Since we founded Toward back in 2002 both myself and Tom knew that we had to play to our strengths in order for the business to succeed.
For Tom, his strength was design. For me, it was people. Together we became a potent force of myself drumming up business by getting to know people and Tom creating the solutions that worked well.
Over the years we've found that in order to properly service our clients we need complementary skills to cope with the ever-changing landscape of off and online communications and problem solving. Therefore, we’ve shaped the team to do just that. I'm proud of the skills we now have in-house that allow me to talk confidently about strong, strategic and beautiful design solutions.
The problem is that all these people need feeding and there's only so much one tired, bald man can do alone.
Enter Louise Reed
Online Strategist and Chartered Marketer—Boom!
I've been looking for somebody to help me to develop new business for a while but I've always struggled. The reason is simple; I don't like salespeople. Well, I don't like the ruthless approach to sales. I've always believed that the best salesperson a) believes completely in what they're selling, and b) wholeheartedly believes that they're adding value to the buyer or client. I also believe that the best type of salesperson can confidently sit down with a client, quickly understanding a problem and make smart suggestions.
Oh, and they have to be a people person... y'know, like me ;-)
When Louise's email hit my inbox in March I knew we'd hit the jackpot. Someone, who on paper came from the client side, who was strategic, who understood business objectives, who's worked with creative agencies, and who could bring great experience and knowledge into the team.
Louise's career path has seen her grow in experience as a strategic marketer with BlueChip Multinationals as well as very successful spells at smaller online brands. She is hugely passionate about online strategy, performance and using the web as a medium to grow businesses. She's also not afraid to make her point and ask questions of how we currently do things—something we look for in anyone who joins our team.
She’s the bomb.
Louise is now a Toward team member. That means I now have someone who can help me deal with the abundance of new business enquiries that come in, but also we have someone who can work with existing clients to forward plan, analyse, challenge, suggest, develop and offer an objective focussed marketing mind for all to delve into.
Louise adds yet another dimension to Toward. Her approach to projects will strengthen the strategy behind our creative solutions and offer a structured pro-active approach to developing new business.
Ladies and gentlemen—I give you Louise Reed, Account Director.
You can say 'Hi' to Louise at louise@toward.studio or on twitter @loulousunshine
