A Nottinghamshire man has shared the secrets of his success after setting up a retail sales training business. Sam King, 31 from Mansfield, set up SPK Performance in December last year after successfully battling his own addictions and drawing on his extensive retail background.
Sam started in retail from a young age and quickly realised he loved the buzz of being on the shop floor even if it did come with the pressure of making targets. No matter how busy he was, he made the time to help others in his team.
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"I started selling from a young age starting with carpets before moving into furniture, sofas and beds. I absolutely loved being on the shopfloor serving customers, the buzz and the pressure of sales. I found that I just came alive even when it's in a cut-throat environment where there are targets or you might be disciplined for not reaching them," he said.
"Despite that, I would still find myself helping colleagues because I loved it and wanted to watch them grow. I loved being part of a team so it was never just about me. If there is a good culture, it creates a good environment and customers want to buy into that."
Sam realised there was a market for developing this into a teaching business designed to promote confidence around sales. He feels his own career background and dealing with his personal issues has made him more relatable, determined and has given him great experience.
"I've been in every position and struggled with addiction but I found that once I started to manage myself then people gravitated towards me which improved my sales. I had every addiction it was possible to have from sex, drugs and drink but it was an escapism from my problems," he explained.
"I managed to stop the self-sabotage behaviors and deal with the issues that were influencing me. Once I had a hard conversation with myself then I got the answer and started to feel better because I could learn and grow. I found managing my stress help so I want to help other salespeople do the same."
With a background in retail, Sam understands that retail can be an incredibly stressful job when it comes to targets and also the pressure of a shopfloor performance. Although he has only been running the business for nine months, his client list is global.
"It's difficult to get the ball rolling and get traction but I'm learning as I go. I'm finding myself and did think I would be teaching sales techniques at the start but it's not the case. I'm a retail sales specialist so I am really nailing down my niche of who I want to speak to. It's difficult but we are in difficult times but to me, it's worth it and I'm dedicating my life to it."
He added: "I have a client in Switerzland who is an entrepreneur. She has made a few amazing products but she didn't have the confidence to pick up the phone and sell it through cold calling. So I started to help her from a basic level to find the confidence to be herself and walk into environments to sell the products. To watch her grow has been really inspiring."
When it comes to the secrets of his success, Sam says you have to love what you are doing but he believes his background has helped him.
"You have to love what you do and have a genuine passion for it that will help you to get up on the days where you don't feel you can. I wake up every morning with a spring in my steps because I enjoy it. We need to find a passion, follow it even if it's scary to drop what you've been doing or what you think you should be doing."
He added: "If I didn't have my retail background then I wouldn't feel confident to go out and teach others. It's only because I've been so successful in my sales and I've seen it all and dealt with it all. I'm the perfect advocate for it because I've been there and done it."
It definitely appears to be working as SKP Performance was a finalist for an award in The Signature Awards after just nine months of business. Sam was nominated for the Start-Up of the Year and 'Customer Service of the Year' awards. Although he didn't win, he was hugely inspired by being a finalist
"Unfortunately I didn't win but to be in the room was amazing. There were some very big names there so it was brilliant to be included. It was a black tie event in the Mayfair and it was quite prestigious. Just to be in that room was inspiring."
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