1 Coworker, 1 Job: Sabrina

My name is Sabrina, and I joined éolane almost 12 years ago. After completing my studies at a business school, I specialized in purchasing. I started my career in industrial purchasing before joining éolane, 5 years later, as a Business Development Manager.

This change of position gave me the opportunity to switch to the other side of the negotiation table, moving from the buyer's role to that of a salesperson. It was a choice I have never regretted.

I started with a technical training because I knew nothing about electronics. For 15 days, I discovered the production environment: receiving, warehouse, SMT, wave soldering, manual soldering, testing, and more. From a customer perspective, this knowledge helps in sales, while internally, it enables a better understanding of the challenges faced by the operators.

I am a Business Developer (BD). My role is to hunt and bring in new clients, specifically targeting the Medical market segment. I am responsible for conducting internal opportunity reviews to determine the scope of each project, including preparing technical and commercial responses to requests for proposals and negotiations. During various committee meetings, I provide maximum information as it is at these moments that we decide if the deal is interesting and, most importantly, if it can be profitable for éolane. This information includes details about the project itself, such as whether it involves a PCB or an integrated product, and if there are any specific technologies involved. Additionally, I consider contextual information about the client's company.

This information-gathering process requires intuition. The goal is to avoid spending time on quoting when the client has no intention of changing suppliers and merely wants to know the market's reference price.

Finally, I ensure that we have all the elements to construct a response that aligns with the client's expressed needs, and I support the proposal with the objective of securing the order! Typically, I handle 4-5 RFQs (Request For Quotation) simultaneously.

On a daily basis, I interact mainly with Cyril, who is Head of Medical market. He determines the strategy to be pursued in the segment, including the target customers, actions to be implemented, and the positioning to adopt.

I also interact extensively with the prospecting teams, RFQ cells (dealing with responses to Request For Quotation), and the R&D teams.

For complex quoting, I am accompanied by an RFQ Leader throughout the entire duration of building the commercial proposal. When the client's request involves simpler projects, I do not have an RFQ Leader. In such cases, I work directly with the purchasing and labor cost estimators.

To sum it up, it's diverse, and in the end, I interact with many departments!

One must be autonomous, curious, and able to prioritize tasks. Human qualities are also crucial. Having excellent interpersonal skills is essential as our role is to stand out from the competition, and good business relationships can contribute to that. While we are a subcontractor, we emphasize our expertise. The relationship should be win-win, with a mutual desire to work together.

Lastly, it is essential to learn to be concise and get to the point, especially when communicating the potential of a deal internally.

In the Medical sector, cycles are generally long, and some projects take time to mature. Patience and perseverance are required. When you invest a lot in a deal, it can be challenging to remain objective and strike a balance.

It's a rewarding profession, as projects are never the same! I really enjoy working in the Medical sector. There are numerous medical devices and innovations, which enriches my personal knowledge. Additionally, on our scale, we contribute to saving lives and improving people's daily lives, which is highly motivating.

Being a Business Developer means finding the right target and persisting until the order is secured. However, this work is not done alone; it's a real team challenge!