Experienced Finnish Sales Manager created rapid growth

Straumann is a company that is used to expand and establish new business areas, and Anette Kullman Wiberg confirms that their market share is growing by 3 procent annually. The head office is based in Basel, where the Nordic region is part of a cluster together with Benelux and the UK. When Anette contacted Interim Search’s International Desk, it was in Finland that the need for an interim manager arose.

”We urgently needed a sales manager for our Finnish organization. A broad role responsible for sales and customer care, but also logistics and a small marketing department. The requirement specification was someone who was an experienced sales manager and Finnish speaking. Industry knowledge was less important, but global experience was desirable.”

Anette says that Finland historically has been a difficult market to recruit for. As the permanent recruitment process was likely to take a long time, an interim consultant seemed the most attractive solution. Although it was a temporary role and Straumann’s corporate language is English, the language requirement was important.

”Finnish language skills were one of our stated requirements. In addition, the consultant needed to be present in Finland at least three days a week.”

AnnaCarin Stolpe, Head of International Desk, was able to quickly appoint Ulla Hemmi – a Swedish and Finnish-speaking sales manager with international experience from global companies like IBM and Aditro. She quickly took on the responsibility, became part of the team and helped Straumann manage the vacant position for over a year.

Anette explains, ”Ulla hit the ground running, quickly familiarising herself with our processes and the management teamwork. After that, she was largely self-sufficient. Her ability to negotiate with customers in the local language was incredibly important, as was her ability to develop the team and lead in a way they felt comfortable with.”