As the leader of our UK Sales Development team, Rich is passionate about building, coaching and managing successful teams that thrive in ambitious, fast-paced environments. He joined Reward Gateway in October 2021, bringing a wealth of experience in IT, SaaS and EdTech markets with start-ups, SMEs and international business. Under Rich's leadership, the Sales Development team have gone from strength to strength, and in this interview, we asked him to share more about what it's like to work in the Sales team on a mission to make the world a better place to work.
Tell us a little bit about yourself...
I've worked with schools and colleges in Ed Tech for the last 15 years. And when I learned about RG's mission of making the world a better place to work, it was a natural extension of what I've done previously in my career. We have a very collaborative culture.
What's it like in UK Sales?
Whilst we have specialist roles, we have Researchers, Sales Development Representatives and Consultants. We also work very closely together. We collaborate and support each other. and our Researchers really are industry experts. They spend all of their time submerging themselves in emerging markets, understanding our client base, and feeding all of that market intelligence back to our Sales and Marketing teams so we're really able to focus on supporting companies that will get the best value out of our business.
We have a Quarterly Sales Day, which is where everyone comes into the office, and we get an opportunity to work together. More recently, we've had a range of different external speakers. We've heard from clients and we've also had external speakers talk to the team about our wellbeing, something that's sometimes overlooked in sales. I was really pleased that we invested in external expertise for our people.
Flexible work is excellent. I've never worked for an organization that's so mindful of how we work. We have our modes of work document published on our website, which gives clear expectations of where people can do their best work. We've got an amazing office, but we've also given all the resources and tools we need to have a comfortable setup at home or wherever we might be working.
Do you feel recognised at work?
Our recognition culture is unlike anything I've known before. I noticed this from day one. Before opening up my laptop on my first day, I had numerous messages from colleagues or new colleagues across the business welcoming me. So yeah, I got to experience it firsthand from my first day.
As a new starter, how was your onboarding?
Over the course of the first few weeks, I got to meet everyone across the business from our Implementation team, from Finance, Support, and also, of course, the colleagues that I was gonna be working with closely. It was very comprehensive but also was given lots of time and space to absorb all the information needed when joining a new business.
Did anything surprise you about it?
The thing that surprised me most about Reward Gateway is the size of our Client Success team. The reason why it was so surprising is that I haven't worked in an organization that invests so much in looking after its clients and the relationships that they have with them.
And now you know our benefits so well, which is your favourite?
My favourite benefit has gotta be SmartSpendingTM. It provides so many discounts and I specifically love the option to include family and friends in that as well. We actually have a bit of a competition about who can save the most across our family. Currently, my wife is winning.
I also love the Book benefit. It was one of the things that really stood out when I was applying for RG. It just shows that the business wants to invest not only in your professional development but also recognizes that you may want to foster other interests outside of work. My two most recent books have been the sales book, Impossible to Inevitable by Aaron Ross, which sits on my desk at all times, and my non-work book has been How To Grow Vegetables At Home. I have aspirations to be a green-fingered gardener!
What excites you about working at RG?
I'm most excited about seeing how our products and solutions can continue to support our clients. The world has gone through a lot of changes over the last couple of years, and the next couple of years don't look to be any different. Seeing that we can continue to support our clients but also continue to grow as a business is extremely exciting and also presents a lot of opportunities for the team and the wider business.
What tips do you have for anyone who might like to apply?
Do your research. If you're reading this, you're doing a great job because you've started that but to really understand our culture watch all of the other videos representing different roles.
We ask a lot of our team members, but we also get a lot in return. So explore the benefits, understand who our clients are, and reach out to us to find out more.
If you're keen to learn more about our Sales team and the opportunities to work with our talented team visit rg.co/careers.
