Meet the Team: Sales & Marketing Department

Clarendon Homes has evolved and expanded greatly since being formed over 20 years ago. Over the next few weeks, we will be introducing you to some of our office departments, to give an insight into the company from the staff’s perspective, exploring our team culture, favourite developments and more! We first introduce our Sales and Marketing team…

The Team

Gareth, Sales and Marketing Manager

Gareth is head of the department and has worked at Clarendon on and off for 15 years, taking some time out to live in New Zealand for a few years before returning in 2015.

Alecia, Sales and Marketing Assistant

Alecia joined in March 2016 after completing a Masters Degree in English Literature. She has completed several marketing courses since working at Clarendon to keep her up to speed with the industry.

Cameron, Marketing Administrator

Cameron has worked with us since September 2020, as part of his placement year from Nottingham Trent University, where he studies Marketing. He is due to leave us for his return to uni at the end of the Summer.

What is your favourite thing about working at Clarendon Homes?

Gareth: Dealing with customers throughout their house purchase and then handing their keys to them on completion day.

Alecia: My role is quite varied meaning no day is the same and I enjoy helping customers find their dream home.

Cameron: Producing marketing content and helping improve the online customer experience on our new website.

Which is your favourite past development of ours and why?

Gareth: They’re all great! The first multi-unit site during my time working here was Greensand Ridge, Kingswood (2006). This was the first site that I had to prepare for a show home launch and we had a full day of viewings with lots of interest and nice feedback. I still drive past it now and it looks as good if not better than it did 15 years ago.

Alecia: Weavers Park, Headcorn 2019- 2020. I loved the feel of the development and the spacious open plan kitchen/diners opening onto the patio would be great for entertaining. I loved the whole layout of those properties, they had everything I would personally need in my ideal home including enough bedrooms to make one a walk-in wardrobe which is my house goal!

Cameron: Churchfields, Harrietsham 2020 – lovely bungalows and the the first site I have seen in person!

Which development are you looking forward to in the near future, and why?

Gareth: Langton Gardens, Headcorn, as this will be our first custom build site. This means we will be assisting the buyers in designing their own property. This is going to be a huge challenge but one I’m looking forward to!

Alecia: Langton Gardens custom build development in Headcorn – coming later this year. It’s something we’ve never done before and so will be a learning curve.

Cameron: Cobnut Park in Boughton Monchelsea – I really liked the bungalows at Churchfields so I am looking forward to seeing how they turn out at Cobnut Park as they are currently under construction.

What has changed in the time you have been here?

Gareth: It used to be just myself and Steve (the director) sharing an office above my Dad’s garage in the early days of the company. The office team has gradually expanded, and we now have a purpose-built office for up to 15 people.

Alecia: We’ve done a wide range of developments through the years and now currently getting involved with the niche markets of custom build and extra care retirement homes. This means I’ve had to learn to market to and deal with very different types of customers.

Cameron: Mostly to do with COVID protocol – I have been in and out the office a few times and the office seating arrangement has been rearranged to support social distancing.

How has the company improved in the time you have been here?

Gareth: I believe we have become a lot more professional in our whole approach to how we run the business, from our office all the way to on site. I think this can be seen in our end-product as well as our customer service as we now have a dedicated customer service department.

Alecia: Each team in the office has expanded meaning we can bring our different skills and traits to our departments, so that we can utilise our strengths and work more efficiently.

Cameron: Due to home working we now work efficiently online as a team when we need to. We have made several digital improvements such as a new website, new internal folder structure and online reservation forms, all of which have made us a more efficient company. We also had our first ever development which was all reserved off plan.

How has the company adapted to working during the pandemic? How have you found it?

Gareth: My small sales and marketing team have spent most of the pandemic so far working from home which I believe we managed and adapted to very well by having regular conference calls. Albeit I found it very frustrating as I missed the buzz of being in an office environment.

Alecia: Most office staff have had to work from home at some point since the first lockdown and our department has been working from home for the majority of the past year. This really opens your eyes to how much can be done digitally, saving meeting times and wasted print outs! I have taken those benefits on board to change the way I work and also learnt some new computer skills along the way, which help me work more efficiently.

Cameron: A lot of the staff have adapted well to working remotely, so we are better than ever at digital communication with customers, business associates and colleagues.

Describe/sum up Clarendon in 3 words

Gareth: Love your Home!

Alecia: Personal customer experience.

Cameron: Quality, teamwork, sustainable.

What do you think makes people choose to buy a Clarendon property?

Gareth: I genuinely think that they see more value in our developments and our houses compared to a lot of the other house builders out there. When I move people in when they have bought off plan (especially first time buyers) they genuinely seem surprised at what is included in the houses as standard – makes me very proud to be part of the company!

Alecia: As we are smaller than a lot of other new build developers, we really get to know our customers and their needs. This enables the opportunity for us to work closely with them and build a relationship with them, as well as being flexible to create a home they really love.

Cameron: Friendly sales staff, a high standard of specification and our virtual tours of similar previous show homes which make it easier to visualise what you are purchasing with a Clarendon Home.

What would you say is a key selling point of Clarendon properties?

Gareth: Every aspect of the property (flooring etc) is included as standard and we do try and accommodate our buyers as much as we can where they do have any requests.

Alecia: We have a very high-quality build, and include flooring, turf and integrated kitchen appliances etc as standard which are often an ‘extra’ with other developers. We also don’t replicate our developments, making each one unique and with their own character.

Cameron: Being a smaller company, we offer personal customer service which other bigger homebuilders cannot match, while retaining our high-quality finishes with every home.

What’s your favourite memory since working for Clarendon?

Gareth: The 20th Anniversary boat party on the River Thames was good fun.

Alecia: At my first Clarendon Christmas party, we had a Fawlty Towers comedy act during the meal which was hilarious, and I remember them throwing our bread rolls at us and ‘Manuel’ serving us our food! We were all in stiches. We weren’t able to have a Christmas party last year due to Covid, hopefully we can this year.

Cameron: The first meal we went on since I joined, it was lovely to see people outside of work for the first time!

If you want to learn more about Clarendon and how we have grown, visit ‘The Clarendon Story’.