Hi, I’m Ben
I’m a builder of incredible sales teams, trainer, coach and avid believer that the best sales leaders are constantly sharpening their tools to achieve an ‘edge’.
I’ve built from the ground up sales teams in the corporate world, fast growth start ups and mature businesses. I know the pressure (wait until you hear my story) of hitting sales targets and keeping sales people motivated. I’m an energetic father, happy husband and loyal friend. Most of all, I’m living testament as to how thriving personal health and successful professional careers are within every sales leader’s reach. Come with me on the journey and I’ll show you how you can have both.
Brand Story
How I went from a stagnating and ‘hitting my glass ceiling’ sales manager to a successful leader of people who now teaches at a global scale how to build sales teams that consistently exceed their targets and stay motivated.
I simply love being amongst the hustle and bustle of life. Work, health and fitness, family and chasing the best beaches this crazy world has to offer… they all fill my cup (caffeine free please, I’m full of energy already) and help me wake up every morning with a passion for what’s ahead.
That doesn’t mean every moment is pure, unfiltered happiness… I’ve had my share of challenges, like those moments where despite loving our professional careers we realise that without some tangible changes we are on a path to a future of mediocrity (ouch, that glass ceiling really hurts).
Mine happened in the big and sterile office of my then overly smiley boss. I’d had another year of solid sales team results, but knew I could do better if someone just helped develop my team and I. Until that happened I simply wasn’t going anywhere. It wasn’t just a lack of commitment from my manager to help me grow – he had risen to his leadership position through tenure rather than capability so simply didn’t have the skills at his disposal. I left the meeting with a ‘pat on the back’ that left me feeling despondent and that perhaps I just wasn’t cut-out to lead people.
Enter my first mentor and a complete mindset change. At the age of 28 I spread my wings and started my first side hustle. Wow did I learn fast. It became a short-term super success and funded the next venture. That next venture grew from a small start-up to a multi 8-figure business that was acquired by one of the largest players in the Australian market. By the time of acquisition it had exceeded the revenue numbers of the Australian arm of the multinational I worked for – now that felt great!
The business had a large and energetic sales team across multiple divisions with dozens more referral agents and partners nationally. It grew fast – really fast. We were finalists in the Australian Growth Company Awards in both 2018 and 2019. Turnover of sales’ people was incredibly low and they just loved working in the business. Life was fast and financially rewarding. We had cracked the code and I’m living proof that hard work and a commitment to self-improvement can pay off (I’m writing this from our winter home on Australia’s Sunshine Coast… you might be able to hear the waves crashing). More businesses followed and here I am today – sun kissed and happier than ever.
The journey sounds pretty smooth and drama free, but just like those first few months of being a parent (yikes that brings back memories), it’s easy to forget the pain. In the early days I failed more than I succeeded. Sales processes and documents were created and destroyed (again and again and again). I spent weeks on customer pitches and training new sales people only to have both walk away. My bank balance was low and the bank owned my house. Criticism was regular and hurtful and life at the top was unforgiving, resulting in both my physical and mental health suffering significantly. Not many of us get to experience negotiating the exit of a business from a hospital stretcher waiting for an emergency appendectomy (my phone was taken away as I was shipped into theatre!). Ask me one day about the electrocution story, it might make you laugh.
Despite the challenges I learnt fast – my physical fitness was so high that it helped me ride the stresses of building a sales driven business at such incredible growth levels (I had raced around the world competing in Triathlons and today at 40 still play senior grade water polo and ocean swim race). There is no doubt that my physical fitness significantly improved my capacity to present as a leader that people wanted to follow.
Having now cycled through a corporate career, exited super successful start-ups and hit complete financial freedom, I’ve developed a proven formula for sales leaders to build strong sales teams…. And to keep my commitment to my first mentor, I’m paying it forward to all those wonderful sales leaders out there who just need a little help of their own.
Come with me on the journey and I’ll show you how just by leveraging a little support and prioritising your health will not only create ‘damn fine’ sales teams, but also fill your cup (and who knows, it might even be caffeine free). I’ll share some great stories and introduce you to incredible people along the way. Jump on in, it’s fun over here!
