A mid-market forwarder had plateaued after several years of flat growth. The departure of its commercial leader left a fragmented sales organization with no national account strategy and eroding margins on legacy business.
We mapped the North American forwarding market and confidentially engaged more than 40 passive commercial leaders. Within six weeks we presented a shortlist of four — each vetted for verticalized selling, full P&L ownership, and a documented record of building national account programs.
The board had watched revenue drift sideways for three years while competitors consolidated share. When the sitting commercial leader left, they recognized the vacancy as a chance to reset the entire go-to-market model rather than simply backfill a seat.
The brief was demanding: a commercial executive who could own a full P&L, sell into complex verticals, and rebuild a demoralized sales team without triggering client attrition during the transition.
Because the strongest candidates were performing well elsewhere, the search was run confidentially against a mapped universe of the market's most effective forwarding commercial leaders. We prioritized documented revenue creation over title inflation, and pressure-tested each finalist's national-account playbook against the client's specific lane and vertical mix.
The placed CRO restructured the sales organization around named verticals, installed a national account program, and re-priced unprofitable legacy freight. Within twelve months the company had reversed years of flat performance and returned to double-digit growth — while lifting margins on the book it kept.
Client company and placed candidate identities are withheld to protect the confidentiality of our retained search engagements.
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