Drew is an Apprentice Business Developer who joined Howdens in February 2022. Here Drew tells us more about her experience as an apprentice, and the advice she’d give to others.
I chose an apprenticeship in business developing because...
I felt that an apprenticeship was the best thing for me as I could earn a wage and learn at the same time. It’s quicker than going to six form and then university.
Not only do you learn a lot about your job, you learn a lot about how the world actually works, sometimes you may feel that your thrown into the deep end but in the long run its definitely more beneficial.
The first thing I do when I get to work is...
Say Good morning to all my colleagues, then I’ll log onto my computer and check my emails. I then have to print out all my paperwork and check it with the day before transactions. I will also complete the till check form.
I will check the AMR report sheet and see how well I did yesterday, I’ll highlight who has traded and been contacted on my AMR contact sheets.
Then I'll make a coffee for myself and everyone else, depending on how busy it is I’ll having a little dust and clean up. I answer the phones if they ring, most of the time it's to give people prices or to see what's in stock. I will then update my lead management: adding leads, contacts, updating my leads and the reps leads.
At around 11am I will do my power hour; this is where I will go off somewhere quiet and call the customers who haven't been contacted to see what jobs they have coming up and tell them about the deals we have on.
Day to day I will answer phones and serve on the counter, handle any appliances that will need an engineer, take messages for designers if they’re busy.
At the end of each day, I will do the banking if we took money, complete the till check forms for the P.M, clean up, empty the coffee machine, switch off lights. And then finish at 5pm when everything is completed.
Within the Business Developer role my main responsibilities are...
Finding out what our customers have got going on and making them aware of the deals we have coming up. Each period I have an incentive that needs to be reached, I need to take note of all the activity that that is going on in our depot. I need to stay on top of all the leads and make sure there are none overdue by the end of each day. I need to complete all my paperwork to a high standard, and ensure anything that is booked out is signed for correctly.
The aspects of my role I most enjoy are...
Talking to the builders and creating relationships with them. Everyone who I work with is very helpful and kind, which is good as starting a job where you haven't had any experience can be scary. Working with such a great group of people makes work enjoyable.
When a new customer comes into open an account, being that person who first made contact with them is a good feeling because every time they come in or ring up, they will ask for you and that really does make you feel like your equal to everyone else and is a real employee.
The advice I'd give for a smooth transition from school into work is...
Think about what you want to do in the next 5 years, what are your aims, dreams, what is it that you want to reach. Also research different types of apprenticeships and read reviews.
Even if you're not sure what you want to do when your older chose something that is good for everything. I would also say that it's good to have backups to fall back on as sometimes things don’t go the way you hope and you will learn that it's okay, I’m a true believer that everything happens for a reason and of its not meant to be it won't.
My top tips for working as an Apprentice Business Developer are...
Have a note book and pen with you at all times, you will be learning all day every day, even when you have been with the company for years you never stop learning.
Manage your time, to do lists are my go-to. In the morning or the day before write down what it is that you need to do, this will help you complete all your tasks.
Ask for help! If you're unsure of the answer ask someone for help. At the same time try and figure things out for yourself and its okay if you get something wrong, everything can be undone. Learning from your mistakes is such an old saying but it's so true.
Be confident, our role is to call customers and to basically talk all day long. So being confident in yourself will really help you to reach your targets. No one wants to speak to someone if they seem like they don’t know what you're doing.
One of the most important things is to be happy and cheery, even if you have stuff going on try and be happy at work, you could make someone's day better by seeing a smile.
