At the centre of the position was Sales Operations as an enabler function. The new leader was expected not only to improve operational processes, but also to provide sales and management with robust decision-making foundations. This included territory planning, visit planning, preparation and follow-up of customer meetings, performance analyses, reports, training, budgeting, forecasting and controlling.
The role was therefore a key position with high management attention. It reported to the Head of Sales, Marketing & Operations and was closely connected to several departments. The Head of Sales Operations was expected to coordinate, integrate and ensure that processes, tools and KPIs would bring the sales organisation to a higher performance level.
The role particularly included:
- management of the Sales Operations unit, including post-M&A integration
- contract management from creation to support
- CRM management
- support for the sales organisation in planning, analysis and reporting
- budgeting, forecasting and controlling
- analytics-driven decision preparation
- development and implementation of KPIs
- bonus calculation and pay-out management
- coordination and interaction with various departments
- deputy function for the Head of Sales, Marketing
Why This Appointment Was Particularly Demanding
The client was not looking for a pure operations profile, but for a leader with impact on sales, management and transformation.
The requirements for the ideal candidate were broad. In addition to experience in Sales Operations and Sales Excellence, the role required strong management and leadership qualities, experience in process optimisation and contract management, analytical strength and solid CRM knowledge, ideally with Salesforce. ERP experience, ideally SAP, was also relevant.
At the same time, the role had a strong communication component. The Head of Sales Operations had to act as an integrative and politically skilled enabler for Sales, Management and adjacent departments. The decisive factor was the ability to prepare decision-making foundations in a way that would genuinely improve the performance of the sales organisation.
The market logic added further complexity. The client operates in a displacement market where quality, customer orientation and additional services are decisive for gaining market share. Customers include doctors and hospitals, making a deep understanding of the Swiss healthcare system and its current developments essential.
A member of the executive management team summarised the expectation as follows:
“I did not want someone who might be able to do it. I wanted someone who knows how it is done.”
Particularly demanding was the combination of:
- Sales Operations and Sales Excellence
- people and process management
- contract management and territory planning
- CRM, ERP, analytics and reporting
- KPI development to steer the sales organisation
- healthcare experience and understanding of market segmentation
- communication strength and integrative working style
- change capability within a transforming sales organisation
Additional Complexity: Two Roles Had to Fit Together
The position was not searched for in isolation, but in interaction with another strategic sales leadership role.
During the mandate, there was a particular challenge: another central sales leadership position was being appointed in parallel. This meant that not only the Head of Sales Operations profile had to be clarified, but also the distinction and complementarity between both roles.
There was not yet a fully established team setup that could simply be used to define responsibilities. The first step was therefore to understand potential profile combinations: which competencies should one role cover? Which personality would complement the other? And how could an effective combination be created for the future sales organisation?
This uncertainty made profile refinement especially valuable. The requirements had to be defined not only functionally, but also reflected against the market. This made visible which expectations were realistic, which needed to be adjusted and which combination of skills and personalities would truly move the organisation forward.
The profile refinement focused on:
- distinction between Sales Operations and the other sales leadership role
- definition of future responsibilities
- combination of skills and personalities within the leadership team
- realistic assessment of the available candidate market
- balance between operational Sales Operations experience and transformation capability
- ensuring that both roles would strengthen the sales organisation together
Search Approach: Market Reality Instead of a Wish List on Paper
The search helped refine expectations and make the realistic candidate market visible.
The client had searched for the ideal appointment for many years without finding the right person. This showed how narrow the target profile was: the role was not a standard Sales Operations position, but required practical experience, sector understanding, leadership strength and the ability to support an organisation in transformation.
The market approach created a clear picture of which profiles were available and which expectations needed to be refined. The process helped the client move beyond a purely theoretical ideal profile and focus the search on candidates with proven relevant experience who matched the organisational situation.
Consulting was a central part of the process. It helped reduce uncertainty between the profiles and define the requirements in a way that would strengthen the future sales organisation not only personally, but also structurally.
A responsible executive described the value of this consulting approach as follows:
“We gained a very good understanding of what the market could offer for both positions and which of our expectations may have been unrealistic.”
The search approach enabled:
- targeted identification of candidates with practical Sales Operations experience
- market calibration of a highly specific profile
- refinement of requirements based on realistically available competencies
- assessment of experience in healthcare, market segmentation and sales steering
- evaluation of leadership, process thinking and analytical strength
- alignment of the role with the parallel sales leadership appointment
- reduction of uncertainty in a complex search mandate
Selection and Decision: Two Strong Profiles with Different Strengths
The final selection showed that the decision was not only about experience, but about the right combination of personality and capability.
At the end of the process, 2 top candidates reached the final selection. Both brought valuable competencies, but differed in their profiles. This comparability was important for the decision: the client could assess not only who was functionally qualified, but also which personality best matched the transformation of the sales organisation and the future allocation of responsibilities.
The selected candidate proved to be a particularly strong fit for the company’s expectations. The decisive factor was the combination of experience, execution strength and the ability to bring the sales organisation to a higher performance level. As a result, the role was not merely filled, but anchored as a lever for stronger steering and further development of the sales function.
The final evaluation focused on:
- experience in Sales Operations and Sales Excellence
- ability to develop contract management and territory planning
- understanding of CRM, reporting, KPIs and performance steering
- leadership experience and change capability
- ability to act as an enabler for Sales and Management
- sector understanding and proximity to the Swiss healthcare system
- personal fit with the parallel sales leadership role
- contribution to the transformation of the sales organisation
Result: Sales Operations Strengthened as a Steering Function
The appointment brought structure, data orientation and management impact into a key role.
The Head of Sales Operations position was successfully appointed in 5 months. The shortlist was presented after 6 weeks; 2 candidates reached the final interview round. For the client, the appointment was an important step towards establishing Sales Operations as a strong steering and enabler function.
The role supports the sales organisation in defining processes more clearly, optimising tools and workflows, building KPIs and preparing decisions more strongly based on data. At the same time, it strengthens the connection between Sales, Management and adjacent departments.
Concrete client benefits:
- successful appointment of a strategically important Sales Operations role
- strengthening of Sales Excellence, process management and sales steering
- better decision-making foundations through robust KPIs and analytics
- more professional structuring of contract management and territory planning
- support for post-M&A integration in the sales environment
- better alignment between Sales Operations and the other sales leadership role
- access to candidates with practical experience and sector understanding
- more certainty in a search that had not been solved internally for years
Key KPIs:
- 6 weeks from mandate start to shortlist presentation
- 2 candidates in the final interview round
- 5 months mandate duration
What This Mandate Shows
Sales Operations becomes effective when processes, data and leadership come together.
- Sales Operations is more than administrative support in transformation phases.
- A strong enabler function improves planning, steering and performance across the entire sales organisation.
- When appointing parallel leadership roles, responsibilities must be considered together and clearly distinguished.
- A realistic market view helps translate wish profiles into appointable target profiles.
- Practical experience is decisive when processes need to be redefined and performance systems built.
- In demanding markets, sales success is driven by customer understanding, data quality, process maturity and clear responsibilities.
