Kicking off our 'Introducing' blog series, we sat down with the newest addition to our growing New Business team - Eleanor! We decided it was time to get to know Eleanor a little more and find out how she has found her first six months at NetConstruct as well as her background, experiences and expertise. 

Tell us a Little Bit About You…

Three words I’d use to describe myself are ambitious, loyal and Greek! Ambitious is always the first word that comes to mind as working within sales, you need to have an ambitious outlook to a certain degree. I moved to the UK from a tiny Greek island when I was 14 so had to work extra hard to ensure I created a ground for success for myself.

Loyalty is important to me; I believe agency life can be quite transient, but I knew I wanted to find somewhere that I could be happy for the long term and stay…I want a long service award!

Tell us About Your Work Background?

After completing a degree in Classical Civilisations at Durham University, I fell into the translation industry starting off in project management and then working my way up into account management. From that point, I transitioned into business development management and new business before making a big industry change to join NetConstruct.

What is Your Role at NetConstruct and How Does This Differ to Previous Roles?

My role here involves researching, identifying and approaching potential clients to ultimately guide them through their initial stages of website UX and development. It’s a completely different industry to what I’ve been involved with in the past.

What Value Do You (And Your Team) Offer Clients?

Guidance. Often clients know they need to update their website, but they don’t know what needs doing or how to go about it, this is where my team can help. We delve deep into brands to identify their business needs, driving revenue for the client and offering a solution.

By guiding them through the process, we flesh out all aspects from functionalities through to design, setting the foundations with the business before they move onto the design, development and testing phases. Our goal is to help businesses get exactly what they want, even if they don’t know exactly what they want to begin with!

What Do You Enjoy Most About Your Job?

I love the consultative element; I get to research on a daily basis and work out exactly what we can do to help each client’s website. Having that initial conversation with a client and really getting a feel for what they want and taking this thought, transforming it to become the basis for a new website. I find that so exciting and I love when clients get excited about the process too.

I also enjoy bringing new ideas to the table which haven’t been thought of yet. The research phase for a website build is huge, we ensure businesses get what they want through research such as UX workshops and interviews which both NetConstruct and the client love being involved with. Also, the place down the road does really great breakfast sandwiches…

What Have You Found Challenging?

The teams at NetConstruct are really interlinked, this is something I haven’t experienced in my other jobs. Everyone is continuously involved with each project which provides a seamless, connected experience for the client. Although it’s a great feature of the company, this collaborative approach is something I’ve not previously experienced and I’ve had to get used to.

I’ve worked hard to learn the history of previous websites that we still have ongoing relationships with and that is a lot of information to remember! As I’m still quite new to the business, I’m looking forward to having my own projects that I can refer to and talk about in pitches.

What is The Number One Piece of Advice You Would Give a Client?

If you’re looking at starting a project, I would advise any client to make sure you do your research. Picking the right agency can be hard as there’s so many of us! You must be inquisitive and ask as many questions as possible. Once you’ve made your choice, let the agency guide you because they want to do a good job. You will – hopefully – be working with an agency for a long time so you need to gel. Trust is so important as you need to trust in their judgement. As an agency, we’re transparent with everything we do from costs to what we will deliver, even to the point of working together through costs with a client.

What is Your Favourite Project The Agency Has Worked On?

There are two standout projects which I’ve worked on. Havwoods’ website has recently launched, it’s a visually outstanding website that I love showing prospective clients, it highlights how good we really are even at design even though we’re usually known for our technical builds. My other one would be the ongoing work we’ve been doing with the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, this has been a lengthy and complex build but it really highlights our expertise.