MERCHANT FOCUS: RISING STARS
THE ONES TO FOLLOW In a return to last year’s Rising Stars series, BMJ talks to two up-and-coming employees at Keyline Civils Specialist
SAMANTHA SMITH
Job title: National Sales Manager, Keyline Civils Specialist What’s your role?
I am a National Sales Manager at Keyline Civils Specialist and lead a six-person team as part of Keyline’s new, dedicated National Infrastructure Team. We provide a dedicated point of contact and coordination for both new and existing infrastructure projects.
MANAGER’S VIEW
Christina Dell, National Sales Director:
When I was looking for someone to lead the
dedicated national infrastructure team and support us in driving the strategy, Sam was the perfect fit. Sam has already shown great leadership with the team and putting into practice her learnings from the apprenticeship programme. Sam is driven, resilient and passionate about her job. I am really excited to see what the future holds for Sam.
How did you get into this industry? I started out my journey in construction quite by accident. I went to work as a temp at landscape products manufacturer Marshalls – just for the day. I actually ended up staying for seventeen years working in a variety of different roles. I joined Keyline four years ago as a Key Account Manager in the Yorkshire area and then progressed into a Business Development role, then Regional Trading Manager for the North before taking up my latest challenge in August this year.
What might a typical day for you at work be? I don’t think there is such a thing as a ‘typical day’ in this job, and that’s what I love about the role - this is partially due to us being a new team, but also because my role covers a wide range of different tasks and responsibilities. As a team, we are dedicated to delivering the best possible service for our infrastructure clients. We do this by tracking infrastructure projects from the earliest stages so that we can establish an in- depth knowledge of the project to allow us to provide adaptable and flexible value-added solutions, for anything from product identification, to stocking and delivery. As well, we support our existing customers by managing orders and pricing enquiries. I also work closely with our nationwide network of branches and our suppliers to identify how to best meet the needs of these key projects. It’s extremely busy, but I would not have it any other way.
What were you doing at work last week? I am now busy looking at the year ahead. Last week I was account planning, project mapping, ensuring customer agreements are updated and generally making sure the team is ready to smash it in 2021!
What are your main challenges in this role? Opening a new office and building a new team always comes with challenges, not least getting all the computer systems set up. However, I feel we have hit the ground running and the team has really come together as a unit over the last few months. Also, there are so many exciting opportunities within infrastructure that often the biggest challenge is identifying the priorities and staying focused on our objectives to make sure that we achieve our goals.
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What do you love about your role? Leading the team and seeing them achieve success as individuals as well as a collective is without doubt the best part of the role. I also love the variety of each day and finding solutions to problems that occur.
What do you think has been your biggest achievement so far in your role?
Starting with a basic concept of creating a dedicated National Infrastructure Team and being part of the team to bring this to reality has been challenging, exciting, hard work and sometimes quite daunting. Creating a fully functioning team with a clear vision of our future direction in such a short amount of time has been a huge challenge, but so rewarding. Also, on a personal level, I’m proud to say I recently became the first person in the Travis Perkins Group to complete the Trusted Future Leader, Level 5 Apprenticeship course with a Distinction grade.
What would you like to achieve next? This is very much still a new adventure for me, so in the immediate future, my complete focus is to ensure the team underpins Keyline’s strategy to grow our share within this market. Longer-term, I would love to build towards leading a region as Regional Director, using all the experience I have across sales, operations and leadership.
What advice would you give someone new to this industry?
Our industry can be very daunting and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed, I would say to anyone new to never assume other people know more than you and have all the answers! Trust your gut, get to know the product experts, don’t be afraid to ask questions and remember Google can be your best friend!
What would you say to someone who might be thinking about a career/getting a job in the merchant industry?
Do it - without a doubt! It’s so exciting, full of challenges and problem-solving. It can also be extremely satisfying. The merchant industry has a wide range of roles available and there are so many opportunities for those who are hard- working and willing to learn and grow.
What are the changes you foresee the industry making in order to survive the future?
As a customer-centric team, we know that as part of great customer service - speed is everything, customers need materials quicker, with sites completed quicker and more efficiently. I can see the industry using technology to support this even more in the future as well as adapting to the wider use of off-site solutions. BMJ
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net February 2021
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