A Day in the Life at Credico UK: Julian Hodge, Head of Sales Operations

No two days look the same when you're supporting sales and marketing partners across the whole of the UK. One minute you've got an hour cleared in your diary; the next, it's gone before you've noticed. That's life as Head of Sales Operations at Credico UK - and today was a good example of exactly that.

I'm Julian Hodge, and my role covers sales operations support across our network of independently owned sales and marketing agencies nationwide, which draws on a fair bit of experience in multi-site operations and service optimisation over the years. It also means my days are shaped as much by what those businesses need from me as by my own priorities. I like to start with a clear run-through of what needs doing and where the team's focus should be, then build the rest of the day around it. Today was a solid example of that in action, start to finish.

The morning began with the team getting themselves properly organised for the week ahead, working through a few things that had built up. There was good energy in the office too, since a colleague had come up from London to spend the day with us. We sat down together early to go through the team, map out where our opportunities are, and agree what improvements we could realistically make, both short-term and long-term. Conversations like that set the tone early, and they're exactly the kind I make time for, because they get you thinking properly: what can we actually do, and how can we do it better?

That question was still front of mind heading into our weekly team meeting, one of the fixtures of my week I rate most highly. It's where we get a proper read on where everyone's at, work through what help anyone needs, and set the plan for the rest of the week.

Today's client call was moved to tomorrow, which on paper freed up an hour. In practice, that hour was accounted for almost immediately, which tells you something about the pace we run at. That's what it means to lead a team built around service and support for a network spread right across the UK: there's rarely a quiet moment, and something is always landing on someone's desk that wasn't there ten minutes earlier. Whether it's queries from the network of agencies, support needed by our senior teams, or one of my own team looking for a bit of guidance, someone always needs something, and the team handles it well. 

What I particularly rate about this team is that it doesn't matter what anyone's in the middle of: if someone needs help, someone else steps in immediately. Nobody's left hanging, and nothing sits waiting longer than it should. It gets done every day, usually with a decent amount of banter along the way, and that combination of pace and support is very much in keeping with the wider culture here. Credico's always talked about being “Partners Strong,” and it's not just a line on a slide: Credico is a Great Place to Work-certified employer, and days like today are exactly why. Certified workplaces see meaningfully higher engagement across the board, with 89% of employees at certified workplaces saying they're proud to tell others they work there, compared to 67% elsewhere, which tracks with what I see on the ground here day to day.

A Sharper Kind of Team Meeting

The team meeting itself turned out to be one of the sharper ones we've had in a while. Yesterday brought a systems issue that affected a lot of people, landing right in one of the key areas my team supports. When something like that happens across a network as spread out as ours, it doesn't just affect one desk, it ripples outward, so getting the response right matters more than it might for a smaller, single-site operation. So we went round the table properly and methodically: what happened, who it impacted, what we'd do differently next time, whether there was a workaround, and whether it was escalated quickly enough. Everyone had a clear chance to weigh in, and we came away with some genuinely strong ideas and suggestions to take forward. That's the standard I want: better prepared next time, not just a conversation for its own sake.

Why I Moved My Desk

A couple of weeks ago, I made a deliberate change and moved desks to sit amongst the team rather than off to one side. It's turned into one of the more useful decisions I've made recently. You pick up on things you wouldn't otherwise hear: the little niggles, the small challenges people are quietly working through before they become bigger ones. It's been a genuine learning curve, and even though I'll move back to my usual desk before long, I'm building in regular time to sit with the team going forward. There's too much operational value in that everyday visibility to let it slip, especially in a role where it's easy to get pulled into back-to-back meetings and lose that connection. The research backs this up too: Gallup puts 70% of the variance in team-level engagement down to the manager alone, which is exactly why I think the time on the floor matters more than another meeting would.

Checking In With the Reporting Team

Later, I checked in with the reporting team to see where they stood. It was good to hear they're slightly ahead of where we'd normally expect to be today, which puts them in a strong position for tomorrow and gives them proper breathing room to prepare for the rest of the week. Their work carries more weight than it might look like from the outside. They send reports out to clients, senior managers, account managers, and network partners, covering sales activity, how many agents have been out, how many sales have gone through, and, alongside all of that, making sure every agent's commission is correct. Across a network with as many partners and agents as ours, that's a significant undertaking, and there's very little room for error. They run the reports, double-check them, and get them out the door on schedule. It matters because this is people's livelihoods, so it has to be right, every time. Hearing they were ahead of the game today was a genuine win, and exactly the kind of disciplined, well-run outcome I want to see as standard, not the exception.

By the time the team headed home this evening, spirits were good and rightly so. It had been a productive day all round, with some strong conversations and a clear run-in to the rest of the week. Not every day runs this smoothly, but on the days that do, you notice it, and you carry that momentum into the next one. I was glad to be heading home myself, but it was, without question, a good day, and a good reminder of why I enjoy working at Credico UK. Days like this one don't always make it into a headline or a results slide, but they're the ones that quietly hold everything else together, and that's worth recognising every now and then. If a day like this sounds like the kind of team you'd want to be part of, our Credico UK careers page is a good place to start, and you can read more about how we work with our network of independently owned agency partners elsewhere on our site.

FAQs

What does a Head of Sales Operations do at Credico UK?

The role covers sales operations support across Credico UK's network of independent sales and marketing partners nationwide, including performance reporting, systems and process issues, and day-to-day support for our partners and senior teams.

What's it like working at Credico UK?

Credico describes its culture as “Partners Strong,” built around mutual support between team members, and is a Great Place to Work-certified employer. In practice, working at Credico UK looks like a team that steps in to help each other without being asked.

How does Credico UK support its partners day to day?

Central teams, including Sales Operations and reporting, provide ongoing support to the wider network, covering everything from performance reporting and commission accuracy to systems troubleshooting and escalation.

About Credico: www.credico.com

Credico is a sales outsourcing company that has been in operation since 1991. It specialises in providing sales solutions for Fortune 150, mid-market, and non-profit organisations. Its approach combines face-to-face interactions with innovative technology applications to build strong customer relationships and maximise impact.

More information about Credico and its services, FAQs, and contact information is available on its website.

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