Meet Joel – our Brilliant Business Development Manager

For our latest ‘Meet the Team’ blog, we sat down with our Brilliant Business Development Manager, Joel, to find out about his career background, his biggest achievements at Alps and what advice he would give to aspiring Business Development Managers.

Hello, Joel! Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your career background? 

Hi, I’m Joel! I am Dad to two wonderful children, and I have been married to my wife Amy for 11 years. Before joining Alps, I worked as a Development Lead at Teach First, supporting trainee teachers throughout their training year and helping them qualify. Before that, I led the design and delivery of the Leadership & Management apprenticeship at Leeds City Council and spent 10 years working in secondary education. It was actually through using Alps as a teacher and Head of Department at Ossett Academy that I found my way to working here! 

So far, what has been your biggest achievements at Alps? 

I’m not yet 6-months into my time at Alps, so I hope my best achievements are yet to come! To this point, I’m proud of the product knowledge I have developed, and it has been a great experience to deliver demos to international schools, schools across the UK, Independent schools, both state and private sector schools and further education colleges. 

In addition, bringing on board three new partner organisations for Alps, and designing and delivering a webinar alongside Nicki (Alps Head of Business Development) were also highlights.

What have you learned, or how have you grown in your role since working for Alps? 

My journey in education began in 2009 (which I realise makes me sound old!) and so I felt as though I had a good understanding of the education landscape in the UK. 

My previous experience has largely been in the UK state secondary schools, so working at Alps has helped me to develop a more complete understanding through interactions with the independent sector and further education colleges. 

Additionally, I have developed new skills working at Alps. I have been introduced to sales methodology and have taken ownership of deals from the initial conversation through to contracts being signed. This has given me the experience and skills to tailor conversations to meet the needs of prospective clients, as well as developing re-engagement and negotiation strategies, among other techniques. 

What is your favourite thing about working at Alps? 

My team! It has been a pleasure to work with our new Head of Business Development, Nicki Higgins, since her arrival in January. I also enjoy working alongside fellow Business Development Managers Tom & Will; they have been generous with help and support since my arrival. We are a small team, but we work closely together and have built a supportive environment in which we collaborate frequently and celebrate our successes. Thanks for welcoming me to the team and for being great colleagues to work alongside! 

What advice would you give aspiring Business Development Managers? 

Having transitioned into Business Development from my previous role, I am continuing to learn from my team whilst also beginning to develop my own perspectives. I’ll offer a few principles that I think are important: 

Listen well – Actively listening to potential clients and tailoring the conversation to their needs in crucial as is listening to feedback from others. 

Build relationships – I enjoy building relationships with people, and I think this is an important part of the role. Take the time to learn about potential clients both before and during meetings. 

Be patient – I have learned to be patient as potential clients navigate challenges within the education sector whilst also exploring a new system for target setting, progress monitoring & exam results analysis. I have found that regular contact and open communication with potential clients helps me to build a clearer picture of timeframes, but patience is still required in some cases!  

Can you tell us a fun fact about yourself? 

I love sport! I still play 5-a-side football, I coach my son’s football team and I’m a life-long Leeds United fan. I’ve got into fitness more in the last year and enjoy running & training at home. I’m also a big geek and love anything related to nature!  I love being outdoors and have done trips to Shetland/Outer Hebrides/Isle of Skye etc. for wildlife watching.