Meet Team PKF SCS: Sage 200 Account Manager

Support, Sales, Consultancy, Marketing and Development. These are more than just departments at PKF Smith Cooper Systems – they are teams of people that have brought the company to where it is today.

Many of you may not have interacted with any of these departments or you may have interacted with them all! Either way, this series is intended to introduce you to the people behind the titles and give you insight into the people who make up Team PKF SCS.

Following on from our previous articles in this series, we are talking to Hope Dunbar. Hope is one of our Sage 200 Account Managers and someone who many of you may know very well.

Keep reading to find out more about Hope and how her PKF SCS journey began.

We have also featured a range of other team members, so to catch up on our past articles click here.

How did your journey with PKF SCS start?

I was working as an account manager within the signage industry and decided I wanted to leave and find a new challenge for myself. Along came PFK Smith Cooper Systems… After a TEAMS call with Chris to get to know one another we then met in person, along with Richard Torr. I had to learn everything again, with a bit of Sage knowledge to get me started. I spent the first month or so focusing on training using Sage University, sitting in on any of our webinars and watching our own YouTube channel so I could have as much knowledge as possible before introducing myself to my clients.

What do you enjoy the most at PKF SCS?

Everyone is helpful & supportive; the team all work well together. There’s a great work-life balance and everyone gets on. I can’t complain about having Chris (our MD) making me coffees either…

Would you prefer to work from home or the office? How has visiting the office on a part-time basis impacted your work?

I love that we do hybrid working, working from home & then in the office. I don’t always manage to get into the office if I am out visiting clients or have lots of TEAMS calls but it’s lovely to have that atmosphere to bounce off each other. Working from home is great because it’s quieter, you save time travelling which means you can start your day a little earlier and get ahead but the office is great when you want to see someone in person, the communication is quicker and smoother.

What has been the biggest challenge you have had to overcome this year?

My biggest challenge this year was changing jobs during a pandemic, I took a risk, and I couldn’t be happier with my decision. PFK SCS have the best working culture I’ve come across which made the transition nowhere near as scary as it could have been.

What advice would you give to other Sage 200 Account Managers in relation to driving the sales function?

My advice is just to communicate with your clients regularly & listen. Learning how your clients use the system means you can see and then help fill any gaps in their product. Being honest with your client really helps as well; you want to sell them something that would benefit them, not just help make a quick sale.

That is all for this time around, thank you very much for reading and a huge thank you to Hope for sparing the time to answer our questions!