Matt Brown
I grew up and was educated in New Zealand. I took a Bachelors in Zoology followed by a Post Grad in Marine Biology. Since I left University I have been travelling, visited the USA, worked in a ski resort and came to the UK at the end of 2004.
I temped for five months, whilst I decided what I wanted to do. I applied for a role as a recruitment consultant, however it was at this point I found out about media sales. I really liked the sound of the culture and also the potential to earn some good money. I was put forward to one of the UK's largest publishing companies for a job which was selling on conferences. Many months on and I am still really enjoying it...
I work with some really different people, the environment is fast paced and the rewards are very good. It is different to the jobs I have had before - you really are tested to think on your feet. I work on a team of seven. When I joined I received sales and product training, how to write a pitch, the dynamics behind the conference and its position in the market. Day 2 though and I was on the phones - very full on! I target past delegates who have attended conferences with us before as well as targeting new customers, usually making an average of 60 calls per day. You have to get used to people not being interested and have to persevere, and go for the jackpot. I hit my target in my 1st month which was a great feeling. The environment is very target driven but we all operate at our own pace. I write my own pitches and have my own selling style I have adopted, but we all work together and sometimes we learn new techniques off each other. The conferences I sell across are all business related, they are all supported by the company's specialist trade magazines. I have sold to Marketing Professionals to Safety Engineers - it is so varied and I love using my language skills sometimes dealing with European clients.
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