Chief Commercial Officer, Sam Holden has recently celebrated her Yodel 5 year anniversary. During her time here, Sam has been at the forefront of significant change within the business, as well as navigated through some unforeseen challenges, such as the Covid-19 pandemic. To celebrate this milestone, we sat down with Sam and took a look back at her personal career journey and life at Yodel.
Tell us about yourself and your career journey so far.
Throughout my career, I’ve had the opportunity to experience, and build my knowledge across different competencies. This includes holding senior positions in online shopping, customer contact outsourcing, marketing, financial services and operational functions.
My background includes organisations such as The Very Group, Otto Group and Ideal Shopping Direct, but my focus has always predominantly been within operational and commercial roles.
When I joined Yodel as Chief Commercial Officer, my role was to oversee new business, account management, customer service, marketing, and Yodel’s international portfolio. Over the course of the last five years, I have taken over our industry leading Planning and Business Control Tower, which is an exciting venture. In each division we have improved industry best practice, all whilst improving service, supporting our clients and empowering our new business team to flourish. Yodel has seen the successful turnaround of the company, significantly scaling volumes, and growing market share.
You’ve recently celebrated 5 years with Yodel, what are the biggest achievements that you’ve had during your time in the role?
Since joining back in 2019, there have been many accomplishments, one of which has been leading the transformation of the Commercial Team. This was achieved by defining and building a talented team of people, with a structure that has supported significant growth and forming a clear, strategic direction within our customer service approach and marketing strategy.
We have seen our quality of service become second to none with a very effective on-boarding approach and a best-in-class client management team. At Yodel, we all work together to achieve the same goal and we pride ourselves on being more than just a supplier. We are an extension of our clients supply chain, building a true partnership.
A memorable personal achievement during this time was being awarded the Northern Businesswoman of the Year at the National Businesswomen’s Awards in 2021. It was an amazing moment, and one that could not have been achieved without the support of my team.
You have previously held roles at senior levels within operational and commercial functions. What have you learnt from being on both sides?
Having seen both sides of the coin, I have learnt that one simply cannot function successfully without the other, Collaboration is key. The benefit of having worked across both divisions is that I have experienced that when both work together seamlessly, with the same set of clear objectives and service standards, success will be achieved.
What has been an influential moment in your career?
Professionally, I’ve had some amazing opportunities over the years, including the chance to operate in India, South Africa and America. This has given me the opportunity to gain a broad set of skills across all sectors of business functionalities. Each experience has taught me so much and prepared me for each next step in my career. During my career journey, I would say seeing my son graduate was an incredible moment and made me feel extremely proud as a working mum.
What motivates you?
I love having a role that enables me to influence business decisions and encourage people to be the best that they can be. I’m a true believer that you should have a succession plan to make sure you are always giving colleagues the opportunity to grow.
What would you like to achieve next in your career?
One never stops learning and developing and I am now looking forward to an exciting new chapter at Yodel and the opportunities it will bring.
What advice would you give to someone who is just starting out in your field or pursuing a similar career path?
Determine early on what you are striving for and know in your mind what you really want. Be prepared to take risks and accept every opportunity that is presented to you.
You need to be prepared to sometimes to make sacrifices in order to achieve the bigger picture. Set goals, determine your next step, and don’t ever underestimate your strength and capability.