales organisations are calling the same customers with different prices. The mandate is to agree coverage and account ownership before the customer exploits the gap.
Posizione dirigenziale di fondamentale importanza da ricoprire
The commercial leader has gone and the relationships are exposed. The mandate is to hold the key accounts through the gap and transfer ownership to the business.
Contesti settoriali
Where CE Interim appoints Interim Commercial Directors
Settori primari
Sono stati serviti anche
Contesti di proprietà
È importante conoscere bene il settore. Il criterio di selezione determinante è una responsabilità dirigenziale analoga in una situazione analoga, in un contesto proprietario analogo.
Prove del caso
Ambito di applicazione del presente mandato
Italian mid-market manufacturer · Intervention across Bulgarian and Romanian markets · Distributor channel
Market development through a distributor network, Southern and South-Eastern Europe
Situazione
An owner-managed manufacturer was building its position in two South-Eastern European markets through an established distributor network.
Mandato
Commercial strategy and execution, working directly with the owner. Mandates of this kind turn on channel management and on being present enough in the market to know what distributors are actually doing, rather than on headcount or activity.
Risultato
The mandate was designed to move distributor management from passive oversight to active market execution: clearer visibility of partner performance, more frequent in-market engagement, and a stronger basis for growing sales through the existing channel network.
Costo e durata
What an Interim Commercial Director mandate costs and how long it runs
Il costo degli incarichi è calcolato in base a una tariffa giornaliera che tiene conto dell’ambito di competenza, dei poteri e della durata. Non è prevista alcuna percentuale sullo stipendio, né commissioni di collocamento, né investimenti iniziali. Si pagano solo i giorni effettivamente lavorati nell’ambito dell’incarico concordato e la tariffa viene confermata prima che il dirigente inizi a lavorare.
Tariffa giornaliera indicativa
da 1.000 € a 3.000 €
In misura maggiore nei casi in cui l’incarico comporti una carica prevista dalla legge o presenti una complessità transfrontaliera.
Durata e tappe fondamentali
Commercial mandate
Da nove a dodici mesi
Sostituzione per assenza
Alla nomina a tempo indeterminato
Pricing authority and commercial cadence established
Entro trenta giorni
Dirigente in sede
Entro 72 ore dal completamento della memoria
Cosa fa variare il numero.
The complexity of the commercial model and the number of markets and channels. Whether major account recovery sits inside the mandate. Whether pricing authority extends to contract terms as well as price. The language senior customer negotiation is conducted in. Every mandate is delivered on site.
A cosa dovrebbe essere confrontato.
Non il costo del mandato, ma il costo di una situazione che si protrae senza un esecutivo responsabile, mentre le decisioni vengono rinviate.
Quanto pagherai effettivamente.
Un partner ti fornirà una cifra già durante il primo colloquio riservato. Senza alcun costo né impegno.
Domande
Questions boards and owners ask
Direttore commerciale ad interim o direttore vendite ad interim?
Direttore commerciale nei casi in cui il modello sia complesso, con diverse fonti di ricavo, canali o clienti importanti, e in cui siano inclusi anche i prezzi e i margini. Direttore vendite nei casi in cui il modello preveda un’unica strategia di vendita e il compito sia quello di guidare il team nell’attuazione della stessa.
Il nostro fatturato è in calo. È la scelta giusta?
A volte. Se i clienti se ne vanno a causa della consegna o della qualità piuttosto che del prezzo o del rapporto con l’azienda, un appuntamento commerciale serve solo a curare il sintomo. Un Partner lo dirà chiaramente e indicherà l’appuntamento operativo che affronta la causa.
In che cosa si differenzia da una società di consulenza commerciale?
Una società di consulenza, in genere, analizza la situazione e formula delle raccomandazioni. Un direttore commerciale ad interim detiene l’autorità esecutiva delegata per prendere decisioni in materia di prezzi, contabilità e struttura commerciale, nonché per negoziare direttamente con i clienti nell’ambito del mandato conferitogli. È questa la differenza tra una raccomandazione e una decisione presa da un team che non ha raggiunto gli obiettivi prefissati.
L'arrivo di una persona esterna potrebbe compromettere i nostri rapporti con i clienti?
Non è necessario. I rapporti intrattenuti da un singolo individuo rappresentano già di per sé un rischio di continuità. Parte del mandato consiste nel trasferirli a un titolare ben definito, in modo che sopravvivano a qualsiasi cessazione di incarico, compresa quella dell’amministratore provvisorio.
Quali poteri vengono conferiti al commissario ad interim?
Autorità in materia di prezzi e sconti, autorità in materia di contratti e condizioni entro limiti definiti, gestione dei clienti principali e autorità sulla struttura commerciale. Da concordare prima che il dirigente assuma l’incarico, poiché è il cliente a stabilire, già durante il primo incontro, quali impegni il candidato possa assumere.
È davvero possibile recuperare i prezzi senza perdere il cliente?
È possibile, a condizione che la situazione economica giustifichi il cambiamento e che il rapporto commerciale sia in grado di assorbirlo. La negoziazione dovrebbe tenere conto della posizione del cliente, dell’andamento dei costi, del contratto e del valore del cliente, piuttosto che dare per scontato che ogni aumento possa essere trasferito. L’anzianità di servizio e una chiara autorità decisionale assumono particolare importanza quando il cliente o la negoziazione rivestono un’importanza significativa per l’azienda.
In quanto tempo si può iniziare?
Un dirigente selezionato e in linea con il mandato è pronto a iniziare entro 72 ore dal completamento del brief relativo al mandato. Secondo l’esperienza di CE Interim, la ricerca di un Direttore Commerciale a tempo indeterminato può richiedere dalle otto alle dodici settimane; eventuali periodi di preavviso allungano ulteriormente i tempi, mentre nel frattempo il flusso di candidature e le relazioni si indeboliscono progressivamente.
Chi incarica il dirigente e quali sono le responsabilità del cliente?
CE gestisce incarichi di interim su base business-to-business e il dirigente ad interim non entra a far parte dell’azienda cliente come dipendente a tempo indeterminato. La parte contraente è un’entità locale o un hub regionale, a seconda del Paese di intervento, scelta tra le oltre trenta entità che compongono la Valtus Alliance. Lo status lavorativo, gli obblighi fiscali, previdenziali e quelli correlati dipendono dalla giurisdizione, dalla struttura contrattuale e dalle circostanze dell’incarico; pertanto, l’incarico viene strutturato in base al paese in cui viene svolto il lavoro.
Chi si assume il rischio nel caso in cui il dirigente ricopra una carica ufficiale?
L’assicurazione viene stipulata per ogni singolo incarico. Il dirigente dispone di una propria copertura assicurativa per la responsabilità civile degli amministratori e dei dirigenti e per la responsabilità professionale; in alcuni casi, il cliente provvede a fornirla o contribuisce al suo costo. Anche CE Interim e ogni membro della Valtus Alliance dispongono di una propria copertura assicurativa. L’ambito di responsabilità, i limiti e i limiti di firma vengono concordati per iscritto dal cliente, da CE Interim e dal dirigente prima che quest’ultimo inizi la propria attività.
Does the executive need to speak the customer’s language?
Not always, but direct language capability can materially improve a senior customer negotiation. CE Interim treats it as a selection criterion where the account relationship, local market or negotiation requires it. Negotiating through an intermediary can concede ground that is difficult to recover.
How long before margin actually moves?
Pricing decisions can be taken inside ninety days. Margin follows the contract renewal cycle, which in many industrial businesses is annual, so the mandate runs nine to twelve months to see the decisions through to realised price rather than agreed price.
Will we lose customers?
Possibly. The mandate should define which accounts and volumes create sustainable value, and what level of customer attrition, if any, the business is prepared to accept. Price recovery is not about preserving every unit of volume regardless of economics.
Cosa succede alla fine?
A deliberate handover. Pricing discipline, account ownership and the commercial governance move to named people inside the business, so the gains do not leave with the executive.
Every discount granted this quarter is the opening position for the next negotiation.
Parla direttamente con un partner ad interim di CE riguardo alla situazione dirigenziale, al mandato e alle competenze necessarie. La conversazione è riservata e non comporta alcun impegno da parte tua in merito a una nomina.
Risposta del partner entro 24 ore. Priorità alle situazioni urgenti relative alla leadership.
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