All Hands on Deck for Stellar Sales:
A Day in the Life of a Senior Sales Executive
Charles Rabbets is a Senior Sales Executive at Smartpay, helping sign new customers onboard and lending a hand to clients whenever they’re in need.
A typical ‘day in the life’ will have Charles splitting his day between sales and account management work. At first glance, these roles might seem like they operate in separate vacuums - but for Charles and his team, tapping into both arenas is worth its weight in gold.
A typical ‘day in the life’ will have Charles splitting his day between sales and account management work. At first glance, these roles might seem like they operate in separate vacuums - but for Charles and his team, tapping into both arenas is worth its weight in gold.
“One of the strongest sales channels we have is actually word-of-mouth referrals. Outbound [sales] is quite difficult in nature because it's a cold-calling role. So the best ally we have is our existing clients.
How do you get customers to go out and actually pitch a product for you? I say it starts from the first phone call, how you treat them. But it also starts the day after sign-up, when you send them a thank you email. Then the week after signing up, you call to check in. ‘If you need anything, here's my number, give me a call.’
And that's it. You don't want to just make memorable moments. You want shareable moments. You want moments where the customer goes, wow, these guys are very different - because that's when they're going to actually refer you [to other businesses].
Every single person on the sales floor treats their customers like gems. And if you want more business, you have to look after the business that you've got.”
How do you get customers to go out and actually pitch a product for you? I say it starts from the first phone call, how you treat them. But it also starts the day after sign-up, when you send them a thank you email. Then the week after signing up, you call to check in. ‘If you need anything, here's my number, give me a call.’
And that's it. You don't want to just make memorable moments. You want shareable moments. You want moments where the customer goes, wow, these guys are very different - because that's when they're going to actually refer you [to other businesses].
Every single person on the sales floor treats their customers like gems. And if you want more business, you have to look after the business that you've got.”
How are you hands-on with Smartpay customers?
Being ‘hands-on’ and proactive is an approach that’s baked into the Smartpay culture. For Charles, every day brings new opportunities to bring a sigh of relief to customers by simply “getting things done.”
“The biggest thing is the after-hours work. It's not too demanding because we've got a pretty good product. But sometimes we get the odd call about settlement times, or we’re working with our WA customers to accommodate time differences.
The other thing is dedicating an hour and a half every morning to account management - taking care of anyone who needs assistance from the night before. I actually had one last night. A customer called me saying she wanted to change the font size on her receipt paper rolls.
I could just send her an email explaining how to do it. But what if I just give her a quick 2-minute call to walk her through the process with the machine in front of her, then email a step-by-step guide afterwards so she can refer to it if she ever needs to?
Allocating that time and doing it that way - it's a much better customer experience. This hands-on service, you're not going to get everywhere else. But that's where we are proactive, assisting customers the best way we can.”
The other thing is dedicating an hour and a half every morning to account management - taking care of anyone who needs assistance from the night before. I actually had one last night. A customer called me saying she wanted to change the font size on her receipt paper rolls.
I could just send her an email explaining how to do it. But what if I just give her a quick 2-minute call to walk her through the process with the machine in front of her, then email a step-by-step guide afterwards so she can refer to it if she ever needs to?
Allocating that time and doing it that way - it's a much better customer experience. This hands-on service, you're not going to get everywhere else. But that's where we are proactive, assisting customers the best way we can.”
What skills have you brought to your role?
For Charles, tenacity and empathy are the key skills that seriously ‘pay off,’ whether in sales or account management.
“Anyone who’s worked customer service before can understand that it can be a bit difficult at times. But if you have the tenacity to learn and adapt, I think that's a big part of being able to thrive.
Empathy is another one. It’s important to service people to a level where they're actually being looked after, they're not just being palmed off. When customers ask me questions, I stop and think - what would I want to hear if I were in their shoes? If I ran a business, what information, level of care and response time would I want?”
Empathy is another one. It’s important to service people to a level where they're actually being looked after, they're not just being palmed off. When customers ask me questions, I stop and think - what would I want to hear if I were in their shoes? If I ran a business, what information, level of care and response time would I want?”
Resourcefulness is also valuable for creating a great experience for both potential and existing customers. Trusting your team to balance out strengths and weaknesses, Charles says, pulls everything together.
“Sometimes your customers are going to need stuff [...] that you can't do yourself. Don’t let them down by relying only on yourself, just get things done. Use the resources around you! Being resourceful, being tenacious and having empathy will make you the best customer service rep in the world.”
Can you share a memorable customer interaction?
Amongst Charles’ many clients, a recent customer interaction left a particularly deep impression. He shares about the time he flew down to Victoria while on holiday, meeting with a butcher shop owner he brought onboard a year and a half ago:
“This guy [...] absolutely loves our product and thought he would share it with the whole town. So he went from door to door and basically sold this product to everyone, about 15 businesses in this one community. We brought them all onboard and we've been working with them since. These are like best friends from school, their brothers, their daughter’s beauty business, the local cafe, little gift shops and everything.”
While in town, Charles ‘booked lunches with every single person’ that he works with there.
“We sat down, heard stories about them in high school and built a connection above just [me as] an EFTPOS machine sales rep. We’ve FaceTimed before, but to actually shake hands with them was a very different experience. It's real people you're dealing with, not just financial figures.
Then to hear their feedback saying, ‘We've referred you all over town because we actually feel like people [when we work with you]. You're here, you've flown from Sydney to Melbourne to have lunch with us. Whether we close the business tomorrow, that's going to be something we'll still talk about.’
So the job is pretty cool. It's not just a corporate office [job] with a phone, like people think sales is. It's definitely a relationship-building exercise.”
Then to hear their feedback saying, ‘We've referred you all over town because we actually feel like people [when we work with you]. You're here, you've flown from Sydney to Melbourne to have lunch with us. Whether we close the business tomorrow, that's going to be something we'll still talk about.’
So the job is pretty cool. It's not just a corporate office [job] with a phone, like people think sales is. It's definitely a relationship-building exercise.”
What do you love about the Smartpay team culture?
Besides enjoying the office’s collective passion for ping pong (featuring some fiery tournaments), Charles also loves the way that Smartpay champions team unity from the ground up.
“We're very big on ‘one team, one goal.’ If you know the saying, ‘You're as strong as your weakest player,’ we're the exact same here.
If someone achieves, we definitely congratulate and recognise them. But their role is also to help the person who’s behind them. It’s that circle of accountability.”
If someone achieves, we definitely congratulate and recognise them. But their role is also to help the person who’s behind them. It’s that circle of accountability.”
It’s this spirit of accountability and teamwork, Charles says, that work hand-in-hand to deliver the kind of quality customer service that inspires client referrals.
“Ultimately, it pushes us to be better customer reps. What I want is to be recognised as someone who can get everyone to the same level. And the company puts massive value on that. It's a big drive for you to be able to say, ‘Guys, all right, we know the formula. We know it works. Let’s teach it to you.’”
What makes Smartpay different from the banks?
“First and foremost, we save people money. But the main reason why people come with us is that we're extremely simple to use. It's very user-friendly, very straightforward. We're very flexible in what we can actually do for a customer.”
When a customer called about her shop getting flooded in the Northern Territory, Charles noted the circumstances and walked straight over to the Merchant Assist Team for help. Together, they solved the situation on the spot by waiving her fees for the month - much to the customer’s surprise!
“We assess everything. Each customer, unique situation, one by one. Now, because we've got 180 people in a business working behind one product, we can do it. Whereas a bank might have less employees working on their EFTPOS and they've got more people in insurance, banking, mortgages, stuff like that.
And that's the beauty of going with a dedicated provider. It’s so simple and easy. We're Australia and New Zealand's largest independent, dedicated provider of EFTPOS machines. That's why people go with us.”
And that's the beauty of going with a dedicated provider. It’s so simple and easy. We're Australia and New Zealand's largest independent, dedicated provider of EFTPOS machines. That's why people go with us.”
Why do you love to come to work every day?
For Charles, one huge reason that ‘actually gets me out of bed’ is the team that he works with. It’s an environment where everyone can count on each other to deliver their best.
“They challenge you every day, they make you much better at your job. Everyone wants to be here. You ask for help, they drop their stuff and they come straight to you. If you need training from someone who doesn't actually get anything out of training you, they'll still do it. They'll make the time. They'll put it aside and come see you. That's like, the biggest reason why I love working in the team.”
Smartpay’s ‘fearless focus on the customer’ also allows Charles to provide the quality service that customers deserve.
“They let me spend time with the merchants that I've got. They let me build relationships with them, and let me allocate time to them if I need to. No questions asked. [A] customer needs something? Go and do it!”
