Introduce yourself
Hi, my name is Gill Jennings, I am Sales Director for Car & Classic. When I'm not working, I love spending time with my family and friends and I enjoy being active (to try and keep up with my children).

How would you describe your role to someone outside of your field?
My role as Sales Director is to ensure we achieve the revenue budget. This is done through strategic planning, excellent customer service, pipeline management, effective people management, including coaching and development and strong collaborations with other key departments and stakeholders. There are many parts to the role and lots of plates to spin, all geared around auction growth.

How long have you been with Car & Classic, and what drew you to join the team?
I've been with Car & Classic for nearly 3 years. Before that I had been in Leisure for 17 years and felt ready for a change. I saw the job advertised at C&C and even the way the advert was written immediately got my attention and I felt that I wanted to be a part of a company like this and I could add real value. The rest is history!

What do you enjoy most about your role?
Without a doubt, the part of the role I enjoy the most is working with my fantastic team. Achieving great results through a motivated and highly skilled team is a pleasure! We always look at where we can improve, no matter how successful the month, quarter or year has been and that makes the role exciting and the team great!

What does a typical day look like for you?
No 2 days are the same, but the key focuses are always pipeline management, budget and MTD performance reviews, which will include team 121's, understanding which levers to pull to influence results, reviewing supply and demand metrics, etc. Strategy planning also feeds into this to ensure we are looking ahead and focusing on what the next 3-6 months looks like.

Who do you work closely with, and how does your team support each other?
I work extremely closely with many people and departments, my Sales Managers, Marketing, Customer Success, Product and Engineering, Data - the list goes on. The company goals are shared throughout the teams, which makes the support easy, as we are aligned and working in the same direction.

Since joining Car & Classic, what new skills have you developed or areas you’ve strengthened?
There are so many elements to this role and managing the pipeline is so much more complex than other industries. I had never been part of a start-up before but it has got me much closer to the details in other departments too, in particular an in depth understanding of marketing metrics and the impact they have on auctions.

Is there something you’ve achieved here that you’re especially proud of?
The culture is extremely important to us so to achieve the results and the growth we have achieved and to maintain a good culture in the team is something I'm really proud of.

What’s been your favourite moment working at Car & Classic?
Last year's company event in Windsor - my team took the top spot on the podium in the karting challenge - that was a highlight!

How would you describe the Car & Classic culture? How does this resonate with you?
I've worked in high-performing, fast-paced sales environments for most of my career but nowhere has a culture quite like Car & Classic. It makes my role even more enjoyable when you are working with great people, in a great atmosphere, with everyone aligned and striving for excellence! It suits my management style so well.

What car or bike on Car & Classic would you love to drive?
Jaguar E-type.

How would you describe Car & Classic in just three words?
Collaborative! Passionate! Rewarding!

What surprised you the most about your team or the work environment when you first joined?
The team are motivated, driven and brilliant at adapting to all situations. They take feedback so well and are always looking to improve. This can be rare in sales environments, which is why it was a pleasant surprise when I joined but has been the driving force behind the success. It's something I still enjoy now, after 3 years!

What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone considering a role like yours?
Do it! You won't regret it!