Director of Client Services Emilee Christianson has been with Trekk since the beginning… sort of. Her father was one of Trekk’s founding partners, so from a very early age Emilee had a rinkside seat for how Trekk’s culture of exploration and discovery helped clients enhance their marketing strategies and realize their business goals.
After graduating from college, Emilee returned to Trekk in a full-time role but quickly discovered a passion and talent for client services and management. The ability to successfully communicate with clients, understand their needs, and create a concrete roadmap for project success makes Emilee a critical lynchpin between our teams and our clients.
How did you get into account management and client services?
After college, I briefly worked for a technology recruiting company that hired developers, but more creative work was something I was really attracted to. I started with Trekk as a marketing coordinator, but I quickly realized I really loved the client management side of things, and devoted a lot of time to learning that aspect of the business and how successfully managing the relationship between the team and our clients was so pivotal to building long-term, strategic partnerships.
What does a typical day look like for you?
The core of my job is to make sure we are setting the right strategy, expectations, and hitting the right benchmarks for everything we do for our clients. I view my role as one that gets to build a trusting relationship between our team and our clients. This includes a lot of phone calls, emails, and in general a lot of back and forth to make sure deadlines are being met, needs are being addressed, and both our teams and clients have the resources they need. Because when our clients win, that means we win, too.
What are the skills or traits someone needs to be successful in your role?
First, I would say organization. I’m the kind of person who likes organizing a messy closet. I like being handed a problem to solve. But you also have to be able to communicate clearly, understand how other people communicate, and then turn that communication into actions our teams or clients can take to achieve a specific goal. I think you also need the ability to ask the right questions to better understand what the client is asking for or what our team might recommend in terms of strategy or goal.
What is the most challenging aspect of what you do? On the flipside, what is the most rewarding part of your work?
I think the most challenging part is learning how to understand what may sound like vague asks from clients. Sometimes we don’t get a lot of direction on a project, which is actually a good thing because it shows that clients trust us, but it can be difficult at the same time. The most rewarding part is when everything goes according to plan because that means both the client and team win. I really feel like I’m doing my best when the project is exactly what the client wanted and it’s also exactly what our team thought was the best course of action.
What advice would you give to a potential client looking to enhance their marketing strategy?
I think the biggest pitfall potential clients encounter is not being open to new things. A big part of Trekk’s message is exploration and if a potential client is not of the mindset to try something new or to adapt, that can be a tough obstacle to overcome. We want to be real partners with our clients. We want to be with them for the long haul. We want to create a relationship built on the fact that we have a client’s best interest in mind at all times, but if a potential client is immovable or unwilling to have an open mind about how to enhance what they’ve done in the past, it’s very difficult to achieve that long-term success we strive for.
Tell us a little bit about who you are outside of the office. Who is Emilee?
I have a 1 year old baby, so that definitely takes up a majority of my time and energy, but it’s also the most fun thing I do. My husband and I are also big Marvel fans, big Disney fans, and I really love to read. I guess you could say I’m kind of a homebody.
Speed Round: Hotdog or burger?
Depends. If we’re talking about grilling at home, then burger. If we’re talking about take-out, then a Portillo’s hotdog.
Cake or pie?
Normally cake, but chocolate Oreo pie is my favorite dessert of all time, so that would be the only instance where I’d go pie over cake.
What’s the last TV show you binge-watched?
My husband and I really enjoyed Loki on Disney+, but we’re also big Forged by Fire fans, too. It’s one of those shows you can have on in the background while doing other things, so it’s easy to binge on.
What’s one guilty pleasure you have?
Netflix has a ton of these Spanish telenovelas, which are so dramatic, but I love them; I studied in Spain for a few months while in college. They’re kind of like Downton Abbey, but they take place in Spain and they’re Spanish. They’re really well done.
Thank you to Emilee for taking the time to tell us about what she does as a member of the Trekk team. Check back next month for another edition of Trekk Talk and don’t forget to check out our most recent edition with Lead Application Developer Justin Davis!
