Doug Carter’s job title at UK-based Nova Group, Sales & Marketing Director, hints at targets, funnels and quarterly numbers. Ask him what matters, though, and he returns to a simpler rule: know your customer and treat them fairly.
It is a view shaped less in boardrooms than on shop floors and in branch meetings. Carter began in retail as a manager at Next, where the day’s trading depended on reading people quickly and responding without fuss. He later moved into relationship management at HSBC, learning how trust is built when decisions carry financial consequences. Leadership roles in the windows and doors industry followed, but the through-line, he says, has not changed: listen, understand and support.
At Nova, that philosophy becomes a system. Carter wants customer knowledge to be shared, rather than held by a single representative with a notebook. A business ordering daily, and one planning a large-scale project, face different pressures and motivations; he argues that grasping those specifics is what allows a supplier to be “fair” as well as fast.
“If we don’t truly understand our customers, we can’t do the best or fairest job for them,” he says. “Knowing what drives their business allows us to offer the right support, avoid pitfalls, and help them grow.”
The payoff, in his telling, is speed and consistency. With insight distributed across the team, Nova can adapt quickly, solve problems faster and keep interactions informed, even when staff change or situations evolve. Carter also points customers toward the company’s institutional memory: more than 54 years in the industry and, as he notes, over 1,000 years of combined expertise across the team.
“Our cornerstones are value, service, and quality,” he says. “When we align that with our customers’ goals, we become more than a supplier — we become part of their business journey.”
That journey, he concedes, is not always smooth. What matters then is culture: fast, honest responses and a proactive approach to fixing issues. For Carter, the work of staying close to customers — and staying accountable to them — is what turns a transaction into a durable partnership.
Why This Matters: The people-first approach is often overlooked in the busy trade sector, with salespeople chasing new business while overlooking the existing customers who make the business what it is. Understanding these customers is imperative, and this sits at the centre of how Doug runs the sales and customer service function at Nova. This approach runs through every area of the business and allows Nova to deliver on value, service and quality.
