Elliot Bender at Brampton Brick, shares his top tips for blazing a trail in business transformation
Strategic thinker. Innovator. Family man. Trailblazer. Brampton Brick’s Vice President of Business Development and Marketing wears many hats. We talked to Elliot Bender about how he brings new ideas to life.
“As a Trailblazer, you have to go out of your comfort zone and be prepared to bring something new to the table!”
Strategic thinker. Innovator. Family man. Trailblazer. Brampton Brick’s Vice President of Business Development and Marketing wears many hats. We talked to Elliot Bender about how he brings new ideas to life.
Tell us about your role at Brampton Brick.
Manufacturing building products is in my blood. A few years after our family business sold, I joined Brampton Brick to help develop new products and drive growth – that’s now over 7 years ago. I’m first and foremost a strategist. I like bringing together different elements – from product development and marketing to sales and technology – to deliver the best outcomes for the business and its customers.
What do you love about your job?
I love to spearhead change. It can be challenging to get people on board initially, but it’s so rewarding when others start to act as evangelists for your plans. You know an idea is a success when you no longer have to remind people of the benefits, they just get it. When an initiative reaches that stage, I know I can move onto the next project. I’m a continuous improvement sort of person – I rarely take my foot off the accelerator!
How does Salesforce help you achieve your continuous improvement ambitions?
We’re expanding the business by introducing new product offerings and regions. To scale up effectively, we need to offer a consistent and efficient sales and service experience across all geographies. With Salesforce, we can constantly refine and update our processes, and enrich the customer experience through digitalization. And we can do it quickly! Salesforce brings greater transparency to our business processes and performance, which means we can pinpoint the most beneficial improvements really easily.
How has being part of the Salesforce community benefited you?
It’s a great resource and has really helped to bring my vision to life. Attending Salesforce presentations and events exposes me to new and different ideas, and helps keep me fresh as a marketing professional – it’s been a great learning experience.
What are your top tips for others that are earlier on in their transformation journey?
- Establish strong strategic linkage. To make sure you’re prioritizing the right things, connect the transformation directly with your strategic plan, and gain executive sponsorship at the outset.
- Create a plan, but be open to change. Any project that is worth doing takes patience and perseverance. I’ve seen too many initiatives abandoned in the past as soon as the team encountered a problem that they hadn’t anticipated, but that’s an inevitable part of the journey.
- What happens if we double? Assess how your current business processes would work if the company was to double or triple in size. Identify any constraints and then ensure that your transformation addresses and eliminates these issues, so you’re free to grow.
- Break the project up into small achievable chunks to build momentum and prevent project fatigue. Create smaller teams to maintain enthusiasm and momentum.
- Get out of your comfort zone and bring something new to the table! Instead of making something 5% better, rethink it completely.
