In the next instalment of our ‘Meet the Team’ series, we’re thrilled to introduce Callum, our exceptional UK Sales Manager. Callum’s ability to foster strong customer relationships, combined with his comprehensive product knowledge fuel our UK sales.
How long have you been at Excelerate and tell us about your job role?
I am proud to say that I have worked at Excelerate since May 2019, and my primary role is to engage with our customers with the UK emergency services to ensure that they are properly looked after and kept abreast of the latest technologies available on the market.
What does a typical day at Excelerate look like for you?
It is a cliché, but every day is a real mix of things. Some days I will be attending meetings and on the phone to our customers to check in and see how they are getting on with their Excelerate solutions, other days I will be introducing myself to new people within the emergency services, and some days I am working with our technical team on new solutions and project to get them ready for delivery. The variety is what I love most about my role.
What is your favourite project that you have worked on?
One of the first major projects I worked on was developing a bespoke UAV Streamer for Police Scotland, which not only allowed them to stream from their drone but could also facilitate streaming the video feed from their helicopters – something completely unique! The team at Police Scotland were brilliant to collaborate with and provided so much input, and the solution we created is a testament to the great working relationship we have with them.
What do you enjoy most about working at Excelerate?
I really feel as if we are supporting the emergency services and contributing to their everyday operations. I take a lot of pride in providing them with quality solutions and I know that feeling runs through the entire company. It is what drives all of us to make sure we give our very best everyday and to make sure no stone is unturned when it comes to building the best product on the market.
How has the industry changed since you first started your career?
The introduction of low earth orbit (LEO) satellite capability has really changed the game when it comes to resilient connectivity. Satellite had always played a large part in Excelerate’s offering to the emergency services because of how reliable it was at any location, but the bandwidth it could offer over geostationary (GEO) satellites was not keeping up with the latest software being used at the incident ground. Now our customers have the benefit of enjoying high-speed LEO satellite functionality anywhere in the country, and the applications that will enable are revolutionary.
What advice would you give to anyone who aspires to work in a similar job role as you?
Always do what you say you are going to do, when you say you are going to do it. I think that most Salespeople would benefit from following that simple piece of advice, because there is nothing more frustrating for a customer than to have been overpromised and underdelivered. On the rare occasions when I need to share information about delays to a customer, if you promptly address the issue and approach the conversation with a solution or a way forward, I believe it can make all the difference.
If you weren’t a Sales Manager, what would you be?
Our engineers will despair reading this, but I would love to be in their team! I have a genuine interest in how they put together our solutions and always take the chance to sit with them and understand the work they are doing. I think it is a real gift to be able to build something and see it being used and if I was to ever retrain, I would love to work with them.
Stay tuned for future instalments of our ‘Meet the Team’ series, as we continue to introduce you to the brilliant minds behind our organisation.
