We talk to our Business Development Director, Rosie Bailey, about her career in the industry and get her best tips for those just starting out in their careers.
For International Women’s Day, we sat down with one of CitySprint’s female leaders, Rosie Bailey. Rosie is our Business Development Director and we wanted to ask her about some of the defining moments in her illustrious career.
How long have you worked at CitySprint?
I have just completed 7 years and it has certainly gone by in a flash. The world of sameday is so dynamic, no two days are the same.
What does your role consist of?
My role has changed significantly in the last few months. I have always worked in customer facing positions and previously looked after account management and customer service. Now I have responsibility for both sales and account management for 11,000 customer accounts and the teams work across both areas. We wanted to focus more on looking after our customers with a locally based team who could really partner to solve the logistics challenges faced by our clients.
I spend a great deal of my time setting direction for my team and supporting them with face to face customer meetings. Of course, in a sales environment I am accountable and responsible for achievement of the company revenue and profitability targets. However, I am always looking for ways to ensure that we develop systems and processes to make it as easy as possible for our Territory Managers to work efficiently and effectively, spending as much time with customers as possible.
Along with this, I contribute to the wider strategy of the business within the operational board, working closely with my fellow directors on varying improvement projects. I think I have a strong reputation within our organisation for being able to plan and execute transformation projects. This is particularly important as I think, for all organisations, the need to evolve and change has become a constant.
Did you always know what you wanted to do in your career? How did you get into what you’re doing now?
As a child I wanted to be a newsreader! That soon changed and I began my career in hospitality. I fit well within a service environment and I thrive well within roles where you need to create solutions and react to events. After having my own family, I realised that the hospitality industry was not a good fit with young children, so I decided to complete a degree course as a mature student. At the time I had intentions of becoming a lecturer, but I also took a part time job data entering Proof of Deliveries for a next day parcel company. When the salesperson left, I applied for the position and my career in logistics was set. I have moved between sales, operations and account management roles over the years.
What is the proudest moment of your career?
On a purely personal note, it was winning the CitySprint Excellence award only a year after joining the company. I was blown away that my contribution could make such a difference in such a short time.
More generally though, I am always most proud when my teams achieve their goals, whatever they may be. I love nothing more than reporting the good work and successes of the Territory Managers and Key Account Managers to the board.
If you could change one thing about the logistics industry, what would it be?
It always frustrates me within the industry when I see organisations and colleagues putting operational needs before those of the customer. The customer simply doesn’t care about internal problems.
I don’t mean that we should do things outside of the bounds of an agreement with a customer, but businesses should always have a “customer first” approach and if there is an agreement in place and it cannot be delivered on, we must treat the customer with respect and help them to manage the problem this causes in their business. Customer experience is an increasingly hot topic but I feel that it can sometimes be overlooked within the B2B industry and so to stay ahead, it’s important to have a strategy that enacts businesses to have a more human-centric approach.
What would be your top tip for anyone starting out in their career?
This is something I am really passionate about and not just in relation to logistics. If you want to get on, then make it impossible for your organisation to overlook you.
Stretch yourself outside the boundaries of your current position, put forward positive ideas that would benefit the company and offer to help deliver them. Learn about the skills you will require to be successful in the next role you are targeting. Ask your line manager or colleagues that already have the job you want what it takes to excel in the role. Always look for some opportunities, possibly to do some shadowing work or request that you are included in development programmes and do external learning.
As a leader I love to interview people who are ready for the position and make my decision easy. I need to have confidence that they will immediately add value. I will always mentor people and give them time, but it has to be a two-way effort. If you want the role, be the role.
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