Interim Manager Helps Growth Company Reach the Market
Case
ClearView Trade needed a versatile Sales Director with a strong sense of complexity. But as a growth company, it was also necessary to assess the candidate before making a long-term commitment.
Working with complex digitalization in the export industry requires employees who have a deep understanding of the field and can navigate an ever-changing environment. At the same time, as a growth company, there is neither time nor room for mistakes when hiring.
ClearView Trade, which streamlines and automates logistics processes and document management in the export industry, faced exactly that challenge. The company, founded by CEO Morten Jensen Øllgaard, needed a Sales Director who could both take the company to the next step in its growth journey and understand the many nuances and pitfalls of the export business.
“It’s a complex field we work in. Much of the export industry is not yet digitalized, and this often has fatal consequences for companies — for example, when shipments are stopped at customs because of errors in the paperwork. We help them digitalize the process, thereby eliminating human errors,” explains Morten Jensen Øllgaard.
“”“But as a growth company, you constantly face new challenges and opportunities. So, we needed a Sales Director who understood the complexity, could close deals, grasp customer needs, communicate processes clearly, and at the same time be flexible and agile.”
The Right Candidate
In addition to the high professional demands, the candidate also needed to be motivated by joining an innovative growth company.
“We wanted the opportunity to first see how the person fit in, and therefore decided to contact Nextt & Mason to help us find a few interim candidates for a Try & Hire process,” says Morten Jensen Øllgaard.
“Nextt & Mason found four strong candidates, and among them we chose one with exactly the right experience — including from two previous growth companies.”
The selected candidate, Poul Andersen, is now the current Sales Director at ClearView Trade. Morten Jensen Øllgaard quickly realized he was the right fit for the position.
“Poul Andersen has helped grow our pipeline and accelerate our sales — both by adjusting our pricing model so we get more value for the product, and by optimizing our sales processes. At the same time, he has a great eye for identifying when we need specific documentation for, say, food exports, and he is proactive in customer relations,” says Morten Jensen Øllgaard, adding:
“”“I had thought it would be difficult to find the right person, but Nextt & Mason has a huge network of candidates, and that made the process much easier.”
