“Sales Director” covers a wider range of roles in Asset Finance than almost any other senior title. One lender uses it for the person who runs a broker distribution team. Another uses it for a senior individual contributor who opens vendor and manufacturer partnerships. A third means a commercial leader who owns an entire new business line. Before a search can begin, the first job is to be clear which of these you are hiring.
Start With the Channel
Business reaches an Asset Finance lender through three broad routes: independent brokers, vendor or manufacturer partnerships, and direct relationships with end customers. Most sales director briefs sit mainly in one of them, and the skills and networks involved are not interchangeable.
Broker-led sales is about distribution. The role is to make a credit proposition easy to place, to keep a panel of brokers engaged, and to hold the relationship when a deal is declined. Vendor sales is closer to partnership development, with longer cycles and a stronger link to the vendor’s own sales process. Direct sales relies on sector knowledge and the ability to originate in a defined territory or market.
A strong record in one channel does not automatically transfer to another. Trade press announcements of new sales director appointments at UK specialist lenders usually describe the role in channel terms for this reason, whether that is broker-first growth or vendor partnership expansion. The brief should do the same.
Decide Whether You Are Hiring a Leader or a Player
The word director can mean very different things. Some roles are team leadership roles with targets, headcount and a strategy to own. Others are senior individual contributor roles, where the work is winning and developing partners personally. Hiring a strong individual contributor into a leadership brief, or the reverse, is one of the most common reasons a sales appointment does not work.
Be specific about the size of the team, whether it exists yet, who the director reports to, and whether they are expected to build or inherit. These details change who will be interested and who will succeed.
Credit Alignment Matters More Than It First Appears
Sales leaders in Asset Finance depend on consistent credit decisions. Brokers and vendors place business with lenders they can predict, and a sales director who does not understand credit appetite will damage relationships by promising what the lender cannot deliver.
Assess how the candidate has worked with credit teams, how they have handled declined deals, and how they bring credit feedback back to the market. This is a leadership skill in its own right, and a CV rarely shows it.
The Candidates Are Passive and Visible
The strongest sales directors are rarely looking. They are performing against targets and holding relationships that make them hard to replace internally. They are also visible. The Asset Finance sales community is small, and a move at this level is noticed by brokers, vendors and competitors. That makes confidentiality a practical requirement rather than a courtesy, and it is one reason these searches are usually run by direct approach rather than advert.
Expect restrictive covenants. Notice periods of three months are standard in the sector, and non-solicitation and non-compete terms are common at senior level. Understand them early, take legal advice where needed, and plan the start date accordingly. A candidate who looks available at appointment may not be able to start for several months.
Structure the Package Carefully
Sales leadership packages differ from other senior appointments because variable pay carries real weight, and base salary alone rarely tells the full story. Be clear about the bonus structure, how targets are set, whether they are personal or team-based, and how payment works during a ramp-up period.
Candidates compare the whole structure. A package that looks competitive on base salary but is vague on variable pay will lose them. Benchmark against current market data before the search starts, not at offer stage.
What to Test at Interview
Look past the headline numbers. Ask how the candidate’s results compared with the market at the time, how they built a pipeline rather than inherited one, and what they did when a key broker or vendor relationship came under strain.
Ask how they have handled broker commission arrangements and disclosure requirements. Ask how they work with credit and operations when a deal does not fit policy. References from brokers or vendors, where available, are among the most useful signals.
Timing
A well-run search typically takes six to eight weeks from the start of the search to an appointment. That includes longlisting, a shortlist of four or five candidates, two rounds of interviews, and a final stage with two or three candidates.
Add a three-month notice period and the realistic gap between starting a search and a new sales director being in the seat is roughly four to five months, longer if garden leave or covenants apply. Starting earlier than feels necessary is the most effective way to protect a sales plan.
Resilient Management Solutions specialises in executive search and talent acquisition across Asset, Auto, Equipment Finance & Leasing. If you are planning a sales leadership appointment, we are happy to talk.
