Doing it for a huge corporate - The good, the ugly, and how to make it work!

Disclaimer: I can only write from my experience. No corporation is exactly the same, not a single person is free from making mistakes. It is what it is.

Joining a huge German corporate back in 2011, I thought "I did it". Surely, the position of a country manager, a managing director or a CEO of a branch office, is a pinnacle (with included benefits). So was it?

It all started quite surprisingly. A friend of a friend... an invitation to an interview in an Israeli hotel, followed by an invitation for a 2nd interview in the rural parts of Bavaria.

The interview (orchestrated by a senior VP and three other managers) ended with a promising tone.

It took some very tense weeks of silence before being informed about the next step. To make a long story short - I was required to leave my family for what turned out to be 12 weeks of diverse trainings in Germany, during extremely challenging times and without having a contract on hand. I took a leap of faith and took the flight.

A very professional training, requiring me to dig into the far parts of my brain and complete exercises involving physics, math and material strength (knowledge of which, at that point of time, had been already stored in a forgotten memory archive, or so I thought), followed by a return to Israel, to.... well... the comfort of my home, as there was still no office, nor there had been a registered local legal entity.

Establishing the local branch became a long and red-taped process, which included the registration of a local firm (I even financed it myself as a bank account was yet to be opened for the non-existing entity), choosing the right law office, the most suitable accounting firm, looking for real-estate, and other logistics.

The office had been finally established, team had been hired, and business phase had begun!

Running a representing office in an international, multi-cultural environment, in a local arena consisting of small to large customers and well established distributors that operate by their own interests, is a complicated undertaking.

The good:

Unlike small / mid-size companies, large corporates are interested in big accounts, big money, long term business. As such, it is un-threatened by the usual purchasing pressure for reduced prices, optional switch to competition etc. This gives a comfortable space for manoeuvrability in business terms for the local representative. One may concentrate on "important" accounts while having or discarding smaller ones as he sees fit.

Another great point is that you know the corporate has your back. You do not operate as a small business, but as the long arm of a multinational giant. Any special needs, customization, special projects, engineering complexities are tackled by the best of teams, all working to support you. This is a very big deal in industry.

The bad:

You are your territory. The aim of your existence in the eyes of a corporate is bringing results. Bring income and enlarge your customer base. This is naturally highly dependent on the situation of the local market in general and that of the relevant account specifically.

In a small territory, coming up with a business opportunity, attractive enough to gain corporate attention and result in some accreditation for the local branch, is extremely difficult.

In a large territory, or one with significant accounts, any problem (not to mention loss) in/of a big account, shadows any efforts and work that might have been invested by the local team. The importance is in the result.

Finally, a local branch within a large corporate may be everything for the people who establish it and work in it, however it is only a pawn on the chess board. It is disposable.

The ugly:

This is naturally not a very conservative section. People tend to talk only about what's good, drawing a bright picture of success, money, benefits. It is less common to frame the reality.

Corporates are run by people that have made lots of efforts getting to the top of the pyramid. That involves lots of internal and external politics, power struggles and manipulation.

Some people were born for such environments, others can't handle it. At any rate, it is a significant part of the business and those who can't handle it, don't stay.

Making it work:

Making it work requires an understanding, a strategy, and implementation.

Understanding is an initial process of getting to know the organization, its aspirations, values, goals and strategy is the first step. In military practice, each commanding tier has a target, a method for achieving this target, and steps to be taken for completing the above. It is stated that the steps of your superior command translates into your targets. If the level above you has a target of reaching a point "B", and is order to do so it must first reach point "A", secure the road to point "B" and overtake any resistance there, your targets will derive from that and be "secure the road to "A", clear and secure a passage from "A" to "B", enable the level above you to arrive at point "B" and assist in securing the target.

Similarly, if the corporate mark business targets like reaching a certain financial goal, securing specific accounts, gaining larger market share etc., you, as a branch office must plan your strategy, goals, missions, to facilitate that.

Understanding the market you operate in comes next. Competitive intelligence, market analysis, learning who current and potential customers are, what they are doing and planning, who the competition is, how do they operate, who the operators and stakeholders are etc.

Plan bottom-up: assume the target sales volume, number of accounts, etc., is reached and derive backwards what steps should have taken place in order to facilitate it.

For example: Sales went up by 30%, How? either new accounts have been won or existing accounts ordered more. How? existing accounts were offered better payment terms, special discounts or preferred delivery times. New accounts have received special engineering escort and unique solutions, competitive price. How? A good and valid strategic plan for increasing business next year have been meticulously prepared and presented to HQ, gaining territory priority and better financing terms. and so on....

Once you get to the top tier, you'll know what to do.

Managing is an art learned with boots on the ground, experience, leadership, team spirit and common goals. Working in full transparency and realizing (REALLY realizing) that each member of the team count, conducting brainstorming sessions regularly and listen to every single one within your organization will do the trick.

Be a bridge, represent your customers in front of the corporate and your corporate in front of your customers.

Last but by no means least - Master the money flow, think of the business as if it was your own. Manage expenses responsibly, keep an open line to the CFO and your accountant. This is priceless.