Today I’m delighted to announce the appointment of SalesTrip’s first VP of Sales, Will Davidson.
As a company, we’re focused on delivering the best travel and expense management system to organisations across the world. Together with our customers, we’re striving to change perceptions of business travel as an uncontrollable cost, where booking trips and managing expenses are a frustration for all involved, to a growth enabler where spend is determined by business outcomes. This mission is attracting the most widely respected people from across the industry along with their deep domain expertise and consistent track record of innovation – and Will is the latest to join our formidable team.
Joining us from FTSE-listed Sage where he was UKI VP of Sales for their People and HR product line, I’m excited for Will to drive our next phase of growth. He leads our global sales team and will be responsible for creating and implementing revenue-generating strategies across the business.
There is plenty more to tell you about Will’s experience but you can check him out here for that. So instead, my team sat him down to ask a few key questions:
What’s the one piece of sales leadership advice you would give?
Lead to serve. I’ve always tried to take the approach that my job is to make my team’s job easier and simpler, and for them to enjoy work. To quote Steve Jobs: “there is no point hiring smart people and then telling them what to do.”
Do you have a mentor and if so, who?
I’m a firm believer that everyone should have a mentor. It’s important to get an outside perspective and for this reason, it shouldn’t be your boss. There’s a great article on this in Forbes.
Adam Hale, my CEO at Fairsail, wasn’t my boss and I still consider him as my mentor today. Although I’ve been really fortunate to work with some fantastic leaders, both in Sales and the wider business, Adam is top of my list. His knowledge of the technology industry is second to none and so to have him as a sounding board is invaluable.
What’s your worst business travel experience?
At a previous company I once had to get four levels of approval to book an out of policy hotel in London as the only ones “in policy” were youth hostels. By the time the stay had been approved, the price of the room had doubled. Management didn’t have the data insight into the business purpose behind my stay. If they’d have seen the revenue generated off the back of the trip, I’m positive it wouldn’t have even needed a conversation.
What’s the most astonishing expense claim you’ve ever received?
Unfortunately, I have too many to recall. But one goes back a few years when a colleague tried to claim an entire weekly food shop as they’d “been away for 4 nights.” When expenses aren’t managed alongside tangible business activity, whether revenue-generating or not, it’s easy for employees to submit fraudulent claims.
What are you most excited about at SalesTrip?
I’m most looking forward to building a global sales team from the ground up as part of a world-class leadership team. The opportunity to change an industry that is in huge need of an overhaul is extremely exciting too – the entire team at SalesTrip is unified in our mission to make a positive impact on working lives around the world. We’ve all personally felt the frustration of business travel and are dedicated to making a difference.
