Christie tells us about her role as a Commercial Account Manager at Valpak and shares her top tips for anyone looking to follow in her footsteps.
Tell us about your role
Being a Commercial Account Manager within the Client Team means I am responsible for helping new and existing customers to establish where they are obligated overseas & winning new business. While my main area is International Compliance, I am able to
identify leads and help customers on all areas of the business.
We deal with both reactive and proactive leads – so helping companies who actively approach us & ask for help, but also approaching ‘cold’ leads, companies who we think may have obligations and reaching out to them directly.
What does a typical day look like in your role?
A typical day for me usually involves having phone calls with my leads and opportunities, talking them through their obligations and the various things that Valpak can help with and the services that we offer.
Once we have established what service the customer needs, I put together various quotes and proposals and also compile compliance fee (cost) forecast for the customer, so they are able to budget appropriately. I also spend some time ‘prospecting’ and reaching out to my colder leads as well.
What's the best thing about your role?
I really enjoy helping our customers to navigate their way through the complexities of compliance and finding the right solution that works best for them & building a relationship with them along the way.
What's your favourite thing about yout team?
My favourite thing about the team is definitely the people. I really value that I feel comfortable to ask for help and I really enjoy teaming up to work on different opportunities with various other members of the team.
What has your journey at Valpak looked like?
I have been at Valpak for 4 years now, it was my first ‘proper’ job after finishing uni & I started as an International Account Manager within the IEC team. I spent around 2.5 years in this role before moving to my current role as Commercial Account Manager within the Client Team.
What piece of advice would you give someone looking to start in this role?
Relationships are a really important part of this role & I personally think taking a ‘helpful’ approach rather than purely thinking about the sale works really well.
Also, don’t be afraid to ask questions, there’s plenty of training throughout, but the team is really helpful and always willing to help!
Sound exciting? Discover where a career with Valpak could take you by exploring the profile here.