Interview with Laura: Starting a career in sales at Local Brand X
Hi Laura! Thank you for taking time today, can you please briefly introduce yourself?
Hi my name is Laura and I am 24 years old. I moved to Mainz in 2019 to study and have been working in sales here at Local Brand X ever since.
What are your daily tasks in sales?
This is always very dependent on the day, so every week can look very different. In principle, my areas of responsibility include everything from initial contact that we establish with a potential customer, to a qualification interview to get to know each other better, to online presentations where I present our local marketing platform. If there are any questions, I am also the contact person and assist potential customers in the further process. Hopefully, in the end, a collaboration will be established and the process will be handed over to the Customer Success Team.
You've been here at Local Brand X for some time now. How have your tasks changed over the years?
In the beginning, of course, I had to get into sales tasks first. I joined the sales team very early on as a working student and basically my tasks looked a bit different at the beginning than they are now. When I started, I made a lot of phone calls and was mainly responsible for initial contact. I also accompanied Yannik a lot of conversations until at some point I was able to take over the initial interviews myself. Even with online presentations, I always listened to a lot until I finally took over them completely independently. And so, step by step, I added more and more to my tasks.
So you also worked as a working student at Local Brand X for a long time. Do you have any tips for other working students on how to best balance study and work?
I think it's mostly always a question of self-organization. During your studies, you learn pretty well that you have to structure and organize yourself. That really helped me a lot, for example. It also helps many to define clear days for university and for work, instead of doing both together in one day. And I think it helps a lot anyway when you find a job that you enjoy and where you like to go.
What do you enjoy most about working at Local Brand X?
What I really like about Local Brand X is that the exchange with each other is so pleasant and that the hierarchies are very flat, so that everyone meets on equal footing. I've always liked being able to contribute your own ideas. Here you are perceived as your own person and do not sink into a crowd. You can also develop well here, which is very important to me personally.
In terms of my area of responsibility, i.e. sales, I find it super exciting to be in contact with many different companies and to think about where we would fit in well with the local marketing platform. Companies that come from a wide range of industries. This allows me to expand my knowledge even further and gain insights into other companies.
What have been your personal highlights so far with Local Brand X?
In sales, it is of course always a highlight when you manage to win a new customer. A personal highlight for me was the first customer that I acquired completely independently and for whom I was also the contact person throughout the entire process. Another highlight in general was the move away from working student to permanent employee and that this gave me even more areas of responsibility. As a result, I am now more involved in the individual sales structures, which I find very exciting.
With regard to the team events here at Local Brand X, I think the Funzel trip we did last summer was definitely a highlight. We all had a lot of fun together and had a very nice day together.
Thank you Laura for the interview and good luck with Local Brand X.