Meet the Crew: Pim and Sofia

P: Hi! My name is Pim Venhoek, I'm 22 years old and I was born and raised in Arnhem. I lived there until I was nine, after which I moved abroad for 10 years with my family. In those 10 years, I lived in Hong Kong for eight years and in Sydney for two years.
After graduating High School in Hong Kong, I decided to study International Business Administration (IBA) at the Erasmus University of Rotterdam. Not only was this a good addition to my academic profile but it was also a way for me to go back to my old roots and spend time with my family.
In my free time, I like to have dinner and drinks with friends, watch football and Formula 1.

S: Hello! I’m Sofia, I’m 22 years old and I am originally from Porto in Portugal. During my Bachelor’s in Management at Católica Porto Business School, I had the chance to do Summer School in Lithuania and an exchange semester at Croatia.
After a professional internship, I decided to come to The Netherlands to do my Master’s Degree in Strategy Economics at Erasmus School of Economics. Since I liked this country so much, and having a soft spot for international experiences, I decided to stay a bit longer and gain more experience and knowledge in my field area. 
Besides cooking and hanging out with friends, whether this is going out for dinner or staying in for game nights, I absolutely love to travel, try new things and meet new people!

What will be your role at Conversion Crew?

P: My role at Conversion Crew is sales representative. I'm in charge of bringing new leads and exploring them in order to turn them from prospects to new customers. 
My day to day operations are expressed by emailing, having meetings and calling potential customers.

S: At Conversion Crew, I will be working as a Junior HubSpot Consultant. This means helping customers improve their performance in terms of Marketing, Sales and Services all through HubSpot!
On a daily basis, I perform HubSpot implementations and optimisations in order to help customers create good processes in their systems.

 What’s a skill you’d like to improve on?

P: Communication, organisational and negotiation skills since they are so important in the sales field. You need to be a good negotiator in order to convince prospects to become clients and a good communicator to be able to hold effective meetings and calls. Organisational because you're dealing with a large number of clients and need to keep track of what's being discussed in the meetings, especially when reporting it to another department and colleagues.

S: I believe communication skills are one of the most valuable assets you can have, both in your personal and professional life! In this field and position, you have direct contact with customers and it’s crucial that you maintain a clear and mutual communication relation, in order for you to know how to help them as well as for them to feel comfortable in reaching out to you when needed.
Also, leadership skills in the long term would show my team I am able to perform more independently, showing that I am proactive and take initiative.

What motivates you to work hard?

P: Ability to be financially free, further being able to travel and explore the world and have fun with friends and family. Eventually buy a house and be stable in the future.
In this company, they give me a lot of freedom and I want to reward it by working hard and bringing in new clients.

S: Especially being out of my comfort country, it is very important both for me and for my colleagues that I show what I am capable of. Being recognized and being able to contribute to a company’s success is something that motivates me to continue.
Working hard also inspires me to accomplish my future goals of being independent, happy and wiser by taking part in new experiences and traveling as much as possible.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

P: In five years, ideally I would like to have a partner, a couple of dogs and a house. I would like to be further in my career in terms of responsibilities and seniority.

S: In five years, I would like to be in a stable place, being happy and financially independent doing something that motivates me and empowers me. Also, and most importantly, surrounded by people I love and relate to, being family, friends or colleagues.

Can you speak more than one language?

P: English, Dutch, a bit of Chinese and I am learning some Spanish.

S: Besides being native in Portuguese, I speak English and Spanish. Also, since I intend to stay in the Netherlands in the near future, I am now starting to learn Dutch as well!