[Manager Interview] The Sales Manager talks about hospitality and teamwork that support "customer first"

Hello, this is Komatsu from Public Relations

This is the fifth installment of our manager interview series. This time,
we bring you an interview with our Sales Manager, Mr. Nakauchi!

Please see below for previous manager interview articles!

[Manager Interview] What is Beyond GTA, the company that operates servers in Canada?

[Manager Interview] What is Beyond GTA, the company that operates servers in Canada?

Other interview articles can be found here

What is the appeal of Beyond?

Nakauchi: Beyond has a relatively large number of systems related to remote work and other work styles, so I think it's a company where you can work flexibly. Also, a company is different from school, so you have to interact with people you don't get along with, but there are many people I'm currently working with at Beyond who I feel I would become friends with even if we were at school.

It's been over a decade since I joined the company, but I've never once had any trouble or discomfort with interpersonal relationships. If there was even one unpleasant person among the people I frequently interact with at work, I honestly think I would hate going to work. In the end, it may be a matter of luck, but I'm grateful to say that I'm blessed with such great people at Beyond.

I also get the impression that many people take responsibility for their work and see it as their own. Perhaps it's because of this, but I think Beyond is a company that is very customer-oriented. For example, rather than always following the manual and saying, "If this alert occurs, we will only respond in this way," I think we are able to respond flexibly and adapt to the situation

Although we may be positioned as a contractor, our customers have told us that we work as a team with them and with the same level of enthusiasm, and I think this is one of Beyond's strengths and attractions

About the duties

Nakauchi: I'm in charge of two departments: the sales department and the administration department. In particular, on the sales side, I handle everything related to customers, from the initial proposal to delivery and daily communication. Since being promoted, in addition to my own work, training younger colleagues has also become an important role, but this is something I still find challenging no matter how many years pass.

Of course, there are many times when I interact with customers after they have implemented the service, so I generally give them my mobile phone number and tell them to call me anytime. Of course, there are cases where customers communicate directly with engineers, but if that becomes the norm and requests are always made directly to engineers, then my purpose in life will diminish. For this reason, I am always conscious of building relationships where customers will first consult with me, the salesperson

Values ​​that are important to us at work

Nakauchi: Our work isn't something we can complete alone; there are many things we can't do without relying on others, so it feels more like a team effort than an individual one. What's necessary for that is toavoid self-centered thinking. I always make sure not to do to customers or colleagues what I wouldn't want done to myself.

For example, when I'm busy and someone asks me a question, I might feel like, "I'm busy right now." However, if I actually let that show in my attitude, the person asking the question will feel uncomfortable. I myself try to find the right timing to ask an engineer a question, but if they respond negatively or give me a displeased look, I feel bad

That's why I'm always conscious of never doing it myself. This is what "hospitality" is all about. Don't treat others with things that you wouldn't like done to you. I'm careful about even the smallest things

However, I think there's a limit to how much you can be aware of this. No matter how careful you are, you may unintentionally behave in a bad mood when you're too busy. However, I think it's important to behave in a way that doesn't make others think, "This person is irritated," especially when you need to concentrate during the limited work hours of the day

What is important when interacting with customers

Nakauchi:Our goal is to do our best to fulfill our customers' requests. The work that the sales team brings in is actually handled by the engineers. Of course, there are times when the engineers say it's difficult when we discuss the details with the customer. However, instead of just ending it with "we can't do it," we try to offer solutions as much as possible, such as "we can do it this way or this alternative method."

In addition to our customers, we also work with our in-house engineers, asking questions such as "Is it possible to do it this way?" or "What other methods are there?", and we work together to find the best solution, striving to fulfill our customers' wishes

It's easy to simply say "no" without making any adjustments or exploring other options. It's a one-word solution, after all. However, that won't lead to anything in the future. You probably won't want to consult someone again if they've refused you before. If someone thinks, "If I ask this person, they'll probably refuse," the relationship ends there. That's why Ifeel they can rely on me, even if I can't provide a definitive answer, to offer some kind of solution or alternativecreating an environment where people

I think about it a lot now, but back then I only thought about myself and didn't think much about tarnishing the company's reputation. I think I've also changed in many ways by observing the way others do things. The person who has had the greatest influence on my sales style and way of thinking is Director Morita

In my experience to date, I have had the opportunity to work under many different people, but I have never met anyone as open-minded as Mr. Morita. In fact, there was a time when I thought that what Mr. Morita was saying was wrong, and I argued, "That's not right." This caused Mr. Morita to bow his head in front of the other employees

Even though I felt like I had done something terrible, Morita told me, "I was wrong, so I just apologized, so there's nothing to worry about," and I wanted to become a person with such a big heart. From then on, I started to imitate Morita's sales style and way of thinking, and I think I changed as a person

The most memorable job you have had so far

Nakauchi: I still remember an incident with a particular customer. At the time, I didn't have much interaction with that person in charge, but I met them again when they moved to another company. At that time, I proposed Beyond's MSP again, and they commented, "The service may be good, but the price is high."

After listening to the customer's challenges and problems, we were confident that Beyond's services would be a perfect fit, so we suggested that they try out our operational services and make a decision

I thought that the CEO, Mr. Haraoka, would be opposed to this proposal, but when I consulted him, he encouraged me by saying, "If you're that confident, then go ahead and give it a try." He didn't impose any conditions on me in case it didn't work out, so I was able to act boldly

Since then, the client has recognized our operational services and has entrusted us with other projects, allowing us to build a very good relationship. I was confident that the operations would go well if handled by Beyond's engineers, and when they actually recognized our services, I was really happy, and I'm very grateful to the engineers

I still can't forget that time, and I feel that it was a major turning point for me

What are Beyond engineers like from a sales perspective?

Nakauchi:I trulybelieve we are the best in Japan in the field of MSP (Managed Service Provider). Thankfully, we receive a lot of positive feedback from our customers regarding the quality of our service, and to my knowledge, no customers have ever canceled their subscriptions due to dissatisfaction with Beyond's operations. While some customers cancel their subscriptions due to service termination or other reasons, there have been no cases of customers leaving because of our operational system.

There are many other things that make me feel that we are a group of amazing engineers. When I have consulted with an engineer as a salesperson saying, "I really want to win this project!", I have never been turned down by an engineer. There are many engineers who think about things from the sales side, saying, "If that's what you want, we'll do our best too!" and I am always grateful for this cooperative system

I've heard that in the IT industry, the relationship between sales and engineering isn't very good, but in our case, although we do sometimes have disagreements, I feel that we have a deep respect for each other at a fundamental level

Have you ever been helped by an engineer?

Nakauchi: I'm always grateful for the help I receive. One particularly memorable example is an episode from when I first joined Beyond. I joined Beyond from a completely different industry with no prior experience and started with almost no IT knowledge. Then, I finally got a chance to potentially secure my first project, but even though I was in charge of server sales at the time, the project turned out to be a development project. I was excited, thinking, "Maybe I can finally get a job," and brought it back to the company, but all I got were negative reactions from those around me saying, "We can't take it."

However, in that situation, an engineer in the development department at the time approached me and asked, "Isn't this the first project you've taken on, Nakauchi-san?" Despite the fact that he might not be recognized for his work, or even get scolded, he accepted the project. That person is now the head of the infrastructure team

This project allowed us to build a relationship of trust with the customer, which led to other projects and has become a customer we continue to work with to this day. As a salesperson, I believe it is extremely important to first build a connection with the customer and gain their trust, but this is just the salesperson's intentions and can be difficult for engineers to understand

The engineer who helped me back then is now the head of the infrastructure team, and that spirit of hospitality permeates the entire team. Because of this, I feel every day that we are a wonderful team that understands the needs of the sales team and provides maximum cooperation

What kind of people would you like to work with in the future?

Nakauchi:people who are considerate. To be honest, I don't think technical skills are that important when you join the company. Of course, it's better to have them, but I think what's important is being considerate and able to think about other people's feelings, even if you don't have technical skills. You can acquire technical skills over time, but it's rare for a bad person to become a good person over time (laughs).

Recently, we have a lot of new graduates joining the company, and I think it's great to see people who can do things when no one is watching, or who take the initiative to do tedious tasks; it makes me want to work hard too. After all, humans are emotional creatures, so I want to help people who I think are great or wonderful. People like that are sure to be helped by others around them. And I think a company will be great if it attracts many people like that

summary

Thank you for reading to the end!

Through this interview, we learned about the relationship between sales and engineers, as well as Nakauchi's thoughts and values ​​as he interacts with customers on a daily basis

In addition to this blog, there is a lot of content that will allow you to learn more about Beyond, such as blogs written by other members and social media. We hope you will take a look at our various content and gain a better understanding of Beyond. And if you think that Beyond's corporate culture and values ​​are a good fit for you, we look forward to meeting you in the future!

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