You might have caught our exciting news making headlines on Prolific North, BusinessLive and other news outlets, but we wanted to document it here, too. We are delighted to have welcomed Cameron Keegan-Wood to the team as our first-ever Head of Growth!
Cameron brings a wealth of experience in business development and strategy, gained in senior roles at Visualsoft and THG Ingenuity, and advisory roles, ideally placing him to guide the agency’s future expansion as it heads towards its target of £1.3m in the next financial year.
This appointment marks a significant step for us as an agency, as we embark on our first-ever Outbound Sales Strategy. Having historically relied on strong inbound demand – largely thanks to Shane’s wildly successful SEO practices and top Google rankings – Climb & Conquer is now ready to proactively engage with new markets and verticals and be more targeted in our approach.
As Head of Growth, Cameron will oversee all commercial activities, focusing on the creation and development of a dedicated sales department. This includes optimising the agency’s sales pipeline, from lead generation to closing deals, while also exploring new business development initiatives and partnerships.
Beyond new client acquisition, Cameron will be enhancing Climb & Conquer’s white-label offering and leveraging the agency’s strong referral network for further expansion.
Shane Parkins, Founder of Climb & Conquer explains the reasoning behind the new role and Cameron’s appointment, saying:
“The whole recruitment side of Climb & Conquer is centred on hiring passionate, ambitious, and great people into the business and letting them get on with what they do best, with as much support as they need. Cam is one of those unique individuals who is an expert in his field, bursting with ideas and just needed strong operational backing.
“The passion he has for the industry, how he presents himself, and his ability to provide genuine solutions made him a candidate we wanted to represent the agency as we take strides towards building our sales function. We’re only a short time into Cam starting with us, and the entire team is buzzing with the opportunities he’s already unlocking.”
Cameron Keegan-Wood added:
“I’m eager to hit the ground running. Climb & Conquer stood out to me because it is unapologetically laser-focused on results – without the fluff and fanfare that can be commonplace in the industry. This results-driven culture is deeply embedded in both the way the team operates and the way the agency serves clients.
“It’s a unique opportunity to be a part of a business at this exciting stage of growth, which reminds me of where other big-name agencies were 5 years ago. That’s a rare chance to scale, and I’m thrilled to be part of it.”
Get to know Cameron Keegan-Wood
We caught up with our latest recruit, Cam, to learn more about him, his role and his journey in the industry…
Tell us about your career to date?
My career has almost always been in Sales of some kind. I’m bracing for one of my good friends to refer to me as the Alan Sugar of Newcastle when I mention that I was cleaning cars at 10 years old, however, I just wanted money and loved cleaning cars so it made sense. From here, I worked in pubs, restaurants and a greengrocer, to managing club nights in Newcastle when I went to University. Finally, starting my actual Sales career after leaving university.
I was always told things like ”you’ve got the gift of the gab”, and what’s funny is that’s not really what makes a good salesperson. Certainly, not nowadays anyway. I was very lucky in my career to date work my way up to the point where I felt comfortable setting appointments and had the opportunity to move into a closing role: as a BDM. From here, I worked at a few different organisations to develop my skills, from closing for a tech platform, a single service marketing channel, to multiple marketing channels to bigger enterprise contracts and everything in between. It’s impossible to be a manager without management experience and you can’t get management experience without being a manager. So, I spent time outside of work offering advice to businesses and trying to work at a strategic level with the boards to round out of my overall experience and close the gap.
What’s your day-to-day like?
Right now, my day is balancing multiple hats as I build out the Sales function of the business. From a process standpoint: defining our ICP, updating assets, implementing a CRM, finding commercial opportunities, working on a referral network and working with existing clients to maximise their happiness with us. There’s also looking at the sales strategy which includes marketing, as well as attending at and exhibiting at events. It’s the sort of role I have wanted for a while but at the same time, it’s also a change of pace from a more standard BD role. The good news is, once the process is in place, we’re clear on who we’re focused on working with – a lot of this will be easier to balance. I feel grateful to be where I am, doing what I’m doing.
Why Climb & Conquer?
It was the opportunity to be more than perhaps I was. I love Sales as a discipline and, I believe, in a lot of ways, it’s a science. I’ve always really enjoyed working with new clients and the company I was at had an amazing proposition. However, I had also done it a long time and there wasn’t that spark anymore so I felt it was time to look at ”could I look at a step up?” ”are there any senior roles?” and I came across Shane and what he’s delivering here.
Not only is Climb & Conquer delivering great results and great customer service for all clients, but it’s also a genuinely great place to work. After speaking to Shane, hearing how keen he was for someone to take the lead, own the commercial side and shape it – there wasn’t any doubt in my mind.
What do you enjoy about the role?
It’s everything I’ve listed so far. I am interested in every element of it, looking at so much of the business while still doing what I’ve spent 90% of my career doing: growing businesses and helping companies get more out of their online performance.
And what’s the most challenging part?
Probably the balancing act, having a new role with a big step up is always going to be hard. Having a baby is the best thing to happen to me but also, brings another layer of complexity. I also have ADHD so working to ensure that I keep focused and consistent every day to build positive momentum, rather than letting the overwhelm take over.
What’s your hot take on Digital Marketing for 2024?
The hot take is more there are still businesses, 1000s of businesses not doing SEO, PPC and not prioritising digital marketing in 2024. I don’t understand how they are in business or why but I also love the idea of, imagine IF they started to invest in these channels. Moreover, the businesses which are ”doing” SEO or PPC or both, are they getting the best out of them? I find this nearly as difficult to believe when I hear company’s are not doing them at all; the idea is that because they have ”someone” looking after SEO there’s no interest in looking at what could be improved.
If you could give one piece of advice to anyone looking to get into your field, what would it be?
It’s the best job in the world but can be the worst job in the world. It’s not easy. It’s also not rocket science. It’s a role which can be a rollercoaster on any given Tuesday afternoon. What it’s allowed me to do though, not only get to this point which I am very proud of. It’s also given me an immense amount of experience across Sales, Marketing, Business, People, and Tech. A very very valuable role – however, it’s very challenging at times. So, my advice is to get the basics right, and that way you’ll progress with solid foundations and an innate understanding of the role you play in the business.
