What it takes to be successful in sales

Name: Vera Lefebvre
Position: Head of Business Development

My name is Vera Lefebvre and I'm the Head of Business Development at Prototype. This role is mostly about building trust, taking the time to properly get to know our clients and making new friends! It never hurts.

What I've found is that it is really important to understand the clients and the company they represent. I work with them to find out what they need so I can suggest ways our team can sort it out for them. As digital is a mix of marketing and technology, which moves really fast, I need to have a broad knowledge of what our teams can do so I can suggest appropriate options to the clients' projects.

My background is in project management with a grounding in economics so I'm no technologist. I fell in love with digital back in my previous job when I handled the corporate website project along with the subsidiary websites. A light bulb moment happened and I decided that this is what I would like to do. My current role is perfect. At the end of the day business is about people, and I'm a people person.

I use a range of tools in my work - our CRM, LinkedIn and Calendly are my go-to sources for leads. They help me organise myself so I don't lose track. There is a process of finding leads, reaching out and following up to ensure the relationships grow well. My day can be extremely busy with meetings booked in, but I make sure I put in time to speak with the project managers about the clients who are already onboard. My relationship with them doesn't stop because a project starts.

I guess the most important tools I have are my ears . Some people see this role as selling. It's not. Nobody trusts a salesman. The heart of this role is about developing my client's businesses through listening well and suggesting practical ways to overcome the challenges they have. Theres a quote I live by "Develop your client's business yours will follow" (I'm not sure if anyone beat me to this quote if not I declare it mine as of now). In a nutshell to be successfull in this field it is important to stay relevant up to date and always ready for a new challenge.

As part of my role I've had some fantastic opportunities. Presenting to the head of Dubai Police was an empowering moment while hosting the Prototype-Sitefinity-Microsoft digital transformation seminar and co-hosting the digital strategy workshops be it in Dubai or in Miami have been challenges that I jumped at. I'm also proud of our current project expanding the team to cover other emirates as well exciting times ahead!

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