Serge Megazzini
Executive Interim Management
Sales Leadership,
from crafting strategies to execution
Overcoming challenges
I’m an executive interim manager specializing in sales leadership and intrapreneurship applied to B2B manufacturing industries. I craft strategies across all business cycles and sales channels, elevate the performance of sales organizations, and lead key initiatives with a strong commercial focus.
As an experienced interim CSO, Head of Sales / Business Development or Head of special projects, I take responsibility for overcoming commercial challenges and achieving growth and transformation goals — in a strategically sound, operationally effective, and sustainable manner.
I support
international companies and corporations
during periods of change — whether
expansion,
reorganization, or
post-merger integration
— and ensure that commercial actions produce the desired impact and results.
Delivering expertise
I initially forged my expertise within international corporate and family-owned organizations operating in the automotive supply industry, where I have consistently progressed, assumed increasing responsibilities, and delivered significant results. Since 2019, I have broadened my skills by carrying out a series of interim management projects in various industries.
Strategic Planning
Driving sustainable growth by defining and implementing effective top-down and bottom-up strategies
Business Development
Reaching business goals through core business consolidation and expansion into new customers and markets
Financial Performance
Strengthening tactics and negotiations in acquisition, lifecycle management, and claims resolution
Sales Operations
Optimizing commercial structures and capabilities for autonomous strategy execution and objective achievement
Driving transformation
I drive commercial transformation projects by taking a pragmatic approach, offering concrete solutions based on experience and best practices, tailored to my client's unique context.
By working closely in a transversal manner with my client's organization, I ensure that transformations are not only well crafted, but also implemented under optimal conditions, so that the vision becomes reality.
Leveraging sales leadership and transversal management principles, I motivate teams to consistently deliver on projects and elevate their practices.
With extensive international experience, I lead multicultural and interdisciplinary teams effectively, considering and valuing their diversity and that of their customers. This fosters a collaborative environment that drives collective performance.
Commercial performance
I have seen this throughout my career: sales performance depends, not least, on interdisciplinary intelligence, anticipation, commitment, and agility. These bahaviors can be cultivated by developing both strong sales leadership and interdisciplinary intrapreneurship within cross-functional sales development teams.
Much more than complementary, these two components enrich each other and form a virtuous circle, a real performance lever:
- Sales leadership involves mobilizing and guiding multidisciplinary teams toward the achievement of common goals by eliminating friction, aligning priorities, and translating strategy into concrete, measurable results.
- Interdisciplinary intrapreneurship infuses commercial actions with a creative and constructive spirit: evaluating possibilities, anticipating opportunities, proactively collaborating with customers, co-building solutions with various partners, and autonomously deploying what works.
Working in synergy, they creat momentum: healthier pipelines, efficient sales processes, strengthened customer relationships, higher win rates, and increased added value.
The combination of coordinated leadership and entrepreneurial drive is a
powerful engine for sustainable growth.
Commercial excellence
Anticipation x Networking x Leadership
= Impact ³
Commercial excellence plays a crucial role in achieving profitable growth. It is based on the art of effectively influencing business development and can be briefly summarized as understanding needs, building trust, and convincing customers to choose your solution over that of your competitors. It is a discipline that requires a structured set of skills, behaviors and processes working in synergy to generate sales performance.
Commercial excellence encompasses 3 key pillars of that are too often neglected:
Anticipation
- Identifying customer needs and requirements early
- Preparing proactively appropriate solutions
- Carrying out relevant strategic and tactical actions
- Convincing customers before they have initiated their decision-making processes
Networking
- Reaching all relevant stakeholders in all departments concerned, at all pertinent levels, at customers, business partners as well as internally
- Developing and constantly nurturing a strong network of relationships
Leadership
- Motivating multidimensional (multi-disciplinary, multi-cultural, multi-generational and multi-hierarchical) internal and external stakeholders
- Steering decisions in a responsible manner and driving success
The combination of anticipation, networking and leadership is a decisive lever for influencing and accelerating commercial success.
Sales efficiency assessment
An initial analysis provides and
assessment of strengths, weaknesses and potential improvements. It consists of conducting interviews with all parties concerned (executive management, all members of the sales department, leaders of the other departments), analyzing processes and KPIs, and reviewing specific business cases as well as lessons learned:
- Management strategy: top-down strategy, organization, delegation of authorities, business process management (BPM), forecasts, continuous improvement, ...
- Commercial impact: influence on sales tasks, skills, resources and efficiency, influence on market segments, sales channels and customers, influence on top-down strategies through bottom-up strategies, influence on value propositions / differentiation strategies, influence on customer relationships and satisfaction, influence on the pipeline and acquisition of business opportunities, influence on pricing and commercial conditions, influence on negotiations and claim management, ...
- Interdisciplinary collaboration: driven by the sales as well as other departments.
- Collaboration tools and their degree of digitalization: enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), product introduction management (PIM), businesss intelligence & analytics, sales planning, product configuration and quotation, project management, contract management, customer portals, marketing & communication, reporting, ...
The analysis leads to the definition of the objectives, content and timelines of the commercial transformation project prior to its implementation, consistent with a selection of priorities.
Profitable restructuring
Since 2018, the industry has faced a series of disruptions and crises, forcing many companies to focus the majority of their resources on resolving immediate operational issues.
The reactive approach often resulted in the detriment of the development and execution of medium- and long-term strategies. As a result, many organizations have seen their competitiveness eroded, making them more vulnerable to substitution in an increasingly dynamic and competitive market.
As an interim manager, I provide a neutral and objective perspective, operational expertise and proven practices to help companies meet these challenges.
Improving positioning, potential
and
commercial performance
enables a
recovery of profitable growth. My mission is firmly rooted in the Kaizen culture: problems are opportunities.
Extensive experience
My background:
30 years
International Business Development
incl. 20 years
Executive
Management
incl. 5+ years
Executive Interim
Management
My last clients:
Member of the DDIM
The DDIM (Dachgesellschaft Deutsches Interim Management e.V.) is the leading association for professional Interim Management in Germany. It is dedicated to the public acknowledgment of the profession and continuous growth in the sector. For this purpose, DDIM defines professional standards, promotes quality assurance and supports knowledge transfer among its members. A DDIM membership is an evidence of quality and competence in Interim Management.
Meaning of the logo
The B2B Challenges logo is inspired by an analogy between interim managers and mountain guides. Much as a team wishing to conquer a difficult peak relies on the experience and leadership of seasoned mountaineers, companies facing complex challenges call on interim managers to provide guidance and support.
The three mountains symbolize the different levels of challenge that organizations can face. The progression of their size reflects their increasing complexity, while the gradient from grey to blue represents the transition from uncertainty to clarity.
Let’s get connected!
You would like to exchange ideas and engage in constructive discussions about the commercial objectives and challenges that are most important to you?
Whether you’re seeking new perspectives, searching solutions, or want to explore how my expertise can help you achieve your goals, I’d be delighted to connect with you.
Your success is my top priority, and I would be delighted to offer the guidance and support you need to turn your vision into reality, transform your aspirations into concrete actions and ensure your goals are achieved.
