Munir M.

As Senior Manager at a medium-sized retail company, I led the development of a new e-commerce channel. The goal was to complement brick-and-mortar sales and create a scalable online presence. Together with the management team, I developed the digital sales strategy, selected the appropriate shop system, and was responsible for its integration into the existing merchandise management and CRM systems. I assembled an interdisciplinary team of eight developers, marketing experts, and logistics specialists and introduced agile project methods (Scrum). After six months, the shop was live, and its revenue share already accounted for ten percent of total revenue. Additionally, we established an SEO/SEA concept and a small chatbot for customer inquiries. The project secured new revenue streams for the company and increased its resilience to crises.

In an established service company (approx. 100 employees), I coordinated the introduction of a cloud-based ERP system to replace isolated solutions. After analyzing processes, I recommended Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and led the data migration from Excel and local databases. Together with the Finance, HR, and Sales departments, we defined future workflows and automated partial processes such as e-invoicing and vacation requests. The core team consisted of four internal process owners and an implementation partner. After the introduction, processing times for quotes decreased by 30%, a unified database was created, and employees could work independently of location. Accompanying change management ensured acceptance.

Starting point & Mandate

iimpact Agency scales recruiting and lead generation services for tech, finance, and sales. The goal of the collaboration was a clearly focused corporate strategy that systematically enables revenue growth – through AI-powered processes, a robust operating model, and an agile, team-centric way of working. Additionally, I took on operational pacing as Interim COO until the new structure was in place. 

Goals

• Revenue growth and better predictability of the new business funnel

• Identification and implementation of concrete AI use cases (e.g., outreach assistance, lead scoring, content starters)

• Introduction of agile routines (planning, review, retrospectives), OKR pacing, and clear responsibilities

• Relief for CEO → high-level sparring, professionalize COO role temporarily

Approach

• Strategy & Portfolio: Three offsites to sharpen positioning, target customers, value proposition, and offering logic. Prioritization of a 12-month portfolio (quick wins → scaling components).

• AI Enablement: Selection of lean tools (e.g., prompt and workflow assistance, light lead scoring), guidelines on quality/compliance, "human-in-the-loop", measurement criteria (reply rate, time-to-first-touch).

• Sales Engine: Standardized outreach playbooks, ICP definition, sequences, deal reviews; funnel KPIs in a compact dashboard.

• Agile Delivery: Bi-weekly pacing, clear DoR/DoD, lean backlogs, ownership per stream; OKR cycle with quarterly reviews.

• Interim COO: Capacity planning, SLA transparency, meeting rhythm, roles/deputies

• People & Coaching: 1:1 sparring for CEO & leads, team training (prioritization, feedback, self-organization).

Results (excerpt, over 2 years)

• Increase in qualified leads/month & win rate in core segments

• Reduction in time-to-first-touch & cycle time from inquiry to quote

• Predictable delivery enabled and CEO time freed up for strategy & partnerships

• Increased team maturity