Commercial Manager - Northern Europe

Cordstrap designs its solutions to safely transport and protect the goods, people handling them, and industrial environments they pass through. They are now shifting to a solutions-centric approach to enhance their value proposition. The Commercial Manager of Northern Europe will lead the Sales Team, drive growth and increase market share in Benelux, UK and Ireland, France, Nordics, the Baltics, and Poland.

About Cordstrap

Cordstrap is the global market leader in protection engineering. They mitigate risks associated with the movement of goods, and protectiing products, people, and places. And they work closely with customers to provide tailored advice and solutions for a wide variety of global shipping needs. Their wide product range includes equipment, strapping, lashing, dunnage bags, moisture control, and cargo monitoring services. Along with their extensive solutions and services, Cordstrap offers specialized application expertise and local regulatory knowledge to create complete, customized load security solutions for each client. From large project cargo and hazardous chemicals to fragile materials, Cordstrap ensures every kind of cargo is moved safely, worldwide.

With headquarters in The Netherlands and a global presence of sales offices, factories, and distribution partners, Cordstrap has 500 employees present in twenty-two countries and serves customers in more than fifty countries.

Now Cordstrap is developing a fit-for-future sales approach to further enable commercial teams to strike the right balance between customer acquisition, development, and retention. This sales-based model focuses on potential and high value opportunities in three main application segments: Container Protection (CP); Heavy Duty Securing (HDS); and Palletizing, Unitizing and Bundling (PUB). To maintain their momentum and leadership position among competitors, Cordstrap’s strategy is to focus on high value products and services, innovation, and cross-selling opportunities.

Vacancy: Commercial Manager – Northern Europe

Cordstrap is seamlessly transitioning from a small and mid-sized customer, product-oriented approach to a solutions, applications-oriented marketing and sales approach. It focuses on larger customers in key industries. To continue developing their global brand, expand their value proposition, and increase growth and profitably, Cordstrap’s account managers must adapt and adjust their sales approach and customer service standards.

The Commercial Manager of Northern Europe will lead the Regional Sales Team through this transformation towards Protection Engineering. This role will proactively coach the team to identify opportunities to negotiate and upsell, enable value-added conversations with customers, and unlock new sources of value and growth within Cordstrap’s existing customer base.

The organization’s Northern European region includes Benelux, UK and Ireland, France, Poland, as well as the Nordics and Baltics. These represent one third of Cordstrap’s European market, with a twenty-three million euro revenue. They anticipate substantial growth in this region in the coming years, especially within verticals that benefit from Cordstrap’s offering in Container Protection and Heavy-Duty Securing segments. The new Manager will take the commercial strategy of this region to the next level by applying a customer-centric mindset. They will translate the Regional Sales Team’s technical knowledge and expertise into attractive sales propositions, identify opportunities, improve retention rates, and drive profitable margins.

By driving key account development, the Commercial Manager of Northern Europe’s efforts will result in achieving outstanding results. They will coach the team to develop deeper client relationships, effectively negotiate, strategically upsell, and efficiently close deals in line with Cordstrap’s Protection Engineering approach. Utilizing CRM and Power BI platforms, they will enhance the quality of data and insights, acquire market intelligence, and monitor commercial progress. The Manager also has a solid grasp of the relationship between sales and marketing teams, and ensures alignment of growth strategies with the development of innovative campaigns, which translate into increased sales.

Focused on stimulating teamwork and collaboration, they will smoothly integrate new hires, and then guide, motivate, and coach the experienced sales team members, and support them as their roles and responsibilities change. Bringing structure and energy to the team, this role creates buy-in and commitment in a pragmatic way thst connects with a range of personalities, cultures and functions, and understands how to grow and develop lasting, collaborative relationships.

Reporting to the European VP of Sales, the Commercial Manager of Northern Europe can manage multiple stakeholders at once, while they present insights, plans and strategies to leadership with ease. They work closely with the Central and Southern Europe commercial managers, the European Strategic Account Director, the Small and Mid-sized Accounts Director, and the European Marketing Activation Manager. Additionally, they collaborate with a variety of departments, including Development Engineering, Business Intelligence, and Customer Service.

“Cordstrap is in the middle of a strategic transformation journey. As an excellent people coach, the Commercial Manager of Northern Europe will implement growth strategies and enhance our value proposition, making an immediate impact on the success of our sales team and future growth of our business.” – Paul de Weert, VP Sales Europe of Cordstrap

Cordstrap is a fast-growing organization where creative ideas and taking initiative are valued and encouraged. This management role is based in Northern Europe — ideally in Belgium or The Netherlands — and involves international travel. It’s a perfect opportunity for an entrepreneurial team leader who is ready to hit the ground running and make a direct impact on this dynamic international organization’s future growth.

Interested?

Cordstrap is working with Top of Minds to fill this vacancy.
To express your interest, please contact Stephanie Stuit at stephaniestuit@topofminds.com