Across Tribe Recruit’s Sales, Marketing and Digital team, we've been having plenty of conversations about what commercial capability actually looks like. Different disciplines, different businesses, but a common theme.
Commercial isn't just something you claim – it's something you should be able to demonstrate. And increasingly, the challenge isn't just finding commercially minded people, it's being clear about what else we're expecting them to bring.
Commercial thinking, not just commercial results
With budgets under scrutiny and businesses focused on sustainable growth, hiring managers want people who understand how their work creates value.
But being commercial isn't simply about delivering revenue or knowing your numbers. It's about understanding the bigger picture. Knowing why a business is investing in something, what success looks like, and how to make decisions that balance customer needs, cost, risk and return.
Sometimes that means investing in brand awareness that won't deliver an immediate return. Sometimes it means challenging a campaign that's generating leads but not profitable customers. And sometimes it means knowing when to stop doing something.
The real test? Can you explain what you were trying to achieve, the decisions you made, the trade-offs you considered and what happened as a result?
What commercial looks like in different roles
Commercial thinking shows up differently depending on where you sit.
Sales and key account management: growing accounts profitably through pricing, trading terms, distribution and customer relationships, rather than simply chasing volume.
Brand marketing: connecting investment to market share, customer loyalty, pricing and long-term growth.
Trade and category marketing: making promotional, ranging and space decisions that balance sales growth with margin and customer value.
Performance and digital marketing: understanding that cheaper leads don't necessarily mean better leads. Knowing which channels deliver customers who convert, stay and generate value.
CRM and lifecycle marketing: looking beyond open rates and engagement to understand whether activity genuinely improves retention and customer value.
Product and UX: balancing customer experience improvements with business priorities, development costs and measurable outcomes.
Digital and technology: understanding why something is being built, the problem it solves and whether the investment delivers value.
Public sector and not-for-profit: think of funding as your revenue, cost per outcome as your margin, and the communities you serve as your customers. You're probably more commercial than your CV shows, so put numbers on it.
The digital unicorn problem
This is where it gets interesting, particularly in digital.
We're seeing businesses look for digital marketers who can do everything: set the strategy, run performance marketing and SEO, keep up with AI-driven search, build CRM journeys, analyse data, manage the website and still create compelling content. Oh, and ideally, they'll be commercially strategic, highly creative, technically hands-on and comfortable presenting to the executive team.
That's a lot to ask of one person.
There are certainly talented people with experience across several of these areas. But depth and breadth are different things. A brilliant performance marketer may understand the commercial impact of customer retention without being the person who builds complex CRM automations. A strong digital strategist might know exactly where to invest but not be the person best placed to execute every campaign.
Neither is a weakness. Commercial capability is about making good business decisions. It doesn't automatically mean being able to deliver every specialist function yourself.
For hiring managers, this is an important distinction. Before going to market, consider what the role genuinely needs to achieve. Which capabilities are essential from day one? Where do you need deep technical expertise? What can be supported by existing teams, agencies or external partners?
Sometimes the answer isn't finding a unicorn. It's being clearer about the problem you're hiring someone to solve.
For candidates: show us the thinking behind the work
We see plenty of impressive campaigns, projects and achievements on CVs. What we don't always see is the commercial thinking behind them.
Candidates often explain what they delivered without explaining why it mattered. Or they talk through the execution without connecting it back to the business outcome. You don't need an extraordinary result every time. Sometimes a campaign underperforms, a project changes direction or an investment doesn't deliver what was expected.
What matters is understanding why, what you learned and what you did next. When preparing examples, think about four things:
The objective: what was the business actually trying to achieve?
Your contribution: what decisions did you make, and why?
The outcome: what changed, and how did you measure it?
The learning: what worked, what didn't, and what would you do differently?
Where strong candidates slip
Staying at headline level. Go one level deeper: how you got the result, not just what it was.
Saying "we" when the question is about you. Hiring managers want to see your accountability, not just the team's.
Assuming your CV speaks for itself. It rarely does. The interview is where you connect the dots.
Can't share exact numbers? Please don't just say "it's confidential". It can come across as a dodge. Give the shape instead: a percentage uplift, team size, budget range, or your start and end points.
You don't need to know everything. But showing that you're thinking beyond your immediate responsibilities makes a difference.
For hiring managers: are we asking for the right things?
"Not commercial enough." It's feedback we hear, but it isn't always particularly useful.
Does it mean the candidate couldn't articulate the return on investment? Didn't understand the customer? Couldn't connect their work to revenue? Or simply didn't have exposure to the commercial decisions being discussed?
Those are very different things.
And in digital recruitment especially, there's another question worth asking. Are we looking for someone who can think commercially, or are we expecting one person to cover the responsibilities of an entire digital team?
A few things worth considering when defining the brief:
Be specific about commercial outcomes. What does this person need to influence or improve? Revenue, margin, acquisition costs, retention, efficiency or something else?
Separate strategy from execution. Do you need someone to set the direction, deliver the work, or genuinely both? And if it's both, what's realistic?
Prioritise technical capability. Which platforms and specialist skills are essential, and which are simply nice to have?
Consider the support around the role. A commercially strong marketer can only deliver so much without the right resources, systems and stakeholders.
Look for transferable thinking. Someone who understands commercial drivers may learn a new platform more quickly than someone else can develop broader business judgement.
And remember, commercial capability develops through exposure. If businesses want people who understand budgets, profitability and strategic trade-offs, they need to create opportunities for them to take part in those conversations.
We own our part too. It's our job as recruiters to challenge the brief, understand what success looks like and explain it well to candidates before they meet you. If they're not across it, that's on us.
Interview questions worth asking
Whether you're hiring or preparing for an interview, these questions can help get beyond the buzzwords.
Any role: "Tell me about a number you owned. Where did it start, what did you change, where did it land, and what would you do differently?"
Sales: "Walk me through your biggest deal last year. What did you personally do to win it?"
Marketing: "How have you balanced short-term performance with longer-term brand or customer value?"
Digital: "Tell me about a time the data suggested one thing, but the wider commercial picture suggested another. What did you do?"
Specialists: "How does your area of expertise contribute to the wider business, and how do you measure that contribution?"
For hiring managers: "If this person could deliver three things exceptionally well in their first year, what would make the biggest difference to the business?"
That last question is particularly useful before the recruitment process even begins.
The bottom line
Businesses need commercially minded people. That's not changing. But commercial thinking shouldn't become another catch-all requirement in an already crowded job description.
The strongest candidates can explain how their expertise contributes to business outcomes, even when they don't personally own every part of the process.
And the best hiring decisions come from understanding which capabilities genuinely matter, rather than expecting one person to bring every possible skill to the table.
Commercial thinking matters. Specialist expertise matters. Knowing the difference, and where they need to come together, is what makes a great hire.
Hiring in Sales, Marketing or Digital and want help defining what commercial means for your role? Or looking to sharpen how you tell your story? Get in touch with Suzie Gates and the Sales, Marketing & Digital team at Tribe Recruitment, who'll help you find your people.