Bianca Barnes joins the team!

Bianca has joined us in the role of Sales Support, taking on customers within our processing and manufacturing industries as an internal representative and the first point of contact as people get in touch or need support with enquiries and orders. I sat down with Bianca over a Teams call to get a better understanding of what drew her to Martin’s, how she has found her first 6 weeks with the company and what her biggest challenges have been so far.

Bianca’s background lies in customer service, with a career starting in South Africa in the hospitality industry and then moving to the UK and into B2B work in the manufacturing/assembly sector. The theme that runs through Bianca’s working life, she says, is her enjoyment of building relationships with customers, acting as the ‘middle man’ for that customer and making sure their needs are represented. We have a wide range of customers at Martin’s, each facing different technical challenges and presenting us with differing service requirements – but, as Bianca says, that’s what keeps things interesting!

She says her biggest challenge in the time that she has been with Martin’s has been the move to a business where everything is bespoke, and where we manufacture from raw material, in house. This creates a steep learning curve, alongside the challenge of learning new systems and processes; Bianca handles enquiries from the initial point of contact, through the quotation and sales process, and beyond that to ensure that projects run smoothly – she says she loves being this involved, it keeps the job interesting and creates constant opportunities for learning.

I asked Bianca what she is enjoying most about her new role, and her answer was simple: the people. She said, “Everyone is so helpful and so friendly, it’s just been such an easy transition for me to be part of the company. The one thing I really loved was the dinner with all the staff.” She was referring to the fact that we usually hold a company BBQ in the summer but because of difficulties getting everyone together during the daytime, we moved it to an evening meal, ”That was really, really nice. I’ve never experienced anything like that. It’s just so great that we can get to know each other at work and work together really well, and then you also have time outside of work where the company wants you to familiarize yourself with everyone and get along and enjoy being with the people around you.”

When I asked Bianca what she is looking forward to at Martin’s, her answer was based around building the confidence and knowledge to work independently as she gets to know our products, systems and processes better and can manage customer accounts without the levels of support she’s currently needing from the team. This learning curve is one that each member of our team has been through due to the complexities of the business and our services, but Bianca is keen to get through this learning process and become more independent. She said she’d love to one day have enough skills and knowledge to become a Sales Manager – and I’ve no doubt that, with the drive and tenacity that she’s already showing, this is entirely within her reach.

Author: Claire Clarke, Marketing Manager

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