With her years of commercial experience and enormous drive, she proved to be the right person to guide our growth ambitions in the right direction and expand the Bulsink brand. Meet Commercial Director Debbie Melis.

‘The corporate culture immediately appealed to me, that mentality of getting things done.’

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

‘My name is Debbie Melis. Immediately after completion of my studies I entered the sales profession. First at Nashuatec – now Ricoh – where I eventually progressed to sales manager. I then joined Fatboy, where I put the brand on the map internationally, online and offline. And now I have the wonderful role of commercial director at Bulsink.’

‘I’ve been together with my guy for twenty years now. We’re lucky to have the perfect family: a boy and a girl. At the weekends we enjoy spending time in the company of family and friends.’

‘Everyone is always welcome to stay for dinner or spend the night. Even if that is our daughter’s hockey team or our son’s football team. All of us are big on sports, by the way. I love padel, I snowboard like crazy and I’m a fitness fanatic.’

How did you end up working at Bulsink? And why did you choose Bulsink at the time?

‘Through my network. Someone I knew said they were looking for a commercial director at Bulsink and recommended me. I had no construction background whatsoever. And at my previous employers I always sold products, whereas here we sell a service. But with my commercial background and the experience I brought from Fatboy in terms of brand building and branding, it turned out that the role suited me perfectly.’

‘Bulsink’s corporate culture immediately appealed to me – that mentality of getting things done. The challenge of building a brand to be a standout in the building sector. A commercially driven organisation with growth ambitions. And in everything the customer comes first – true customer focus.’

What does your job as commercial director entail?

‘As commercial director, overseeing my sales and marketing team, I am ultimately responsible for bringing in new customers and maintaining contact with existing ones. Along with the rest of the organisation, we work on our growth and on maintaining and optimising the turnover and profit margin. With the marketing communications team, we continue to build the Bulsink brand.’

‘The best thing about my job? I really enjoy working with clients – embarking on a journey together and making a deal. I love that I can and do achieve that together with my team. Building and coaching the team. Enabling people to grow, and giving them responsibility. Discovering what people are good at, and working with them to see how we can best leverage those talents. It’s similar to a sports team – the team performs best when everyone is making use of their strengths.’

‘This year we are presenting one of the Entree Awards. By doing this, we put our clients in the limelight while also putting ourselves on the map.’

Bulsink uses B.U.I.L.D. as its core values: Brand-conscious, Ultra-fast, Inspiring, Leading and Determined. Can you pick out one or two core values and explain what they mean to you?

‘Brand-conscious, along with inspiring. Those two, that’s me. At Bulsink, we’re different from the rest. Many construction companies have no sales or marketing team at all. We constantly seek to inspire and surprise clients. By always thinking from the client’s perspective. By always asking ourselves: who is the client, really?’

‘An example? The Entree Awards will be presented soon. An event like this brings together people from throughout the entire hospitality sector. We will be presenting one of the Awards this year and will invite guests to attend. No other construction company does that. By doing this, we put our clients in the limelight while also putting ourselves on the map.’