Team Snapshot: Practical Tips for Taking Your Career to the Next Level

From starting new jobs to getting the hang of self-development our Head of Sales Development, Lilli Schubert, tells us how she adapted to the challenges of 2020, took her own career forward, and kept her team motivated.

Our Head of Sales Development, Lilli, is driven by people and innovation. After her first year as part of the team, Lilli has changed the way we do things to make sure that personality, creativity, and development are at the core of everything that our sales team does.

With 2020 proving to be a challenging year for us all, we decided to sit down with Lilli to find out her essential tips and career advice for people looking to take their career to the next level.

Psst…we’re hiring! Take a look at our jobs page to find a new opportunity that suits you and speak to our team to find out more.

Career Advice From Our Head of Sales Development

Let’s start at the beginning, can you describe your first week at EyeEm?

It was intense but I was expecting it to be because it was a complete new industry for me. During my first week I got to speak to so many people in the company. It was a very casual setting which I really loved but I still got to ask a lot of questions. I really loved how every team, from tech to productions, ran workshops for us. It is extremely helpful to learn what people are doing so that you can develop a company-wide understanding and respect.

What would you encourage any team leaders to implement in their own onboarding?

I found that shadowing sessions with other team members or even other teams is a must. So I would encourage team leaders, managers, or even new beginners to pro-actively set these up - whether it be at the beginning of your new role, or after 10 years in your position.

Sit-in sessions allow you a new understanding of how other people work and what different tasks involve. This is particularly important when working with different clients, as you’re able to speak more confidently and manage expectations effectively.

For anyone looking to start a new role, whether it be at EyeEm or elsewhere, what would be the best piece of advice you would give them?

With every other job it’s critical to ask questions. This is something we all hear a lot when it comes to career development, but it’s consistent curiosity that will help you take your career to the next level. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and understand your knowledge gaps to get a broader view of how you can contribute to the success of the company you’re working for.

The imaging industry is a complex one and EyeEm is multi-dimensional too, and so for anyone looking to join the team at EyeEm then I would say be as open as you can be - and take notes!

Growing your own knowledge can be tricky sometimes, what are your best techniques for self-development?

Being naturally curious and working in a team of any size or scale. By having an understanding of the bigger picture and sharing your knowledge is key. Working closely with our Head of Marketing and Operations Manager has already taught me a huge deal about different things and helped me immensely in connecting dots.

What’s one thing you’ve learned during your time at EyeEm that you wish you had known at the beginning of your career?

There is no work around for communicating clearly. At EyeEm specifically, I learned that it’s always better to over than under communicate. I would encourage anyone to pursue consistency. No matter where you are in your career giving clear to-do’s and actions, regularly asking for feedback, and sharing meeting notes is a key to achieving your team’s goals.

2020 has been a challenging year for every industry and sector. How do you keep your team motivated?

It’s certainly been a year that we didn’t see coming. To make sure that I could motivate the team effectively I took a couple of weeks to observe and create an inventory of the goals of the individuals of the entire team, just like the way I would find out a client’s needs.

What I think is really important in this time is setting small goals. Giving the team manageable goals that can be measured week by week brings more productivity when combined with our result-orientated goals.

We’ve also switched the structure of our weekly team meetings away from a more informative and schedule driven discussion, we now discuss each other’s challenges, highlights, and learnings to strengthen the team’s motivation. It’s critical to speak openly with the entire team so that we can relate to one another and celebrate our successes on a regular basis. This is critical for any team and certainly not just in 2020.

Before starting with EyeEm you were working in the interior design industry for a long time. Can you describe how you adapted to the switch to your current role as Head of Sales Development?

No matter what the job title, I found that what interested me was speaking with people. This rationale always took the pressure off because, whether the focus is on an individual customer or another business, it’s always just an individual talking to another. Of course, other people become a part of the conversation. When it came to my work in interior design that could have been the influence of a partner, architect, or a mother-in-law! Now I’m building business relationships, those influencers still exist but now come in the form of key decision makers, budget holders, or end users.

We’ve just released The EyeEm Visual Trends Report 2021. Why are our visual trends key to your work in the sales team?

The 2021 trends report really shows the difference between us and other stock imagery companies. It’s a critical resource for us because it not only informs our team about what is going on within the imaging industry, but it’s also something that is so natural to talk about with our clients.

It would have been easy to select 10 upcoming trends, but we were really specific with this year’s report which is something that brands are also going to have to do in 2021. No brand is going to be able to get away with doing the same again. For example, when it comes to our visual trend ‘Environmental Urgency’ companies will need to proactively position themselves.

Our annual report is about giving them advice and visual examples that will help them to take a stance that fits with their brand. In that sense, it’s a precious resource designed to be used and shared!

We have a number of open opportunities in our sales and business team here at EyeEm! Find out more about the roles and our company culture on our jobs page. You can also connect with us on LinkedIn to get the latest updates and more team snapshots!