What first attracted you to Splendor?
I grew up in Red Bank, met my now husband, and moved back here from NYC. After working in New Business for an entirely different industry for 5 years, I was ready for a complete career change. I researched companies to work for in Red Bank and Splendor popped up. I loved the design of the site, the work they were creating and the small team environment; it seemed like such a great hidden gem in the town that I’d lived in for 20+ years—and it turned out to be.

What’s your favorite local place to get food while you’re working in Red Bank?
I’ll wait in line for Gary the Soup Man no matter what the season.

Which social media channel is your favorite? Which has been most effective in generating leads?
Personally, Instagram makes me laugh all day. It’s insane to see what people think of and post. As for business, LinkedIn is an amazing tool to network and post relevant content. As hard as blogging can be, I like writing the posts relevant to our industry.

What are the three most important factors when evaluating a deal, in your opinion?

• Getting to know the client – I think it’s important to sit, discuss and relate to a potential client in any way. I love long meetings because it gives me the opportunity to learn as much about a client as possible and for them to know that they can feel comfortable working with Splendor.
• Seeing what Splendor can do for the client or business. Adam is brilliant at figuring out all of the relative capabilities to create synergy. It’s almost magical to watch- because you can see his wheels turning as we’re in meetings.
• Budget- sell ourselves short and we’ll look like we won’t be able to deliver good work. Price it too high and we’re told we’re too expensive. It’s important to give as many options in a deal as possible and to let people know that if they have a budget, we can absolutely work within it and deliver amazing results.

What’s your favorite part of being Splendor’s Director of New Business Development?
I love discussing the needs of a client, working with them and seeing the team produce incredible results. It’s really cool to be a part of people building their businesses; it’s like seeing their hard work come true, even if it’s just by designing a business card.

Which aspect of your personality adds the most value to your job?
I can talk to a wall. I wouldn’t, because I’d be committed. But it helps with networking events when you know no one.

What is your strategy for converting a no into a yes?
I’m not pushy. Sometimes I feel like maybe I should be more, but it’s not in my personality. But I do think life and work can get crazy and when I don’t hear from a client, I give them that benefit of the doubt. So I try to reach out often but not too often as if to be annoying.

What is your favorite TV show?
30 Rock- any time, day, place, episode.

In Ana’s free time she..
Run, golf, ski- I try to stay active because I love beer.

Any advice for young professionals looking to get into business development?
The “yes” to “no” ratio is usually skewed towards “no”…. but if you are selling a good product or service that you believe in, you’ll never let it get you down. I believe Splendor is the top design and marketing agency in New Jersey. It’s nothing personal to me if people don’t see it, because those that do get incredible results.