Becca Adams: Textile Design BA(Hons) graduate

How did you get to where you are?

I started by doing a work placement at the company Saltwater and gained a great variety of experience, so much so that I was asked to join the company full time. I was the retail manager of their only store in central London. After two years I moved on to Starmark brands (a shoe company) and this role got me into loving sales, doing trade shows and meeting customers. Then the Head of Sales position at Lisa Stickley became vacant, I applied, had two interviews for it and got the job.

Please describe what you do

My primary role is to manage over 150 accounts, from high end department stores to independent boutiques across the UK, for the bags, bathroom accessories and homeware ranges of Lisa Stickley London.

The management of these accounts consists of core duties that I fulfil on a daily basis. These involve driving business through UK and worldwide sales and critical path analysis, managing customer expectations through factory liaison, and organising and attending trade shows.

Driving sales

My key focus for driving new business to the brand is by visiting customers across the UK. I work closely with successful high end retailers including Liberty, John Lewis, Heals, Fenwick and Harvey Nichols.

The secondary aim to increase profitability is to expand the business's customer portfolio. I organise and attend trade shows at the start of every season to maintain existing customer accounts but primarily to increase new business.

A further aspect I have initiated for Lisa Stickley is to organise brand collaborations with Liberty London and the Tate Modern. This was achieved by advising the creative director on suitable outlets to showcase the products within a premium environment and a design-led institution whilst still maintaining brand exclusivity.

Lastly, I co ordinate with sub licence companies to maximise revenue across all major categories offered by the brand.

Sales analysis

I ensure that next season's collection is stronger than the previous by periodically undertaking product sales analysis. My contribution to the style performance discussions optimises the product ranges by evaluating the demand for the most successful categories.

Managing customer expectations

The customers I deal with have a very high expectation of the products. To manage these expectations, I constantly liaise with factories abroad to ensure production schedules are met. This is crucial so customers receive their orders on time and to specification. I utilise my strong negotiating skills to ensure all ex-factory dates for independent customers and larger accounts are met whilst maintaining factory relations.

Critical paths

I build and maintain the critical path for each season, inputting every individual order and any special requirements that may be needed. I am proficient at meeting all deadlines for larger accounts and smaller boutiques, such as John Lewis who have very stringent delivery times. I constantly analyse the critical path throughout the season so all delivery and lead times set by the factory and the customer are met and the orders are fulfilled in a timely manner.

What do you do in an average day?

In an average day I will write and send over 50 emails - this can be more or less depending on the time in the season. As I deal with all 160 accounts myself there is a lot of correspondence that occurs throughout the day. I liaise with our warehouse when all orders need to be shipped and make sure that the very important customers like John Lewis have everything on time and labelled etc. Quite often I have meetings in central London with one of the big department stores to show the new range for that season or to talk about sales forecasts for the next season.

What are the essential qualities needed for what you do?

You have to like dealing with people and know how to react to all sorts of different buyers, whether they are from a large store or a small tiny shop in the middle of Scotland. You also need to be fairly numeric and a definite is to be able to use Excel, I use this all the time.

Be confident but approachable, I never do the hard sell thing on a buyer if they are clearly not interested.

Having a design background definitely helps as you have an understanding of textile based products. I use it a lot at the beginning of a season when we all discuss the range for the new season, and I feed back to the creative director and let her know whether a product has worked or not.

How creative is your role?

The creative side of my job role comes into play at the beginning of designing a new range for a new season. We all sit down and discuss what has worked from the previous season and then work with my sales figures to find out if any products or prints should be dropped due to poor sell through. I also do all the building and merchandising on the trade show stands so having knowledge of colour, prints and textures hugely helps to do this.

Who do you work with?

I work very closely with the production assistant to make sure that all orders are leaving the factory on time to meet customers' delivery dates - especially for the big accounts! I also work closely with the creative director and feed back my sales analysis to her so she knows what works and doesn't work.

What is the most rewarding thing about what you do?

When I walk into John Lewis or Liberty and see the Lisa Stickley range in there and think I helped to achieve this! Also being able to satisfy all of the customers and get the products to them on time - when they come back and re order it is a great feeling.

And the most challenging?

When the factories we work with cannot meet our delivery dates for stock as this has big consequences, especially with the big department stores. They are very demanding and if the stock does not arrive when they request it, they often cancel or cut their predicted forecasts for that seasons. Managing 160 accounts by yourself is also pretty tricky but if you can multi task and don't mind putting in the hours then it is manageable.

What did you take from your degree?

Lots of transferable skills that I have been able to put into play while in the workplace. I learnt that working to a deadline is hugely important and being focused on the task in hand is really useful. I also learnt that working under pressure isn't always a bad thing. I was the Level 3 student rep, which really helped me with my people skills!

I am not currently using the embroidery skills I learnt on my degree but I still have a very keen eye for design and can appreciate colour, print and composition.

Did you do a placement?

Yes, directly after graduating, at Saltwater - a clothing business that was based in Marylebone in London. From that placement I was offered my first full time job with the company.

What's the best piece of advice you've been given?

Believe in yourself because one day you will get to where you want to go or at least be on the path to where you want to get to!

What advice would you give to current students?

I would definitely recommend doing a work placement - employers are very interested to know whether you have any industry experience. Even if it is just for a month, it is really important. And don't panic if the first job you are offered is not quite what you want to go into, you never know what it will lead to or the contacts you will pick up on the way.