5 minute read
My Journey: Floyd Marriott
MY JOURNEY Floyd Marriott'Floyd Marriott is Managing Director of Hydra Sales Group. Here he tells us about the journey and lessons that have shaped his career.'
RECRUITMENT 2021
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loyd Marriott joined Pio-
Fneer Advertising in London way back in 2013. There he learnt all the tricks of the trade before he was given the chance to lead his own sales team. “I’d not worked in sales before”, he remembers. “I was a gardener in a cemetery before this. Although initially I couldn’t sell anything, I had some great people around me and I always stayed excited about the opportunity.”
Floyd is an extremely ambitious individual who had travelled to the UK from Jamaica to start a new life, for Floyd the opportunity to be self employed had always been very attractive. "I wanted the chance to work in an office environment, with autonomy and be in control of my own destiny".
He also thought that developing sales skills would greatly benefit his growth and development. He added:
“I knew that every business has to sell, and that good sales skills will always be highly sort after . The chance to build my communication skills also excited me. Being able to communicate effectively and deliver your points in a clear and engaging manner gives you an amazing advantage..” Although Floyd was keen to develop his sales skills, initially he didn’t plan to make it a long term career prospect. However, it didn’t take long for him to change his mind. “
"Once I’d started to excel in sales, and had the chance to travel with the organisation, my thought process changed. I saw the opportunity to broaden the horizons of others. That wasn’t something I had seen myself doing before,” he said.
Towards the end of 2013 Floyd decided to train other members of the team. However at the time he still did not completely realise his potential.
“After I started training people, I really began to enjoy it, so I set myself some goals to hit before the end of January 2014. My focus was on developing people and building a team, and I actually ending up hitting that goal at the end of December. That’s where everything changed for me.”
After finishing for the Christmas break with a team of five, Floyd’s dreams were almost dashed when only one team member returned at the start of the New Year. However, as Floyd explains, he did not lose heart: “The one person who came back was instrumental in inspiring me. They were really positive and said they wanted to work with me to rebuild the team again. Thankfully, we hit the criteria and in May 2014 I started running my own direct sales business in Ipswich.”
After growing his business, in 2016 Floyd decided to leave the organisation to expand his knowledge in the direct sales. However in 2019 he rejoined Regardless Marketing in London as Managing Director, which then became known as Hydra Sales Group. The rest, as they say, is history.
Floyd said: “While I was away the organisation had grown enormously – I was really excited to be back.”
Reflecting on his career, Floyd says: “I genuinely love what I do, I get tremendous pleasure from working with my team, and the organisation offers so many opportunities for networking and development. Today I’m a totally different person to who I was when I first joined in 2013.”
In terms of his biggest challenge, Floyd says that for him it’s discipline. He explains: “Our business, like all others, has had ups and downs. The Covid pandemic has been a tremendous challenge, and being able to maintain that focus, pace and commitment has been hard. However I strongly believe we are now on the other side. The organisation is stronger, and the people within the organisation are our real assets. Some people have developed some incredible skills over the last year, and it feels like the business is poised and ready for growth.”
So summing up, how would Floyd describe the impact that sales has had on his life? “Eight years on I’m still looking for a proper job!” he jokes. “But in all seriousness although I’ve had tremendous personal challenges during my career, in my opinion this is the best industry in the world to be in. When I look back at the opportunities that have been given to me, I don’t think any other industry would have given me the same chances. I have totally transformed my life over the last couple of years, and the longer I stay at Hydra Sales Group the more passionate and excited I become.”
1. What has been the biggest highlight of your career? “For me it’s seeing Asma Brahimi growth trajectory, she's about to open her own office after starting out as a student. For her, the opportunity has been life changing. I also feel very lucky to have been able to represent some really amazing brands, which have given me so many opportunities that I don’t think I would have had otherwise.”
2. What is the biggest lesson that you've learnt along the way? “The importance of being humble, to never stop learning or wanting to grow and develop your skills.”
3. What is the biggest piece of advice that you'd give to anyone starting out in sales today? “You need to be competitive and ambitious to be successful. However it’s not about competing with someone else – it’s about competing with yourself. You need to push yourself and be prepared to work intensely over a period of time, as success doesn’t come instantly. New entrants are always coming in to the industry, so the only way to stay relevant is to always improve yourself.”
