Sales Director - Utilities Infrastructure Installer
Collingwood partnered this growing Utilities Infrastructure installer based in the North West. Their growth has in principle been borne out of the Managing Directors realisation that a strong client experience had been lacking throughout the industry. The leadership team has built a team of 50 employees based on an ethos of humility, respect, integrity, resilience, open communications and personal development. The organisation boasted turnover doubling in the last four years.
The Role
To date, new business has been won through the MD’s strong, regional industry network, supported by a team of three external sales personnel. And although targets had been excelled, the company felt ready to invest in a Sales Director in order to build and roll out a strategy going forward. Overall the company has a clear plan to 2022, but very little substance in terms of sales strategy. The Board was looking to appoint a seasoned Director who could:
- Devise, evolve and drive a robust sales strategy for the coming years
- Shape intelligence into what the market requires from the services now and in the future.
- Build and develop the sales and marketing teams
The Business Challenge
Unlike situations Collingwood often find themselves in, this client was not insistent on an individual coming from the competition. The cultural, person and overall skill set were of more significance to them. Culturally they required someone who had proven abilities to formulate strategy and drive grow in a privately owned company setting. Clearly, based on their own values, the cultural fit was going to be key.
About the author
With 23 years of recruitment experience under his belt, Mark has spent the last 19 focused on Building Products & Construction.
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The Solution and The Result
Honing in on an area to target, Mark Goldsmith consulted in services that would most align to the client’s marketplace. Given the market was Main Contractors and Consulting Engineers, Mark was able to offer a broad array of target companies. These did include circa 30 direct competitors. In total Mark targeted 67 companies, developing a target list of their Sales Directors.
After approaching and engaging with candidates via phone calls, Mark gained the interest of 25 individuals. Of these, eight were rejected after initial phone interviews,with Mark agreeing to meet seven for face-to-face interviews. The other candidates were put on hold should these candidates not meet the client's requirements. Four were recommended during a board meeting at which Mark presented the candidate shortlist.
Importantly, the client had not recruited to this level previously, therefore, support was offered throughout their interviewing process. At the first stage this involved Collingwood advising on who from the client should interview and a list of prominent competency based questions. This led to the client taking their two preferred candidates to the second stage. Again, Mark advised on the best approach – this time being for the four main board members to meet and an agreed presentation to be produced by the two candidates. Mark Goldsmith then took the client and preferred candidate through the offer and onboarding stages, until he started two months on.
