00:00:03 My name is Robin Popham and I’m Sales Director and co-owner of Certus Sales, the specialist sales recruitment firm. I’m sales director so essentially I’m responsible for all sales and profit for our organisation, specialist sales recruitment firm so I look after 25 guys across London, Reading and Leeds with expansion plans for, you know, Birmingham and Manchester in the future as well. So, it’s all about motivation, coaching, closing business and just making sure that, you know, we’re as successful as we possibly can be. So, selling targets for the overall business, working with my managing director to make sure we achieve our wider business objectives but, as importantly, working with our guys to, you know, ensure their motivated and achieving their own personal goals as well.
00:00:54 I was your lovable rogue, I was very naughty and never nasty. I was quite bright at school so, you know, I wasn’t book smart but I was, you know, quite street smart, quite intelligent and knew how to get around the system and the processes. So, I sort of bucked the system but I loved it, I loved the whole sport side of things and, you know, the friends and that sort of thing. So, yeah, I mean, I loved school. I don’t know whether my teachers would have loved me.
00:01:24 So, I didn’t have a master plan but I knew that I was going to be massively successful and for me at that time that was lots of money, fast cars, you know, nice girls, you know, the whole sort of, the dream, I suppose, from a business point of view. But I didn’t know how I’d arrive at that. Plus I was playing rugby to a high standard and I felt to myself that, you know, the top guys at the top of their game at that time in rugby, the Lawrence Dallaglio’s were earning £100,000-£150,000 a year and I was thinking to myself, “Well, my Dad’s earning a lot more than that, that doesn’t seem like a great deal of money.” Plus your life span in professional sport is finite so and plus I wasn’t at that level so I just thought, you know, I want to go and carve my niche elsewhere.
00:02:11 And I didn’t know what it would be, but as a chance meeting with one of my sister’s friends, he was in sales, he was ultra slick, had a nice sports car, you know, really, really popular, charming guy. And I really got on well with him. He said, “Well, look, Rob, you know, why don’t you come and have an interview with us,” and this was sort of 16, 17 and I said, “Yeah, I’ll come down,” and two hours later I got the job. So, you know, and that was at a company called West Coast who are a billion pound IT distribution firm now and yeah, so that was that.
00:02:50 I think the transition between being a bit of a bad boy at school to, you know, being thrust into a professional sales environment was, you know, quite a big leap. You know, your behaviours totally change and the fear of failure, the fear of, you know, not being successful at that point for me and for, you know...to prove to my family and my Dad in particular, you know, that I could be very successful was there and that’s sort of how the transition came about. That said, you know, I wasn't...it wasn’t like a duck to water. It took a lot of time and energy, it’s still taking a lot of time. You know, you’re always improving, getting better, always have to work harder, work smarter, be more creative, but, you know, I think that those factors altogether helped me.
00:03:44 You know, my Dad would say, you know, a little bit more considered, still a bit wild but very, very proud of what I’ve achieved and I think that he perhaps, you know, he’s getting on a little bit now so I think he probably, you know, can relax a little bit more and safe in the knowledge that, you know, I am being successful and I am going to be massively successful and I think he’ll enjoy watching that.
ENDS
Rob Popham
Robin Popham
My name is Robin Popham and I’m Sales Director and co-owner of Certus Sales, the specialist sales recruitment firm. I’m sales director so essentially I’m responsible for all sales and profit for our organisation, specialist sales recruitment firm so I look after 25 guys across London, Reading and Leeds with expansion plans for, you know, Birmingham and Manchester in the future as well. So, it’s all about motivation, coaching, closing business and just making sure that, you know, we’re as successful as we possibly can be. So, selling targets for the overall business, working with my managing director to make sure we achieve our wider business objectives but, as importantly, working with our guys to, you know, ensure their motivated and achieving their own personal goals as well.
I was your lovable rogue, I was very naughty and never nasty. I was quite bright at school so, you know, I wasn’t book smart but I was, you know, quite street smart, quite intelligent and knew how to get around the system and the processes. So, I sort of bucked the system but I loved it, I loved the whole sport side of things and, you know, the friends and that sort of thing. So, yeah, I mean, I loved school. I don’t know whether my teachers would have loved me.
So, I didn’t have a master plan but I knew that I was going to be massively successful and for me at that time that was lots of money, fast cars, you know, nice girls, you know, the whole sort of, the dream, I suppose, from a business point of view. But I didn’t know how I’d arrive at that. Plus I was playing rugby to a high standard and I felt to myself that, you know, the top guys at the top of their game at that time in rugby, the Lawrence Dallaglio’s were earning £100,000-£150,000 a year and I was thinking to myself, “Well, my Dad’s earning a lot more than that, that doesn’t seem like a great deal of money.” Plus your life span in professional sport is finite so and plus I wasn’t at that level so I just thought, you know, I want to go and carve my niche elsewhere.
And I didn’t know what it would be, but as a chance meeting with one of my sister’s friends, he was in sales, he was ultra slick, had a nice sports car, you know, really, really popular, charming guy. And I really got on well with him. He said, “Well, look, Rob, you know, why don’t you come and have an interview with us,” and this was sort of 16, 17 and I said, “Yeah, I’ll come down,” and two hours later I got the job. So, you know, and that was at a company called West Coast who are a billion pound IT distribution firm now and yeah, so that was that.
I think the transition between being a bit of a bad boy at school to, you know, being thrust into a professional sales environment was, you know, quite a big leap. You know, your behaviours totally change and the fear of failure, the fear of, you know, not being successful at that point for me and for, you know...to prove to my family and my Dad in particular, you know, that I could be very successful was there and that’s sort of how the transition came about. That said, you know, I wasn't...it wasn’t like a duck to water. It took a lot of time and energy, it’s still taking a lot of time. You know, you’re always improving, getting better, always have to work harder, work smarter, be more creative, but, you know, I think that those factors altogether helped me.
You know, my Dad would say, you know, a little bit more considered, still a bit wild but very, very proud of what I’ve achieved and I think that he perhaps, you know, he’s getting on a little bit now so I think he probably, you know, can relax a little bit more and safe in the knowledge that, you know, I am being successful and I am going to be massively successful and I think he’ll enjoy watching that.
ENDS
Rob Popham is Sales Director of Certus Sales. "I was your lovable rogue, I was very naughty and never nasty." Rob feels he has got his success but "it wasn't like a duck to water. It took a lot of time and energy. You know, you're always improving, getting better, always have to work harder, work smarter, be more creative."
As part of icould's continuous development, we plan to include additional material from icould storytellers in the form of Blogs and other information which will enrich their filmed stories. So watch this space!
Comment guidelines, terms and conditions
If you think that a comment that has been posted is offensive, unsuitable or has in some other way breached our terms and conditions, please email us at comments@icould.org.uk with a link to the comment and your reasons for objecting to it. Please note icould reserves the right to remove any comments that are not appropriate.
