At Crius Group, it really feels like coming home!
On 2 June 2014, Inne Engels reinforced Marcel in the sales and marketing department. Now, 10 years later, she looks back on a great decade and also looks forward to going in a new direction within Crius Group.
Inne, you have been with Crius Group for 10 years. How did you find each other?
Gosh, time flies huh. At the time, I was looking for a job that better suited my family situation at the time. My children were really small and I felt I wasn't there for them enough.
What did you do before that?
Before this, I was a sales executive at a company that organised trade fairs. That was quite tough in many ways. I don't just mean the sales targets but also the travelling time to Antwerp was no fun. And besides, I could no longer agree with the company's vision either. In short, I was ready for something new!
So, you wanted to slow down a bit?
No, that's not quite true. I was mainly looking for a different balance. Not only the work-life-balance but also content-wise. After studying Communication Management, I went through two positions within a communications department, after which I still wanted to go into the sales side. Combining the best of these two worlds seemed ideal to me. So, when I saw the vacancy of Marketing & Sales Assistant at Crius Group, I was immediately enthusiastic. And then so close to home, it was like winning the lottery!
What exactly appealed to you about the job?
Well, mainly that it was a very varied job. Reinforcement was urgently needed in the department. Marcel was on his own and needed a commercial jack-of-all-trades to help him with all kinds of tasks in Marketing and Sales. I joined in full preparation just before the 25th anniversary, so it was immediately all hands on deck. But I am very happy to have been able to contribute to that. This was the beginning of Crius Update Live as we know it today. I am quite a bit proud of that! It is now a valued event in the publishing industry. I also prepare the trade shows every year and am responsible for managing all social media channels. There wasn't much back then but now we have quite a lot of followers on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.
So is it just marketing?
No, because it soon became clear that Marcel couldn't do without me 😉 From inside sales, I have a lot of contact with customers, work out quotations and also manage the diaries. So, besides marketing, I also do a lot of sales support.
So, a fun job content and short travel time. But what's so great about working at Crius Group?
At Crius Group, it feels like coming home. We are a family business and that atmosphere really prevails here. There is a flat structure and you can say anything to each other. Furthermore, I have been given every opportunity here, both to regain my work-life balance and to develop myself further within the job.
And all that with a Dutchman as chef?
That's right, it took some getting used to in the beginning, but Marcel himself felt the same way when he came to work here. Marcel is quite a direct person, although I started to appreciate that quite quickly. Because his intentions are always good. And... 😉 He gave me all the time I needed to grow and has always guided me well over the years. Moreover, he is a crack at challenging someone to make themselves better. I can say that we are very well matched and work together as a real tandem.
Over the past few years, I have been able to really learn and understand all that Crius Group does for publishers. It's often complex stuff that you don't master overnight. Taking the step to account manager is now a logical one for me and I'm really looking forward to getting my teeth into it.
Inne Engels
Marketing & Account Manager
You're right in your place at Crius Group. And what does the future hold?
Well, that future brings change. We decided together that I will make the switch to account manager. That means I will be involving myself more and more in sales.
That's quite a step. So the commercial thing started itching back?
I have seen a lot from the office for 10 years: contacts with customers, preparing quotations, following what is going on in the market and responding to it from a marketing point of view. This also enabled me to really learn (and understand) what Crius Group does for publishers. It is often a complex matter that cannot be mastered overnight. The move to account manager is now a logical one for me and I am really looking forward to getting my teeth into it.
Does this also mean adding another 10 years?
I hope so by all means! That ambition is definitely there. Crius Group has great future plans and is always on the move, so I would like to continue to be part of that.
I remember saying once in my first year of service, "You won't get rid of me!", and by the looks of it, it does seem to be heading in that direction 😉