CREATING CULTURES w/ Gary Pearson

Company culture is built, developed and maintained, whether intentionally or by accident. You can’t decide to have a great culture and simply purchase it. Company culture is like any other relationship in business, it needs to be invested in and committed to.

It can be hard to ignore the exaggerated reputation of the sales industry as being ruthless and hardhitting, and through years of poor standards, bad practices and unhelpful Blockbusters… perceptions can be forged.

Sales indeed come with targets, that’s inevitable; you need to know what you’re working toward. How you make that feel for your team, customers and clients is up to you, however. There is more than one way to sell your products or services, ample avenues to take, and a multitude of conversations to be had.

In our business, we understand the importance of marrying the right customers to the right products; a sale isn’t a sale at all if they cancel or return soon after. What a waste of everyone's time that would be.

Although it’s possible to have perceptions of what the sales industry entails, we spend a lot of time forging a more healthy mental attitude toward longterm relationships between clients and customers. The true value to our clients is in customer relationships that have longevity and real purpose, not short-term quick fixes or impulsive decisions.

Company culture can be felt by all involved whereby a positive example shines through, a helping hand warms the heart and a negative attitude stinks. Someone whose office is making headlines for the buzz it’s creating, is Adaptive Marketing in Leeds.

We wanted to speak with Gary Pearson, the Managing Director, to get a real sense of how, and why, he’s created such an environment for his team.

Hi Gary! We’re hearing lots of great things about your office in Leeds, would you say you’ve created an exciting culture?

Oh, 100% - Absolutely. I’d say one of the biggest factors has been that we recruit based on personality, not necessarily experience. This has meant that we’ve got a great bunch of people with fantastic energy, who all get on and try to get the best out of each other - Good vibes all around.

We have such a focus on education and personal development that as long as you want to listen and try your best, and are happy to make mistakes to learn from, we’re more than happy to work with you.

We’ve had to be organised, something we’ve worked on as time’s gone by, to make sure each person is getting the development they not only need but want for themselves. Our core team have immersed themselves in the business, we’re driven by the same goals, developing together as entrepreneurs.

We’re also still quite new to the city so the fact we get to explore together makes it feel like a big adventure.

You moved your office to Leeds in July 2022, how has it been so far?

Just brilliant, we raised £648k for our clients, Great Ormond Street Hospital and The British Red Cross, and are so excited to break that million-pound mark this year. We couldn’t be prouder really.

What do you think has helped you have such a momentous start?

Our non-negotiables have been invaluable. Launching a business can be a lot of work, very tiring at times and it’s all too easy to take your foot off the gas. I’ve always said, “Be brilliant at the basics”, which for me means setting the pace in the sales field and making sure I plan for the next day, rather than taking a shortcut and winging it. Giving everyone the most relative education, rather than generic themes and topics, is really important too.

I listen to what people tell me and keep them accountable for what they say they want for themselves. If they want career progression then I’ll keep them more accountable for what it takes to achieve that. If they just want to make some money and have some fun, that’s fine too.

Is there anything you would have done differently?

I’d have been savvier with my training systems; I would have made sure to personally train as many individuals as possible in front of others. That way I would have had people watching me coach, but I’d also have been directly training our new team members. Two birds, one stone.

What mind frame did you enter the new year with?

Discipline and focus, for all areas in my life actually. I’m even attempting a “Damp 2023”.

Not completely teetotal but I’m going to lay off the alcohol as much as it feels good. We’re going all in for 2023.

We’re aiming for a 30-strong team, hitting 200 customer acquisitions per week. That then means we can upsize our location and get ready to open the second office in Leeds.

Road trips are going to be a strong focus for us too. Our first-ever one was successful with 179 acquisitions between eight people, so we’re going to continue that momentum with both sales and development-focused road trips.

Listening to Gary, you get a real sense of purpose from what he and his business are doing every day. It’s not about him and it’s not about the numbers, it’s about the people around him and the impact they can have. If you’re looking to create a great culture for your team, we’d say Adaptive Marketing is a good place to start.

We’re looking forward to seeing where 2023 takes Gary and the team, and can’t wait to see them break that million-pound milestone for their clients.