In this post we profile our Business Development manager who joined Circuitwise in November 2023.
Q: What is your role at Circuitwise?
A: I am a Business Development Manager. My primary role is to understand what our customers need and why they would want to work with us. I then work with new prospects to match what they need to what we offer.
Another key part of my role is networking within the product development ecosystem in Australia, better understanding it for the company and making our role as a contract manufacturer known among other players in the industry. My role is about building relationships
Q: What does a typical day look like?
A: I spend a lot of time on LinkedIn, getting to know companies and the people in them. It is about understanding how companies work, what they do, and the roles people have within them. When I connect with a person, I do not want to do it blindly and ideally, they have got to know me already through the comments I have made on their posts.
Q: What is the biggest strength you bring to Circuitwise?
A: I have been in the industry over 20 years, since before the Sydney Olympics in a variety of roles all related to electronic products, so I bring a strong understanding of what customers think is important.
I started off as an apprentice technician, repairing PCB boards and when I finished my apprenticeship I moved to Phillips Components, where I got into selling their entire catalogue which included everything from resistor and capacitors, through discrete ICs, microprocessors and even ferrite cores.
Every job since then has had a sales aspect to. I have worked in several companies selling products and services to original equipment manufacturers. This included everything from touchscreens, embedded boards, through to 3D circuit board manufacturing equipment and turnkey assembly services.
I understand the whole product development process from concept through to production.
Q: What attracted you to working at Circuitwise?
A: When I came for the job interview, I had particularly good first impressions. The people present came across as very open and honest. They were asking all the right questions that gave me confidence they knew exactly what they needed. There were several people in the room, and it was clear to me they all worked together very well, that it was a true team – not just our CEO Serena Ross calling the shots.
Q: What is the most important part of your work?
A: Engaging with customers to truly understand what they need to make sure that what we offer is a good fit for both companies, is the most important thing I do. I try to find out what their pain points are, why they are not happy with their previous contract manufacturer and why they are they talking with us. If we are not a good fit it is a waste of everyone’s time, so there a lot of questions I ask up front so we make sure of that. We like to know a prospect very well before we offer them a quote.
Internally, it is about being a strong member of the team and understanding what we do so that what I am telling customers is accurate and reflective of the team.
Q: Why should people choose to work with Circuitwise?
A: The main question I am asked is why Circuitwise is any different to every other contract manufacturer out there. In response, I usually start with the story of how we were founded by Ros and Greg Ross who handed over running of the business to their children Serena and Sean, and that we are an Australian company, with products assembled in Australia. That is a big selling point.
Our ISO 13485 & AS 9100D quality system makes us different from most contract manufacturers who have only the lesser ISO 9001 standard, but what I try to explain is that even among the small number of other ISO 13485 qualified companies, our systems are way above anything else I have seen in the industry.
The most impressive thing is the Cluso inventory management system which takes traceability and reliability to a whole new level. But it is not just the systems, it is the team of people who run it. There is a wide range of staff in different roles with very long tenure, but they are not set in their ways. They keep producing new ways to improve the processes and procedures. The culture is noticeable in Circuitwise.
Q: What is the biggest challenge in the product development industry in Australia?
A: The biggest challenge is that people wanting to develop products do not always know where to go for support. We have a good start-up system, with a lot of innovative ideas spinning out of universities, but after their initial proof of concept people often do not realise that there is a whole ecosystem of support both locally in their state and across Australia. It's easy for them to go offshore to get things done and that can lead to a world of pain. It is better to start with someone local, where you can visit the manufacturing facility and sort out any problems easily.
Q: What are your favourite activities outside of work?
A: My life is centred around my family, and I keep active with 3 teenage boys. I volunteer for a lot of things, having been the coach or manager of several of the kid's sport’s teams. I tend to be the person cooking the BBQ at Rugby games and fortunate to be part of a few school Cadet camps throughout the year helping to feed 400 kids. I also enjoy taking care of my mango and lemon tree in our yard and tend to always have excess to share with the Circuitwise office members.
When I am not doing things for the kids, my wife and I try to keep active doing exercise early every morning. We like to go for a run to clear my head and start work fresh.
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