We regularly share articles that show what it’s like to work at Gungho Marketing. This time, Paul Mills, Operations Manager, is the one answering the questions.
Tell me about your Gungho journey!
Well, I joined in January 2015 and before that, I was working in the renewable energy and audiovisual sectors. I started out as a Discovery Agent, making targeted sales calls on behalf of our clients and securing them qualified meetings. After 8 months, I moved up to a Team Leader role, managing and supporting the Discovery Agents. After a year as Team Leader, I progressed to Operations Manager.
As an Operations Manager at Gungho, what do you do?
That’s a good question! I’d say its split between 30% account management, 30% people management, 30% data processing, and reporting and 10% reacting and problem-solving. As an Operations Manager, you have to be able to cope with conflicting priorities, it’s a complex role and you have to manage several client campaigns at any one time.
How do you start your day?
I have 4 children, so I wake up to bedlam every morning! If I’m lucky, I’ll have a coffee before I leave the house and then take the 10-minute walk to work. I usually say hello to everyone in the office and then determine the structure of my day. My day normally includes client calls and meetings, team meetings, and campaign management.
What are the best bits?
I definitely don’t get bored. It would be impossible to! My job is so varied and I’m always managing multiple priorities. The days go by super quick. I’m always exposed to new people, be it new team members or new clients from around the world. I really love the client side of my job. It’s hugely rewarding to deliver a campaign that yields a significant increase in our client’s sales.
It can’t all be perfect, so what are the harder bits?
True, but it’s not far off perfect! The targets we work to are realistic but we do sometimes need to chase to get that close at the end of the week. That’s normal in a sales environment and gives us the impetus to keep going. Working a 4 day week, 10 hours a day does take some getting used to. The last 2 hours of the day did seem to drag in the beginning. It’s balanced by the benefits of a 3 day weekend every week which is great for my work-life balance and means I can do the school run on a Friday.
What would you say to people looking into a role at Gungho?
Go for it! It’s an organisation that nurtures and values their talent. You get exposed to lots of different campaigns, different people and new opportunities. You’re definitely not stuck in a box. I’m so glad I started as a Discovery Agent, it taught me so much. I’m also really glad I got the chance for promotion and I’m so happy in my work. I would never have believed a company like this would exist in West Dorset. It’s professional, mature and lots of fun. Our clients are dealing with serious subjects such as uncovering financial crime and human trafficking so we’re making a real difference to the world too!
You can find out more about working at Gungho here.
