SPENCER HO IS a senior account manager in the sales department of office furniture firm Lamex Trading.
What does your role involve? I work closely with corporate clients in the Causeway Bay and North Point area, figure out their needs, offer tailor-made solutions, monitor the whole process and deliver products and services that help create a better and more productive workplace environment. Different clients need different solutions. An accountant might need partitions for privacy, but a merchandising firm might need a long counter. I also follow up orders with the factory and client. Sometimes, I need to co-ordinate my work with a designer or architect. I also help the junior sales staff.
How do you find sales leads? Sometimes by cold calling but also from referral by estate agents, architects or designers. Also, newspapers have a lot of information, for example, whether a company is planning to renovate in the future.
Is there a 'Lamex' sales style? Our sales culture is consultative. We are selling a total office solution, so when we first see a client, we don't put all products in front of them. We listen to what they want, what they need. We ask a lot of questions before we recommend a product.
Do you have any formal qualifications? I graduated from Monash University, in Australia, in 1996 with a bachelor's degree in business (marketing).
Why are you in sales? I'm a talkative guy and I need to communicate with different people. Sales is a challenging job. The harder you work, the more you get - more satisfaction and more money.
