SARAH FANNING

“It only really needs one meeting with somebody and they'll know that I am what I say I am.”

As part owner of MANAG, Sarah lives and breathes the company’s commitment to provide topline flooring supplies. Officially, the title on her badge says Managing Director. But when your job is to continuously make sure that the business is running well, no two days are the same. One minute you’re acting as a sales rep organising product distribution. The next, looking after the team to make sure they're all happy and supported. It changes hour to hour, minute by minute, depending on whatever email or phone call comes through. You need to think on your toes, and deal with every challenge in a calm, speedy manner.

It’s a high-involvement role that Sarah’s previous employment has prepared her for with rich life skills and experiences – the kind you can’t get with a PhD. When she first moved to Australia, Sarah landed a job in customer complaints where she learnt to stay calm in tense situations, but most importantly, the art of genuinely listening in the knowledge that all anyone really wants is to be heard. In 2017, Sarah moved to MANAG, as a commercial sales rep. Two years later she owned it, and the rest, as they say, is history.

At MANAG, Sarah takes pride in ensuring the businesses’ exceptional reputation for customer service since 1958 lives on. She knows the job is about much more than talking about flooring products. It’s about trying to problem-solve by asking the right questions that reveal exactly what needs to be done. Sarah knows that people appreciate it when you’re honest and open. It’s why she’s such a big face-to-face person, where she can be her natural, cheeky self. The kind of sales rep that customers count on to call them back. The kind of colleague that makes going to work feel like coming. The kind of client that responds to supplier issues by planning solutions, not pointing fingers.

True to the MANAG’s “backed by quality" mantra, Sarah looks forward to investing absolutely everything in the business, people and culture to ensure the company continues to deliver the very best.