Meet Sales Support Daphne de Jong

She is 22 years young, joined AAKO three years ago, eager to learn, still in training and full of energy. That is the right description of our curious Sales Support Daphne de Jong. Since the start of her International Business studies at Windesheim HBO of Applied Sciences in Zwolle, she has been working at AAKO and putting what she learns directly into practice. We offer Daphne a challenging  job and she brings us inspiring, new insights. In short, a win-win situation.

In 2022, Daphne started full-time at AAKO in a gap year; she had just completed her International Business course at MBO. In September of that year, because her HBO study started, she went back to working two days a week at the office in Leusden. An ideal situation for her, as it gives her the opportunity to gain work experience that matches her studies and interests.

An internationally oriented study
During her English-language course, she is trained in sales, learning all about supply chain and what it involves within international trade. In which intercultural communication is a key focus; having a conversation with our foreign customers and suppliers is therefore no problem for her.

Sales support
As Sales Support at AAKO, Daphne has a strong focus on customer service and deals with all aspects related to logistics. That is, from processing the orders, arranging transport to sending the invoice. ‘What I like most of all is that I have contact with people on the other side of the world every day! It’s never boring,’ says Daphne.

‘Nor with colleagues. I work in a close-knit team of all salespeople. I gain knowledge during my studies, but I also learn a lot from colleagues in the office. After all, they have the experience, some have even been with AAKO for more than 20 years. Whenever there is a problem, I prefer to solve it myself. If I can’t solve it, I work closely with the sales team. Sofrequently we can celebrate a success together!’

In the footsteps of….
‘Perhaps the best thing about my work is that I am following in my mother’s footsteps. My mother worked for AAKO for a long time. I always wanted to work for AAKO when I was a kid and always had an interest in working for an international company. And the fact that I have been working here for two years now is a ‘full-circle moment’ for me, though.’