RWL004 How to Ensure True Remote Work and Spotlighting a Director of Marketing Role at Closecom

Speaker 1

0:00

Hey, it's Alex again from the Remote Work Life Podcast. How are you doing? Hope you're well, wherever you may be in the world. The Remote Work Life Podcast was created to help you to thrive as a remote worker and stay connected with what's current. And in today's episode I want to try something slightly different, because somebody I know and respect really greatly, steli Efti, who's the CEO of Closecom, is hiring for a director of marketing. So I wanted to use this podcast just really to help him out, because he's helped me out. So I want to help him out and I want to let you know as well hopefully help you out too to let you know that he's hiring a director of marketing, and I'm going to tell you a bit more about that a little bit later on, and I don't want this to be a long podcast by any means, so you won't have to wait very long.

Speaker 1

0:53

But I wanted to tell you about an experience that I had when I was looking for remote work, an experience that it wasn't a nice experience and it's something I want you to avoid when you come to start to apply, start to look for remote opportunities yourself. So this was a couple of years back, when I was transitioning and doing some SEO work. I was looking to join a local agency and they had a need for an SEO person in their team and I wanted to just see if I could add some value to the team. But one of the things I wanted to be able to do and I made it, I suppose, quite clear myself I wanted to be able to work remotely because, as I explained to them, I had a number of things I had to deal with as well at the time and you know I told them this is where I did my best work, etc. Etc. And it turned out that this particular company wasn't a 100% remote business, and that's one of the things I think you should be wary of when you're looking to go remote or if you're trying to negotiate with a business that isn't 100% remote and that is sometimes it can have an effect on the rest of the team, for example, if they're not working remotely. So let me explain what I mean.

Speaker 1

2:12

So if you're the only one who's working remotely, or one of very few people who's working remotely, and the others are not sort of either geared up to working remotely or haven't had that as part of their way of working as part of the team, then that can sometimes I'm not saying all the time it can lead to, perhaps, friction in the team. It can lead to conflict, it can lead to sometimes confusion as well, as it was on my part, because I wanted to work home on certain days, and the days that I wanted to work home were in conflict with the times when the management team wanted me in. So I think one of the best things to do when you're looking for a remote role if it's not 100% is to really you know, perhaps a mistake I made as well myself is really ensure that you really rubber stamp and really sort of define the areas in which, or the days and and when you want to go remote, and get those agreed before you start. I didn't do that, so there's a mistake I made on my part as well. Um, or the other thing you can do is opt and look for, look for a company that's 100% remote, and 100% remote means or fully remote as well. Look for fully remote or 100% remote companies. That means everybody in the team works remotely. So there's no conflict, there's no misunderstandings, there's no. You know, alex is working remote today and I'm not. Why is that sort of thing. So there's no room for error or misunderstanding where that's concerned. So look for companies and businesses that are 100% remote.

Speaker 1

3:50

And that leads me quite nicely into the main reason for this podcast, and that was to let you know about Steli Efti, the CEO of Closecom, and the fact that he's hiring at the moment. It's 18th of April as I published this podcast and I received an email from him yesterday to say that he's hiring for a director of marketing. I'm not helping him in any way to recruit for this role, other than to let you know that he's looking for a director of marketing. So what is Closeio? Closeio, or in fact, they're called Closecom now. So if you go to Closecom, you'll be able to have a look at their website. They've just done a rebrand, so that's why they're now called Closedcom.

Speaker 1

4:35

Closedcom is a CRM with sales automation, so essentially it's like a CRM system that's dedicated to the sales community and helps them to close more deals. And I mean, you've probably used a CRM system, similar CRM systems in the past where you have the name and contact details of prospects, of people that you know, of contacts, etc. But this one is, as I said, dedicated to the sales profession. It's the only CRM to offer lead management, email sequences, predictive dialers and more. But I'd urge you to look at closecom, to have a look for yourself to see if this is something that suits you.

Speaker 1

5:18

But what Steli says in terms of the sorts of things he's looking for is somebody who's obviously very talented in marketing, somebody who's obviously very talented in marketing, somebody who's a marketing leader, especially in SaaS software as a service. So that is essentially what Closecom is. It's a SaaS product and that's why it's so important that you have a SaaS background. And he's also looking for somebody with small to medium business experience as well, because he's Closecom is a reasonably small company but at the same time, they're doing some big things across the world and it's a global company as well. So if you have experience of working in a small to medium business, that's going to put you in the spotlight. That's something that Steli's looking for as well and, as I said before, they're doing a rebrand. I'll come on to some of the benefits in a minute of working with Closecom as far as I see them.

Speaker 1

6:13

But they want somebody who's got a track record of leadership, of building teams, because you'll be recruiting, you'll be hiring. It's a team that he wants to grow, you will be shaping the culture of that particular team and helping to shape the culture of the business as well, and that's why it's so important that you have some sort of track record in managing, developing people, leading people, coaching people, etc. To become their best self within their role. So that's another thing. He's looking for Another thing as well. I mean he's looking to speak to a number of different people. So if you're actively looking at the moment or if you're just considering a move, he wants to speak to you. So by that I so if you're actively looking at the moment or if you're just considering a move, he wants to speak to you. So by that I mean if you're actively looking, obviously you're proactively putting your cv out there you're perhaps speaking to recruitment agencies.

Speaker 1

7:02

If you're not so active, if you're, if you have a job and you're relatively happy with where you are or you're just curious, really you might be completely happy but you're just curious, really you might be completely happy but you're just curious to explore other opportunities. And I always recommend that it would be a good idea to speak to Steli, because who knows what the future holds, who knows where the conversation might take you. And the great thing is, as I said, you'll be able to speak directly to Steli, directly to the CEO of the business, directly to the CEO of the business. So it's a good opportunity, if nothing else, to make a great new connection and a great new sort of avenue for you to explore. Even if you decide that it's not right for you now, I think it's worth to have a conversation with Steli, but I'm sure once you speak to him, he'll tell you a lot more about what's going on. It's worth having a conversation.

Speaker 1

7:51

So the benefits as I see them, or at least the advantages of working with Closecom, as far as I see them, is that it's very much a mission-driven business. They're focused on serving the sales community. They're focused on growing globally. They're in a growth phase. They're well established since 2013. So, again, that's another advantage they're not somebody who's just set up. They're well established. They're looking to grow. They have many customers throughout the world as well, and those customers produce millions of transactions on a weekly, monthly basis, so they're heavily using the system. It's something that's not new. It's something that's well-established and something that you can get your teeth into, something that you can help to take to the next phase and be part of the team as well.

Speaker 1

8:43

Another obviously big advantage is, as I mentioned, steli himself. He is totally focused on this area and he himself is somebody who knows, knows, a lot about sales. He's considered a thought leader in the world of sales. This is not. This is not him saying this, but a number of people consider Steli to be a thought leader in the world of sales. So you'll learn a lot, I'm sure, not only from Steli, but from the people he's gathered around him and from the people that you, you will hire, and from, obviously, just working there, working in that environment.

Speaker 1

9:15

And well, I think probably one of the main benefits other than, obviously, the mission-led side of things and the fact that you're working with a great CEO, great team the opportunity to grow and build the actual team itself is that it's 100% remote, and that's as I was alluding to before, as I was talking to you about before. Although it's a US-based company working in a 100% remote team, everybody's geared towards that particular culture. Everybody knows where they stand, everybody knows what's expected in terms of that remote aspect. You won't get anybody saying, but Alex is working remotely today, why can't I? You'll get, do you see what I mean. So working for 100% remote team is essentially where it's at, and you can well predominantly work, or for the most part work, from anywhere in the world, and if that's not attractive, I don't know what is.

Speaker 1

10:11

And if you do, go to uh steli's website, clothescom, and if you are looking to find out more or at least apply, I really urge you to do that. I really recommend that you go and have a look at his website. Read it really thoroughly. He also has a great YouTube channel as well, where you can learn a lot more about him. So if you go to YouTube and type in Closecom or Closeio I think it is that's the name of his channel but have a look at the website.

Speaker 1

10:41

There's a detail section on opportunities within Closecom. Even if you don't want to get into a marketing role, they do often have other opportunities as well that you should look at. So if you go to the bottom of the page and go to join our team, click on that, and if you look at the director of marketing role itself, it'll give you a lot more information about the role, about who they are and one thing I really loved actually being a parent myself and being somebody who really, you know, has tried to create a balance between work and life. There's lots of reasons Steli and Clothescom give for actually working with them and, apart from being 100% remote, another thing about the team I mean, although they've just launched, relaunched their brand at the end of the job description it talks about, this team is growing in more ways than one. We've recently launched eight babies and counting stelly himself, I believe, is a father. So I think it's always best when you're, when you're a parent yourself, when you work within a team that has parents as well, or the leadership team also has parents, there's perhaps a bit more understanding because, apart from being remote, where you can, you can balance work and life. You know they understand that you have other commitments outside of work. They work hard themselves, but you know, having that understanding within the team is something that I think is is another bonus. So that's all I really wanted to say today.

Speaker 1

12:08

Really, just have a look at crowscom. If you're looking for a role in marketing. Let me know what you think of this particular podcast. You want to hear more about opportunities in the remote world, especially in the 100% remote or fully remote world, because this is what I want to be able to do. I want I want you to learn from some of the things that I did the wrong way last time ie, you know, perhaps jumping into a role that was perhaps not ideal in a few ways. I want you to learn from from my mistakes so that you don't make them.

Speaker 1

12:42

I want to help you to stay connected. I think that's another thing. From time to time, as a remote worker, it can get lonely, it can get quiet. Obviously, you're not around as many people as you normally would be. So I want to be that person who helps you to sort of connect. I'd love to connect with you. So, if you check me out on LinkedIn, check me out on Facebook as well, and please rate this podcast. Let me know what you think of the podcast. Let me know what you think of the podcast. Let me know what you want to hear on the podcast as well. Please rate it. If you're on itunes or looking on or listening on google play or stitcher as well, please, let me know what you want to hear. Please leave your comments and also, importantly, subscribe and let me know that it's just me. Well, it's not just me out there. There are other people listening in and hopefully enjoying the podcast. And yeah, let me know if you have any questions and I will be with you very soon for the next episode.