Category: Uncategorized

For as long as the telephone has been around, so has cold calling. It’s the backbone of B2B and B2C marketing; everyone is familiar with it. 

For decades cold calling has been an essential player in prospect sourcing, so it would be naïve to ignore its effectiveness in B2B and B2C sales. After all, how would’ve businesses grown in a pre-social media world? 

Whilst cold calling is incredibly beneficial for gaining prospects, it is a huge undertaking and the consistency needed to see results is time-consuming. Hiring a business development agency, like us, for example, can take that pressure of calling from your business. But you may also want to try sourcing prospects through other methods, like social media. We have found that combining both cold calling and LinkedIn sourcing has helped us connect our clients with some amazing prospects, often leading to them winning work. As the current market shifts, perhaps it’s time to start utilising multiple methods of sourcing to optimise your business’ chances of obtaining prospects.

LinkedIn has over 875 million users as of January 2023. That is 875 million opportunities. In fact, B2B and Lead Gen businesses have found that 80% of their successful leads come directly from LinkedIn. Whilst LinkedIn is a social media site, it’s unique in the fact that it solely connects you with other professionals. You’re constantly networking, with easy access to other businesses and their employees. Your sourcing pool is immediately accessible, all at the click of a button. Through a filter, or two, you can easily find the decision-makers of a particular organisation, or even fully view a person’s profile and assess if they will truly be a great prospect for your business. Furthermore, you’ll be able to see who directly interacts with your brand, so you can easily see who is interested in what you have to offer. 

By sourcing through LinkedIn, you’re giving your prospects the opportunity to respond in their own time, not forcing them to give you a response straight away to your pitch, essentially the time to digest all the information you have provided. There’s also less opportunity for miscommunication: all the information is laid out clearly in front of your prospect. 

LinkedIn also allows your business to experiment with ‘digital personalisation’, something which has been proven to be successful with 62% of customers globally. In the current market, customers are wanting business reps to completely engage with them and their contexts: like discussing any significant work that the prospect is currently doing, and how your business can assist them. People are constantly updating their LinkedIn with current projects, awards and achievements, or even new job roles, all of which are, again, easily accessible. By staying up to date on potential or even warm lead prospects, it highlights you’ve dedicated the time to them. Congratulate them on that achievement or promotion, and then bring in your pitch. Over time, you’ll be able to build authentic relationships, which can often be difficult to achieve over a phone call. Adaptability is key to winning on LinkedIn. 

Even if you do happen to get a “no” from your prospect, they may connect you with someone more relevant. Like cold calling, Linkedin sourcing can bring so much good to your business.

That’s the beauty of LinkedIn: once you start connecting with people, you never stop.

 

Gee Stencel | They/Them

Strategic Operations Manager

Carbon Global

It is an undeniable fact that business growth is crucial for any company. 

It’s important to remember that growth comes in many forms and that fast, ‘growth hacking’ may not be the best suited for your business. As we have mentioned before, progress doesn’t happen immediately overnight. A longer-term, more sustainable growth may be more valuable for you and your business. That doesn’t necessarily mean sustainable growth has to take years to achieve; your business’ growth goals can happen over a few weeks or quarters. 

While both ‘growth hacking’ and sustainable growth have their advantages, the latter can allow your business to develop without the worry of unexpected operational or financial obstacles. It gives you and your staff time to strategise for potential stumbling blocks. Long term, this growth can attract investors, higher business net worths, and market shares. Your business will have the time to establish clear goals and priorities, ultimately helping you to understand your business’ needs. 

Here are four tips to inspire sustainable growth for your business:

1) Create a Sustainable Pipeline of Leads

For your business to grow, you may need to reassess your approach to managing your pipeline of leads. Many companies begin by growing organically through their established networks and referrals, but this approach will eventually lead to a plateau and stagnation of growth. Many organisations struggle to get the next step right as they don’t either have the knowledge or skillset to begin the cold end of lead generation. To help avoid this, this is where a business development and lead generation agency can really add value. 

In order to achieve sustainable growth, there needs to be a constant and steady supply of outreach to your defined prospects. These will often be people with decision-making abilities, those who hold the budget and the willingness to explore new solutions or partnerships. These should be the people who will uplift your business. Dedicating enough time to calling, emailing, and Linkedin prospecting these consistently several times a week is the only way to create an extensive and varied pipeline. Concentrating your efforts on a handful of companies will always lead to big dips in your revenue if your business isn’t winning any work or the projects face delays or cancellations, so always adhere to the old adage: variety is the spice of life. 

Establishing the wishlist companies to target based on your experience and the market opportunity is also essential. Divide these into different campaigns that should or could be encompassed, such as companies where you already have work but would like to spread it into other areas. Perhaps they could be ones that explicitly align with a case study or experience and, finally, dream companies where you have no established connection but know the project size and content could be aligned. Timelines for beginning projects and the lead time it takes to get engaged once the work’s won vary dramatically from company to company. In order to smooth these bumps out throughout your fiscal year, you need to have a consistent rolling pipeline nurtured until the time is right for each prospect. 

This sustainable pipeline not only allows for new work to be won in the areas you see fit but also means that you can forecast your steady growth over the year, predict projects, revenue and, as such, company resourcing.

2)  Focus on Client Satisfaction

Client retention should be at the core of every business. Ultimately, client satisfaction is the key to long-term success. As part of your growth plan, consider taking your current client relationships to the next level: follow up with your clients following a sale or completion of a project, have weekly or bi-weekly meetings to address any challenges or targets, or even offer any insights into your business plans, and how this may affect your clients. Communication and honesty in a relationship go a long way. Businesses that retain their clients are likely to have a higher ROI, as they are statistically more likely to invest more of their time and money into your business’ services. 

The more positive a relationship with a client is, the more likely they will recommend you to friends and family. In fact, 68% of clients are willing to do business and brand referrals to those around them. Word of mouth has the power to either grow or ruin a business. Rather than immediately focusing on obtaining new clients, focus on how your current clients can be satisfied – since it will highlight how much your business cares about business-to-client relationships, making your company desirable for prospective customers. Eventually, your business will have increased sales revenue, a better reputation and growth of clients. 

3) Be Open to New Ideas

Sometimes, tried and tested formulas may be optimal for rapid business growth, but if you’re looking to implement sustainable growth, these methods might not be as effective. When looking at your business, collaborate with your staff, as they have ideas which could make your company flourish. You may even find your next decision-maker, which can be extremely valuable for company growth. Thus by encouraging open-mindedness, you’re also allowing room for personal growth. Furthermore, by incorporating open-mindedness in your business growth, you develop the skill to objectively look at multiple pieces of evidence in terms of your business’ performance – for example, you might see that a previously implemented strategy is no longer helping your business move forward, despite it being well-liked across the company. Socrates once said, ‘true knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing’, so being open-minded transforms you, as a leader, into a sponge, ready to absorb everything and anything, ultimately helping your business to succeed. 

Showing that you and your business are unafraid of embracing change or even experiencing failure will set your company apart from the ones that are closed-minded, thus allowing you to grow in the long term. Your business will become adaptable to any situation. Being open to new ideas shows your business will consistently stay ahead of the curve, trying new trends and redefining how your business stays relevant in an ever-changing environment. 

4) Practise Sustainable Hiring

To practise successful long-term business growth, your business needs to have a strong, sustainable hiring strategy. To put it in context, think about the current tech layoffs: many tech companies like Meta and Google experienced rapid growth during the pandemic, and this acceleration was predicted to be a permanent feature, so more people were hired to compensate for this growth. However, these companies are now facing periods of stagnation, so the businesses are no longer growing, and, as such, people are having to be laid off as their positions are no longer required. The result? Loss of time, money and employee satisfaction.

To avoid this, your business should develop a long-term hiring strategy. It’s important to assess both your current and future company needs. Invest in your employees now by setting realistic goals and KPIs, as they provide a gateway into understanding your hiring needs long-term. If your team are superseding all goals, and your business has obtained several more clients, there is a need to grow your employee base as a result of the new revenue and workload. However, if your business is hiring as you have the spare budget, but may need that money down the line, then your business is going to struggle to retain employees and thus, struggle to grow. Not only that, but one bad hire can cause a drop in productivity and morale, ultimately hindering your sustainable growth. 

In order to have sustainable growth, the business must remember its core values. Growth isn’t a competition and cannot be compared to another business’ as, just like people, every business is unique. 

 

Gee Stencel | They/Them

Strategic Operations Manager

Carbon Global

The working world is very different to how it was a decade ago, and that’s not necessarily bad, either. People change, so why shouldn’t businesses? In one way or another, we evolve. 

Going into 2023, Diversity and Inclusion are still a hot topic for many business leaders. A business’ stance on having a diverse and inclusive working culture is a deciding factor for 83% of job applicants*. 

People love diversity. As the saying goes, if you and everyone else were the same, life would be very dull. There are many benefits to diversifying the workplace: from immersing yourself in different cultures and having a larger talent pool to having new ideas and perspectives that may ultimately help your business grow.

Here are five simple steps a business can take to welcome inclusivity in the workplace.

1) Review Your Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) Policies

Businesses having an up-to-date DE&I policy encourages a more welcoming atmosphere and drive employee engagement. From an employee perspective, having a DE&I policy that reflects them allows them to experience a sense of belonging within the company and feel a sense of pride for their employer, as they are a champion of diversity. There is also a direct correlation between the growth of diversity and an increase in sales revenue for the company, with a growth of anywhere between 3% to 9%**. In one way or another, diversity helps promote business growth.

2) Share Resources

Educating yourself, and your employees, are the best way to create a more inclusive workplace. Charities like Stonewall, Black Minds Matter and Equally Ours have plenty of resources and workshops that employees and business owners may find beneficial. Education is the key to progress.

Don’t be afraid to share news articles, interesting blog posts, or updates from DE&I charities in your Slack or Teams channels. These resources will also allow for productive conservations surrounding DE&I and may even motivate further business growth. 

3) Be Aware

Making sure the business follows its DE&I policies is a team effort: employees should stay vigilant for micro-aggressions, discrimination and unconscious bias against other colleagues. There are several ways to approach this: one-to-one meetings, company-wide meetings, (un)anonymous surveys. Highlighting these issues can help businesses develop a strategy to tackle them. Also, it’s valuable for employers to stay abreast of the latest news on the Equality Act, as this can help with the upkeep of a business’ DE&I policies. 

4) Celebrate All Holidays and Events

Not everyone celebrates Christmas, nor does everyone celebrate Hanukkah or Eid-Al-Fidr. To celebrate and recognise each holiday in the workplace is to also celebrate diversity. Some ways to do so is to introduce flexible PTO when these holidays are based on lunar movements or even decorate the office. With events like Pride and Black History Month, bring in speakers, run workshops, or even consider partnering with a charity. Make it clear that within the business, every person is celebrated.

5) Focus on Employee Retention

The challenge of maintaining an inclusive culture is ensuring that the company retains their diverse workforce. If a company doesn’t act on its diversity policies, its employees will look elsewhere for a business that does. However, if the company frequently assesses their DE&I policies, ensuring each member of staff feels valued and has zero tolerance for discrimination, the likelihood of the employees staying increases. There is also the opportunity to diversify management from retained employees, which is a win for the company. Allowing people from underrepresented communities to succeed in management positions highlights their value within the company and, thus, will encourage more people to apply to the business, ultimately creating a continuous cycle of diversity and inclusion.

Start small. Progress never happens overnight, but taking the steps to empower diversity within the workplace is life-changing.

Resources

Sometimes, finding the right resources can be difficult. Here are some that we recommend: 

Stonewall | https://www.stonewall.org.uk/

For the last thirty years, Stonewall has been working with LGBTQIA* across the globe. They have three dedicated workplace resources that can help your business, including:

• Diversity Champions Programme
• Specialist Training and Events
• Practise Resources and Toolkits

Black Minds Matter | https://www.blackmindsmatteruk.com/

BMM UK focuses on ensuring that mental health resources and topics are relevant for black individuals. 

They offer: 

• Useful Mental Health Contacts
• Understand Common Mental Health Problems
• #TimetoTalk: How to Encourage Conversations on Mental Health

Equally Ours | https://www.equallyours.org.uk/ 

Equally Ours aims to advance human and equality rights by connecting organisations with people. 

Here are some resources: 

• Is It Discrimination?
• A-Z of Equality Rights
• Employing People

Gee Stencel | They/Them

Strategic Operations Manager

Carbon Global

 

* Why Recruiting a Diverse Workforce is Critical for Your Business, SurveyMonkey

** Workplace Diversity Through Recruitment: A Step-By-Step Guide, Ideal

Our Managing Partner, Henry, was interviewed by Maria Angelova, CEO of Rebellious Intl. Authority magazine about ‘The Self-Care Routines & Practices Of Busy Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders’.

In this fascinating article Henry explores many aspects of his approach to running businesses in Lead generation, Accent and Dialect, and Property, as well as sharing how he prioritises taking the time needed to re-energise. It’s a great read for business owners and self care supporters alike and gives an insight into how this mindset impacts our Business Development agency’s ‘Human-first’ approach to helping you grow your business.

Read the full article here:

https://medium.com/authority-magazine/henry-regan-of-carbon-global-on-the-self-care-routines-practices-of-busy-entrepreneurs-and-2dd6edaadb5a

Startup culture is very different from large corporate culture due to the fact that it reflects the personalities, passions, attitudes, and values of team members. Since startup companies usually have smaller teams it is important to make sure that the team is one strong unit. Leaders of startups play a huge role because they are setting an example of what kind of company culture they want within their company and they are paving the way for the future of the company. As startups begin to develop, they share a set of values, thoughts, and beliefs which eventually shape how people work to reach the company’s end goals. 

When I first started as a marketing intern at Carbon Global, the first thing I noticed was the relationships among the team. Everyone works hard and meets all individual and team goals but everyone also supports each other and is comfortable laughing with each other throughout the day. Additionally the structure of the company allows for individuals to have creative freedom within their roles and it allows employees to support each other. Rather than structuring the company in a very rigid format, where individuals have their own specific roles and stick to them, Carbon Global is organized in a way that allows collaboration and flexibility.

To get more insight into Carbon Globals company culture I interviewed Felix, the Strategic Operations Manager here.  

How does your experience at Carbon Global compare to other work?

Felix: Carbon Global is a startup in the very early stages of growth, which leads to the following characteristics: everyone exhibits an open mind on how to do the best work we can, and it’s a very collaborative process; a lot of “habits” aren’t really in place beyond the essentials, which leaves lots of room for individual expression- which, even though it sometimes takes time to align people on a task, creates more intention behind the work-. 

How is the company culture different at Carbon Global and what do you appreciate the most about it?

Felix: The main difference is the transparency and willingness to listen, which is definitely the most appreciated aspect of it. Another difference is the wide variety of experiences present among the team, leading to an environment where curiosity naturally stems out of conversations. 

What do you believe is the most important strategy to implement when creating a positive company culture?

Felix: The most important strategy is to never have an “end point” to company culture building. Company culture is built through all of the actions all of the employees make throughout their day, so having a set goal for the company culture removes accountability once the goal is deemed attained. From a leadership standpoint, its balance between leading from the front and leaving enough space for people to carve their own.

 

Andreana Margaritis

 Marketing Intern

Carbon Global

Growing up Greek-American I have always wanted to move to Europe permanently, yet I had only ever visited for vacation and had never actually experienced a work setting. When presented with the opportunity to live and work abroad I seized the opportunity, knowing that it would give me a taste of what life would look like in Europe, and it would give me a chance to live independently in a new city. Joining Carbon Global will be my first time working in a business development agency and while I am eager to learn more about lead processes, and strategies, I am a bit anxious to enter this new setting. Yet I am confident that with my pre-existing knowledge and adaptability, I will quickly pick up new skills and will apply them at Carbon Global. I am hoping to understand how Carbon Global finds new clients and creates growth for them. With that knowledge, I will help develop new marketing strategies for Carbon Global to position themselves and draw attention to their services.  

As an undergraduate student I have learned and read about business development and the role that (B2B) marketing agencies play in the bigger picture of marketing. Yet I had not had the chance to work within this environment and I have never worked outside of the United States. Working at a lead generation agency in London will allow me to see cultural differences in the workplace between the United States and the United Kingdom. It will also give me the opportunity to understand the operations of an advertising agency and whether this is the type of business environment I want to pursue in the future. Additionally, being able to work quickly when doing research and creating marketing content, is a skill I am working toward as a young professional. I also want to gain a better understanding of how Carbon Global interacts with clients and what kind of relationship they develop as they continue working together.

Getting the opportunity to work internationally and experience the European lifestyle for a longer period of time is always something I dreamed of. Since I started thinking of my future I imagined myself moving to Europe, specifically London, and starting my career and family there. In order to fulfill my future goals I need to start  developing my professional and personal skills. Looking toward my future I want to develop skills that will assist me in the workforce such as adaptability, leadership, and flexibility which I believe I will strengthen at Carbon Global. 

It’s important for me to gain a strong understanding of how every part of the company operates and how different peoples roles come together and form a cohesive company. As a business student I have thought a lot about starting my own company in the future, which was inspired by my father starting a Greek Yogurt brand that was sold nationally in the United States. Being able to work in a startup environment will allow me to see the business growth over the years and will help me understand the approach to starting a business. I will also have the opportunity to develop close relationships with employers and have beneficial conversations about their experiences in the business world.

As a Greek-American I have always dreamed about moving to Europe permanently after college, to be closer to my family and my culture. Living in London for eight weeks will give me a taste of life in Europe and it will allow me to experience British culture and lifestyle for a longer period of time. While I have visited Europe for a few months every summer, I have never lived and worked on my own. I am hoping to visit different cities within the U.K. and to expand my professional network these next eight weeks. During this experience I expect to be challenged and to learn more about myself and business operations in the United Kingdom.

What I like about Carbon Global is the personal relationships they create with their clients, and how the team operates and supports each other when carrying out tasks. I value company culture and believe that without a good work environment companies have a higher chance of failing. I also admire the company structure and how individuals within the company are not directly fighting each other for roles but rather they are focusing on bettering themselves. During my time at Carbon Global this summer I want to redesign the LinkedIn page and create more awareness on social media platforms. I will accomplish this by creating a strategic monthly plan and diving into analytics to find more ways to improve the page. 

 

Andreana Margaritis

 Marketing Intern

Carbon Global

 

1) Be personable whilst building the relationship

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, people buy from people. Being open and honest from the start can keep you in good stead for the long-term future of the relationship. People really appreciate you remembering what they’ve previously said about themselves, their children, their holidays, that they were ill and had to postpone the meeting, those things go a long way. Let them know how you are, what you’ve been doing, don’t fake it, really tell them, let them in a little and they will typically return the favour.

 

2) Truly listen to their needs

If the prospect tells you that they don’t want to speak to you for three months, don’t speak to them for three months, it’s as simple as that. Truly listen to what they need and when they need it. No one wants to be pestered about something that’s relatively low on their agenda but equally, people really appreciate it when you listen to them and do exactly what they say. It shows that later on down the line they can work with you and that you’ll listen, take note and execute effectively.

 

3) Have an objective every time you speak

When you speak to someone multiple times make sure that every single time you have an objective going in. Use new information to hook them back in, so you’re not just saying the same old ‘let’s have a catch-up’ line, but rather you’re furthering the conversation. This will get you back on their radar, whilst you can get on with mining for more intel and trying to hit your objective.

 

4) Use a CRM that works for you

Make sure you have your operations down to a tee. It’s important that when you’re taking notes, you write down every single thing they say. Even the most trivial of points can strengthen your relationship later on. You might be able to relay it back to them through different points of your correspondence which makes them feel secure and lets them know you understand the importance of what they say.

 

5) Understand their yearly planning cycle

This is key in securing new work. They aren’t going to give out work when you want them to. They will allocate most of their budget at a certain point in the year, their chosen allotted time. They’ll have a speculative stage, a planning stage and an allocation stage. You need to make sure that you are speaking to them in the right way, at the right time. This only comes with a huge amount of research, insight and a sprinkling of some of your magic charm.

 

Henry Regan

Managing Partner

Carbon Global

When the question is raised whether one approach is better than the other, in any sort of context, I find that often the most satisfying answer is “it depends, both are needed, just not at the same time”. Now, if you are someone who likes a good yes-or-no answer, my describing this answer as ‘satisfying’ might feel ever so slightly sadistic, but do hear me out, it gets better, I promise.

In this case, I am talking about speed. In the context of lead generation, were I to ask “how fast do I need to outreach to get as many qualified leads through the pipeline as possible in the shortest amount of time?”, your first instinct would probably not be to respond “slowly”. Yet could that be the key?

 

Clients, an elusive resource

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away —that would be Paris, France—, I started my career in retail. As with any job in retail, I was hit with a number of KPIs to fulfil, such as sales, ATV, AUT, CR, etc. Beyond these acronyms hides the most valuable resource of any business operating in a consumerist economy: clients. My entire career success was solely dependent on other people’s willingness to purchase the goods I was selling, and I struggled at first with that thought: how could my professional success be so obviously and so absolutely beyond my control?

Retail even has one advantage over lead generation: the prospects come through the door by themselves, the role is to convert them. Yet, they don’t come through the door in a constant, predictable, endless stream. Clients and prospects are human after all, and as predictable as our species can be under a macroscopic lens, there is still a whole lot of randomness involved. Clients will come, or not; prospects will be interested, or not; and there is little we can do to successfully, predictably control that. So, what can we control?

 

Every cycle has its downtime

Each human hair goes through the following stages: the anagen phase, during which the hair grows; the catagen phase, during which the hair stops being connected to the nutrient supply; the telogen phase, during which the hair stays dormant in the follicle; and finally the exogen phase, during which the hair falls out of the follicle, whilst the anagen phase starts again for a new strand.

Much like our own hair strands, we need a certain amount of downtime in between periods of activity to be able to function well —and no, it can’t be substituted for caffeine—; and, since it is humans that are making the decision to purchase goods and services, it stands to reason that that process will have a downtime too.

As a lead generation business, we are selling the active part of that purchasing cycle. Does it then mean that we have to have some downtime in our operations? And, as we know, a company can’t afford to have a downtime in its cash flow, otherwise it would impact the whole wellbeing of the business and of its employees. Is there a solution?

 

E=mc2

Am I really going to start incorporating theoretical physics into business generation? Well, businesses are made of humans and matter, and so… Okay, I hear you, I’ll stop there. But the concept of energy is actually very relevant in our case.

When considering employees, energy is a finite resource. Even when a company has managed to solve the toughest of issues, namely to prevent burnout and reduced productivity at all times —if you have actually solved this, please call me—, there is still an end to the work day. This means we are faced with a need for continued output with intermittent effort, which leads to the realisation that trying to relate effort and output by a 1:1 ratio will inevitably fail.

Then, if the amounts of effort and output aren’t directly transferable from one to the other, how do we plan our efforts? Do we go hard on the outreach when the adoption cycle peaks, and even harder when it abates? Even though it is the natural instinct to double down on work when the results start dipping, that might not always be the ideal strategy.

Indeed, if the outcome slows down due to the natural process of ebb and flow that has been outlined previously, expending more resources into the same way that proves fruitful when the cycle accelerates likely won’t lead to better results; worse, it could even be perceived as a waste of energy and lead to a lowering of the morale, thus further depleting the energy levels.

 

What we do in the hollows

Instead of pushing harder during the quieter times, I have found that the solution which oftentimes proves the most effective in the long run is to slow down on the outreach efforts —whilst maintaining an active presence across all channels— and to utilise the time to dig deeper into the product knowledge.

The feeling of learning enhances the feeling of success, especially when there are varied goals that define said success —you can read my previous article for further thoughts on goals—, and thus the energy level is maintained throughout the slower times. Moreover, when the cycle picks up again, the team’s capabilities are highly enhanced, and the conversion sees a dramatic increase.

That is also only one of the possibilities of where to redirect the energy; slower times can indeed become incredible times for feedback, innovation, team connection, which all leave the employees empowered and ready to tackle the next phase of rapid adoption.

So ultimately, what to do when your lead pipeline slows down? Well, sometimes, you might want to slow down too.

But then again, it depends… 

 

Félix Thevenot

Strategic Operations Manager

Carbon Global

 

I am someone who loves patterns. Sewing patterns, knitting patterns, data patterns, all of them. And one of my personal patterns is to constantly seek new interests. New ways of doing things. New ways of thinking. To learn, to be taught, maybe to teach in return; to try, and try, and try once more.

When the opportunity came for me to become Carbon Global’s new Strategic Operations Manager, I seized it immediately. An industry new to me? Check. An activity new to me? Check. A team new to me? Check. A role new to me? Check-mate.

I find great beauty in being a beginner. In this case, I was fortunate enough to be given an additional head-start —thank you again Elodie for your time and energy during our two-week handover—, and I can also draw from my previous experiences. Despite these, being a beginner is scary. There aren’t any habits, any automatisms, any background you can rely on when the going gets tough. So you make mistakes. Lots, and lots, and lots of mistakes. I’ve already made a few of them here, and I am certain I will make more. This is part of the process of learning however, and it needs to be encouraged and celebrated, provided we actively learn from our shortcomings.

With that said, trying something new, without the slightest idea of what success looks like, is usually a much lengthier process than when you have at least a faint idea of the direction in which you’re going. Don’t get me wrong, some occasions do call for purely empirical learning, and the joy of simply playing is at times a highly needed respite from the productivity-leaning nature of our modern urban lives. I haven’t however found it to be generating much success in the professional realm. 

This is where goals, data and patterns enter. 

A goal is a definition of success given certain parameters. If you have ever had the misfortune of being micromanaged, you know that when someone dictates every single step of your work, this doesn’t automatically lead to success —and in most cases is at best counterproductive, at worst damaging to your psyche—. This is because people are different. I know. Shocker. Sit down, grab a cuppa, you’ll recover. When a manager focuses on the ‘how’, they define success in a way that only those who can assimilate to their method will be able to experience. This is not only profoundly inequitable, it also kills any potential for innovation. How can we move away from this approach? By focusing on the ‘what’. I believe it is the ultimate difference between humans and machines; where the latter need an algorithm to give their best work, the former need a direction.

Having solved the crisis of poor management, the Terminator-adjacent conspiracy theory and the entire philosophical questioning of the past few millennia, we still need to decide on ‘which direction’ to provide. That is the role of data. By analysing what the overarching goal of a company is —which in most cases involves the word ‘growth’, a very numerical term—, we can break it down into more manageable chunks; either per department if you happen to be in a functional structure, per project for matrix organisations, or per ‘task type’ for flatter structures. With the help of clear data, we can set attainable goals, empower our people to decide how to reach them and truly become ‘outcome-oriented’.

This is where I hope to have a positive impact on Carbon Global in the next few months, by introducing a goal-setting strategy and championing the routine use of data in learning from our mistakes and advocating for our successes. You could even say that these are some of my goals.

 

Félix Thevenot

Strategic Operations Manager

Carbon Global

Sim joined us at Carbon Global last October 2021 through the Government’s Kickstart Scheme. As the Business & Operations Intern, she shares in this interview insights into her experience and tips to make the most of an internship. As I have been working closely with Sim, I found it interesting to hear how much she  learnt in three months and to look back on what we have already achieved so far.

More information on the scheme can be found on GOV.UK here.

 

Elodie: Tell us a little bit about yourself and what motivated you to apply to the government’s Kickstart scheme?

Sim: Last Summer, I completed my Postgraduate Diploma in Law. As soon as I graduated, I was looking for opportunities in both commercial and law to gain professional experience. During my studies, I had the chance to undergo internships and also had some part-time jobs but they did not have a commercial focus. One of my friends recommended the Kickstart Scheme as she had also been on it. From my point of view, this was a great way to get my foot in the door and to gain experience in business to round up my knowledge and feel ready to enter the market place. So, Carbon Global was a great chance to gain more of that commercial awareness I was seeking and I have also learnt plenty about lead generation.

 

Elodie: Can you please describe your role at Carbon Global? 

Sim: I am the Business & Operations Intern at Carbon Global. This means that I have a mix of responsibilities that are both commercial and operational within Lead Generation. For instance, some of my day-to-day activities include researching marketplaces and building contact lists for our business development team as well as doing more internal work such as the transfer databases and dealing with our B2B client requests. Fortunately, I also get to participate in team meetings to have a glance into the strategy that goes behind project delivery and I have played a keen role in supporting the team to hand client projects in on time. So my role is quite mixed and interdependent which will help me in my future career goals and to develop personally and professionally.

 

Elodie: Any tips on how to start a new role as an intern? 

Sim: To be open to learning and also definitely to be flexible. As an intern, you have a good advantage because you’re here to work of course, but you’re also here to learn and your employer knows that so don’t be afraid to take on new responsibilities and to ask questions to the team and your manager. I would say to definitely take on new responsibilities and be flexible with the opportunities that are given to you. 

 

Elodie: Would you say that it’s a good opportunity to take more risks too? 

Sim: Definitely, I think it is. It’s the one time in your career when you are kind of expected to not know everything. So, it’s a good opportunity to take risks and indulge in areas that you’re not comfortable with. Since you are assigned a manager or mentor, you will have someone to ask for support if a task becomes tricky. In return and by the end of your internship, this is going to give an amazing set of new skills and you will feel more confident in future jobs.

 

Elodie: What are some of the key skills that you have learnt so far and how do you think you will be able to apply them in a future role? 

Sim: Whilst there are a lot of skills that are required in a lead generation agency, in general I think some of the main skills that I’ve learnt and observed are prioritisation, time management and problem solving.  The ability to think laterally and on my feet while under pressure has definitely been important. Also, as I was aiming to do, I gained knowledge in thinking commercially because, at Carbon Global, we really want to make sure that our lead generation client’s needs are met and strategised. These are some of the skills that I’ve learnt so far. I would also aim to develop further in terms of strategy and client relationship as well as account management. 

 

Elodie: In terms of maintaining a good relationship with a B2B client, what have you learnt or observed? 

Sim: I think having good communication skills is definitely key because you need to know what your client wants and you need to make sure that you are on the same page as them. So I have been learning more about this and observing the team during client meetings. A thing that we do at Carbon Global that is a good takeaway is how we take the time to understand our B2B clients through a ‘wishlist’ that we build and update with them. It has been interesting to see how we progress and fulfill client expectations.

 

Elodie: Who would you recommend the Kickstarter scheme?

Sim: Definitely either students like me who just finished university and are yet to enter a full-time career or students who are not yet sure which career path they want to take. It’s definitely a good way to ‘kickstart’ your career and Carbon Global has been a great opportunity to do this. Also, for anyone who wants to learn new skills, it’s an experience that can be adapted to your ambitions. Here, I have been lucky that everyone has taken into consideration my own wishlist so that I have a tailored experience that helps me develop both personally and professionally.

 

Elodie Smith

Strategic Operations Manager

Carbon Global