Movers & Shakers
CELEBRATING 15 YEARS OF CAREER PROGRESSION
2021 was a milestone year for Sam Billington as she celebrated 15 years with the leading hardware distributor , Window Ware .
Sarah Binns ( left ) and Sam
Billington ( right )
Sam ’ s journey is an inspiring one . She joined the company in 2006 as an office junior and worked her way up to ultimately become the sales office manager .
During her time with Window Ware , Sam has held a variety of roles , which has helped her to build a thorough knowledge of the business and to get to know customers very well . Armed with this in-depth understanding , she now commands a key role in the day-to-day core operations and makes sure the company ’ s service always measures up .
From the very beginning , Sam jumped at every opportunity for career progression . After just 12 months with the company , in 2007 Sam became the dedicated internal sales manager for customers in the South East of England . Then in 2013 and again in 2017 , her sales territory grew , and Sam welcomed the chance to support an even larger customer base .
In 2018 , she moved into her current role of sales office manager and made her career goal a reality .
Sam explains , “ I lead and support a team of six amazing sales coordinators with customer needs at the heart of everything we do . We ’ re constantly striving to meet our same day customer response promise , to give the best product advice and operate in the most efficient way . As you can imagine , our usual work practices have had to adapt quite a bit over the past 18 months , with many of the team now working from home .
“ A typical day for me starts with a coffee and a daily check-in and debrief with the team . I then crack on with the daily reporting schedule , monitoring key performance indicators such as sales data , OTIF and customer feedback analysis and sharing the results with colleagues across the business . I am also involved in many business projects which include anything from improving processes and reducing errors , to supporting any new customer wins .
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It ’ s so important to know and understand the individual needs of each customer – we ’ ve learnt from experience just how much those needs vary from person to person
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“ In fact , we have just redesigned our entire onboarding process to better handle the recent surge in new customers and create a more personal customer experience . Thankfully , robust processes and regular investment in technology , means we ’ re pretty well geared up to cope with the increased volumes which the home improvement boom has brought our entire industry over the last six months .
“ As an internal sales team , our relationships with other departments in the company have gone from strength to strength . We all work as a solid customer-focussed unit with the same goals which are communicated daily during our ops meetings and cascaded to all departments .
“ It ’ s so important to know and understand the individual needs of each customer – we ’ ve learnt from experience just how much those needs vary from person to person and how every customer has their own particular way of doing things . It ’ s up to us to discover what works best for them . By maintaining a close relationship with our customers , we can make sure we ’ re always on the same wavelength and meeting their needs time and time again .
“ Maintaining this level of customer intimacy through a pandemic has it challenges for sure , but we ’ re a pretty resourceful bunch and we ’ ve managed to maintain the conversation , whether we ’ re working in the office or from home .
“ I love that every day is different here at Window Ware . There ’ s always a new challenge , always something to learn , and it ’ s interesting and rewarding work when you have such a supportive team behind you .”
Sam reports directly to Sarah Binns , head of internal sales and marketing . It was Sarah who delivered the news to Sam about her promotion to sales office manager in 2018 . Sarah added : “ Sam has a vital role within our organisation . She helps to ensure that our customers receive their orders on time and in full and that each customer enjoys a first-class experience with every interaction . I ’ ve known Sam since she joined Window Ware . Both her personal and professional growth over the years is clear to see . Congratulations to Sam on her 15-year achievement .”
www . windowware . co . uk
78 DECEMBER 2021 CLEARVIEW-UK . COM