Project Description
Founded in 1937 in The Netherlands, Alfen is a European market-leading manufacturer of smart grid solutions.
With transformer substations, energy storage systems, charging stations for electric vehicles (EV) and a large portfolio of other products, Alfen takes on a central role as a connecting partner in the electricity grid. With its broad range of in-house developed products and vast experience as systems integrator, Alfen is dedicated to building the electricity grid of the future:
reliable, sustainable and innovative.
Alfen has enjoyed considerable success in the EV charging market to date, due to a superb product set, and back office solution, and continuing R&D and evolution.
The Challenge
Alex Earl, the UK Country Manager had built a solid foundation in the UK and in 2017 Alfen’s EV charging business was ramping up as the emobility industry started to go through significant growth. This lead to the business needing an experienced Sales Manager to significantly grow their market share.
Having met with senior members of the Alfen team at a low carbon vehicle event in the UK, Hyperion were retained to search for their new UK Sales Manager for their EV charging solutions.
The Solution
The Hyperion team the travelled to Alfen’s HQ in Almere, Netherlands to meet with senior leaders of the business as well as Infestos, Alfen’s major shareholder, to fully understand the business, it’s culture and what they needed for this role.
We then deployed our full research suite to map the market for the best sales people both in the EV charging sector as well as aligned sectors which had undergone significant growth, eg solar and energy storage.
The Result
We presented a strong, diverse shortlist within 3 weeks. Alfen interviewed the candidates in the UK and their HQ in the Netherlands, giving the candidates a comprehensive view of the company. Alfen were so impressed by the candidates that we presented that they decided to hire two new Sales Managers rather than the one they had originally planned.
Testimonials
We asked Hyperion to find us a senior sales / biz dev manager towards the end of 2017. We have since hired someone who we are very happy with – and seemingly she is very happy with us! – and as the quality of the shortlist provided by Hyperion was so good, we are now looking to get a second candidate on board. David was always very available, helpful, cooperative and reactive, and clearly informed of both the EV (and cleantech) market and the possible suitable candidates for us. Certainly happy to recommend his services and I dare say we will be reusing Hyperion again to identify future candidates as we continue to expand.
David has a wealth of knowledge and expertise in the energy sector and is friendly, professional and transparent in his approach. Would highly recommend David and his team!
New Market Entry
Following our success in recruiting into the UK team, Hyperion have subsequently been retained to recruit Sales Managers in France, Norway and Sweden. The challenge for these roles was different however. Alfen had not previously had a footprint in these countries, so finding the right candidates with the ability to build the business from scratch was essential.
Being the first boots on the ground, opening a new market for a business can be daunting for some, or exciting and motivating for others. Whilst these new roles had support from the Commercial Director in the Netherlands, we needed to find candidates with the right mentality to work autonomously.
Extensive research of local EV charging businesses in each country was carried out so we knew exactly who the leading players were. We utilised our extensive European network to identify the most talented individuals capable of this challenge. Having had extensive experience of working with Alfen we were able to tell their story effectively to these individuals and we successfully recruited experienced EV charging Sales Managers in each country.
Testimonials
Ross helped me land the job as Sales Manager EV Charging Equipment for the Swedish market. He had unexpectedly high knowledge about the Swedish EV market and about Alfen as a company. He also guided me throughout the entire process and followed up frequently with me. This proves his professionality and helped me to be able to figure out that Alfen and I were a perfect match. Most importantly it felt like Ross cared about me as a candidate from the first contact and I think this will be a key factor for future successes for Ross and Hyperion. I can highly recommend Ross and look forward of working together again when it is time for us to expand our Swedish team.