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Rebecca Green | SBJ

2023 Dynamic Dozen Top Sales & Marketing Professional: Tessa LeRoy

Marketing Manager, Environmental Works Inc.

Posted online

In her 20-plus year career, Tessa LeRoy experienced a first at Environmental Works Inc. It came from CEO Jamie Sivils shortly after she took over the marketing manager position in April 2021.

“You decide.” Those were the key words from Sivils. And LeRoy says that moment was empowering for what was to come.

“EWI is the first place I’ve worked as a marketer that actually allows me to make decisions,” she says. “No dig on any of the other amazing SGF shops I’ve worked in, but generally a stakeholder, or two, decides the approach, not the actual marketer.”

Sivils continued: “I hired you because you’re the expert.”

Now, with that came some pressure, but LeRoy says the full-fledged backing from the top of the company was a game-changer.

“With that trust, confidence in my knowledge and the freedom to make some mistakes along the way, I jumped in,” she says.

At the time, LeRoy was a one-person department, handling graphic design, social media, copywriting, videography, strategy and public relations for the environmental services company with offices throughout the Midwest. EWI also partnered with 417 Marketing LLC on messaging in the digital footprint, as well as brand awareness.

Two years into steering the marketing ship, LeRoy says the work has paid dividends for EWI. The company saw increases of 2,700% in website sessions from Google cost-per-click campaigns with 740% more conversions and a 430% gain in organic search volume.

“For a successful company that has been in business for 30 years with an existing online presence, those are astounding results,” she says, pointing to another key stat: 83% were new visitors to the site. “We are attracting new clientele.

“These efforts no doubt played a role in our 38% (year-over-year) revenue growth since I joined the team in 2021.”

LeRoy considers marketing an integral role in the sales process.

“Marketing is essentially sales without the close,” she says. “It’s the marketing team’s job to help with the first two obstacles: Who are you, and why do I care?”

She’s given businesses a reason to care about EWI through a couple other initiatives: online keyword strategies in each of its markets and service-line education internally and externally.

“Our amazing sales team has an old school boots-on-the-pavement style. When paired with a strong digital strategy, we are able to set it up for our sales team to knock down, all while garnering warm, unsolicited leads online,” LeRoy says.

LeRoy came to EWI from marketing and design agency Longitude, where she worked nearly a year as director of operations, and she directed sales and marketing at Hotel Vandivort properties, 2016-20. LeRoy also had a two-year stint at Springfield Expo Center as director of event operations.

Looking back, Sivils knows hiring LeRoy was the right move. Revenue growth was 14% the year before her arrival – and it’s now nearly 40% and topped $64 million last year, according to the firm’s 2023 Dynamic Dozen application.

“With Tessa’s leadership, we should easily hit our goal of 500 team members and $100 million in revenue by 2027,” he says.

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