Without delving into the general essence of the work, one would think that the commercial departments are fully and completely follow the staff principle. He is not one. The fact is that its functions are divided into autonomous components, but at the same time they have the same value. The only common goal is to force buyers to purchase certain goods.
It is worth noting that each component in the commercial department works independently. At the same time, all parties to the business make a small contribution to the success of the entire enterprise as a whole.
What do the commercial departments of enterprises do?
Distinctive features in any field of activity are the presence of its directions and the organization of the main tasks to achieve the required peaks. So what does the commercial department in the enterprise do? The purpose of the commercial department is the acquisition by legal entities as well as individuals of the goods and services offered on the market or their exchange for alternative items for mutual benefit. It is interesting to note that the elements used by marketing are also operated by the unit in question.
The organization of this structure is quite complex, but at the same time gives it the opportunity to perform many different tasks. The main goal in this case is the creation of a certain system of various measures that will be aimed at regulating the sale and purchase process, and at the same time at satisfying the main demand and making a profit.
The structure of the commercial department
The structure along with the staff size of the department under consideration is approved by the director and his deputy for commercial matters. Directly into the composition are all kinds of structural units with groups of specialists and more. The head of such an organization distributes duties among all available employees and approves their job descriptions. Below we will consider the functions and tasks of the commercial department.
Tasks
In order to understand what the commercial department is doing, it is necessary to designate its production facilities:
- Drawing up a long-term business strategy and financial plan of the enterprise.
- Taking part in the preparation of current and future production plans along with the sale of products.
- The use of the necessary measures for the timely conclusion of economic and financial documentation with suppliers and all kinds of consumers of products and raw materials in combination with the expansion of direct and long-term economic ties.
- Exercise of control over the sale of products, material technical support of the company, economic and financial performance indicators, and at the same time the correct expenditure of available working capital.
- Taking part in fairs, exhibitions, tenders, exchanges for advertising and product sales.
- Analysis of market conditions for products manufactured by the enterprise.
Department functions in the organization
The functions of the commercial department of the enterprise, as a rule, are as follows:
- Providing financial and economic activities of the company in the field of material, as well as technical supply. At the same time, storage of raw materials, marketing of products on the markets and under a supply contract, transport and administrative business services are carried out.
- Fulfillment of a contractual obligation to supply products (according to the nomenclature, quantity, quality, assortment, timing and other conditions of supply).
- Taking part in the development of standards for material technical support of commercial quality along with the organization of storage and transportation of raw materials, as well as marketing of finished products.
- Timely payment of wages to employees.
- Conducting the development of measures for the integrated use of material resources.
- Improving the regulation of raw materials consumption, working capital, materials and stocks of values.
- Improving the economic indicator and the formation of a system of indicators of the enterprise.
- Increasing production efficiency along with strengthening financial discipline, preventing education and destroying excess inventories of commodity and material values, and, in addition, with the overexpenditure of financial resources.
What other tasks are assigned to commercial departments?
A wide field of various duties involves the implementation of additional production work, they are as follows:
- Organization of the activities of the warehouse, along with the creation of conditions for proper storage, and at the same time, the safety of finished products and material resources.
- Implementation of the rational use of all types of transport in combination with the improvement of loading and unloading, taking measures to maximize the equipping of this service with the necessary devices and mechanisms.
- Organization of activities for the use, and at the same time, for the implementation of secondary resources and by-products of production.
- Timely preparation of estimated and financial documents, and in addition, all kinds of calculations, established reporting on the implementation of plans for the sale of finished products.
- Reporting on financial activities, material and technical supply.
Features
What the commercial department does is now known. However, you should pay attention to some features of this unit:
- Commercial departments are independent structural divisions.
- It is created and liquidated on the basis of the order of the director of the company.
- This element of the institution reports directly to the deputy director in charge of business matters.
Guide
It is headed by a chief appointed by order of the director of the company on the proposal of the deputy general. Director of Commercial Affairs. The management of the enterprise department necessarily has its deputies.
What does the head of the commercial department do? As mentioned above, the responsibilities of the management of the unit include the distribution of responsibilities between all available employees and the approval of their job descriptions.
Alternate Responsibilities
The duties of deputies are determined by their superiors. Deputies and heads of structural divisions within the department under consideration, as well as other employees, are appointed to or dismissed from them by order of the director.
Company Advertising Department
In another way, it is also called an advertising service. In this case, we are talking about the structural unit of the organization, whose task is to conduct activities in the field of marketing communication and the implementation of the chosen economic strategy. Advertising departments in many structures are often connected to the PR department.
But it is worth noting that the feasibility of such a combination directly depends on the tasks assigned to the company, and at the same time on the niche of the business. Depending on this, the functions of advertising departments in commercial structures may differ. There are two common situations with the responsibilities of this share of the enterprise. In the first case, the company advertises with the help of its employees, and third-party specialists are invited to conduct PR events.
In the second option, the situation is completely opposite. Specialists of the advertising department are involved in the organization of events and public relations, and the PR activity itself is entrusted to the hired agency (while it remains under the supervision of regular employees). What does the sales department at the plant or any other industrial enterprise, it is important to find out in advance.
This approach is very convenient. True, against the background of business growth and the advisability of advertising and PR events, regular use of the services of foreign specialists is unreasonably costly. Such a need creates the need for an advertising policy in the framework of the company, and, accordingly, in studying the issue of the duties and functions of the department and its management.
What do commercial departments in construction companies do?
As a rule, their work is as follows:
- Search along with attracting new volumes of engineering and construction services.
- Development of design, construction and other activities of the organization.
- Conducting commercial negotiations in the field of supply and marketing policies.
- Business correspondence with customers in the interests of the enterprise.
- Analysis of the competitive environment of the engineering and construction services market.
- Formation of a plan for the sale of services of a general contracting construction company and ensuring its implementation.
- Organization of activities in the framework of preparation of tender documentation and participation in relevant events.
- Preparation and calculation of commercial proposals along with the conclusion of contracts and interaction with tender committees.
- Managing the activities of the structural units of the enterprise along with the supervision of ongoing projects.
- Monitoring compliance with the quality standard of work, ensuring the fulfillment by the company of its obligations.
- Control over the implementation of construction and design schedules.
Rights
In order to understand what the commercial department does in a construction organization, it is necessary to indicate its authority:
- The requirement for the subdivisions of the company to submit materials, reports, applications, information necessary to carry out its direct activities.
- Providing guidance to structural units on issues that fall within the competence of the department.
- Exercise of control over the correct expenditure of working capital and the targeted use of bank loans, as well as over the cessation of production of products that are not sold.
- Represent on behalf of the company in various enterprises, institutions and organizations on issues that are within the competence of the department.
- Monitoring compliance with the discipline in the framework of tasks and obligations for the supply of products and its compliance with business documents.
- The requirement from the heads of all divisions to timely provide papers and materials that are necessary for normal work.
- Submit various incentives to employees to management.
- Providing information about the plans of the department and reporting on actual implementation.
- Certification of employees.
In the article, we examined in detail what the commercial department does. They outlined the main functions, tasks and structure of such units, which are an integral part of each enterprise, allowing to carry out the required tasks for the success of the company.