Success Story
From instinct to evidence:
how my apprenticeship
changed the way I work
Name:
Gill Stoney
Programme:
Project Controls Professional Apprenticeship (Level 6)
Role & Company
Workforce Scheduling Team Manager at St John Ambulance
Course Sales Growth
900%
increase in monthly sales
Before CRM
5/year
courses sold
After CRM
4–7/ month
consistently maintained
The Starting Point
As a Workforce Scheduling Team Manager, I am responsible for ensuring that resource planning, rota creation, and workforce deployment support the operational needs of the charity’s services. My daily duties include coordinating schedules, managing absence requests, and ensuring service levels and agreements are maintained. I also support staff with scheduling and payroll enquiries, collaborate with other departments to forecast staffing requirements, and use workforce management systems to maintain data accuracy.
Responsibilities
My Role
I have supported major projects within this role and other roles across the charity, and as part of my professional development, I wanted to increase my knowledge and understanding of this field to make my contribution to projects more successful and effective.
Business Development
Driving growth and new business opportunities
What I’ve learned
and how I’ve applied it
Key Initiative
Building a CRM & Email Marketing System From Scratch
Before I set this up, we were selling around 5 courses a year. There was no structured way of nurturing existing customers, no consistent communication, and no system for staying front of mind between enquiries. I spent the summer of 2025 building the CRM from scratch, so it was ready to go by the autumn.
Using what Iu2019d learned about customer journeys, segmentation, and strategic marketing planning, I developed an email marketing approach focused on selling courses to our existing customer base. The results took a couple of months to buildu00a0 which felt entirely normal but once the momentum was there, it was clear something had genuinely shifted. We went from 5 course sales a year to consistently selling 4 to 7 courses every month: roughly a 900% increase in monthly sales volume, sustained over several months.
Thatu2019s not just a number on a slide. Thatu2019s real commercial impact, delivered through a combination of strategic thinking and practical applicationu00a0 exactly what the apprenticeship has helped me develop.
Before
Infrastructure
No CRM Systemnnn
Marketing Strategy
No Customer Nurturingnn
Results
5 Courses/Yearnn
After
Infrastructure
CRM Implementednn
Marketing Strategy
Email Marketing Strategyn
Results
4u20137 Courses/Monthn
5 courses/year
4-7 courses/month
Consistent growth through systematic approach
Real Results
900%
Growth in Monthly Course Sales
Real commercial impact driven by strategic marketing skills learned during the apprenticeship. From instinct-based decisions to data-driven strategy.
- u2713 Implemented comprehensive CRM system
- u2713 Created automated email marketing workflows
- u2713 Built data analytics dashboard for tracking ROI
- u2713 Trained team on evidence-based decision making
The Transformation
The apprenticeship didn't just give me a qualification . it changed how I think and approach my work.
Skills developed
Gill Stoney
Workforce Scheduling Team Manager at St John Ambulance