The journey of establishing a sales team, and what it taught our Sales Lead, Pontus Alfthan

‍In his own words, Pontus explains what it was like to build a sales process from scratch and what his most significant learnings from it have been.

How did you end up at Mobal?

I had seen Jakob (CEO) and Alexander (COO) at the university, as we studied together. Not long after meeting them for the first time, I came across an article about Mobal. The signs didn’t end there when suddenly Mobal started recruiting a Sales Lead to build up the sales process and, therefore, a whole team behind it.

Together with Jakob and Alexander, we met up during the recruitment process, and instantly I knew this was the adventure I had longed for. To say that I was impressed with Mobal and its vision would be an understatement.

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What was it that you were most impressed with?

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They presented their idea, and I instantly noticed their centralized customer mentality, which I’ve valued ever since our first discussion. Another thing that intrigued me was their buyer-first approach, which is about placing the buyer’s needs and interests at the core of the sales process. This approach is something I’ve firmly believed in ever since I started my career as a Sales Executive. Unfortunately, more often than not, it’s excluded from the smaller organization visions.

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What are you most proud of during your time at Mobal?

There are a lot of things I’m proud of. I would want to divide these into internal and external wins.

I’m proud of building up a team of junior sales executives and seeing how they develop and become these successful account executives with a significant impact on the whole company.

Especially in this reasonably new market of local marketing, it was vital for me to build up a team equipped to be trusted advisors for our buyers. With this approach, we have built a product based on our customer's daily needs and problems. Naturally, this has made selling more exciting, and I can easily claim that I’m proud of our team and its values and visions.  

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When thinking about what things I’m proud of during my time here, I also have to say; our ability to open people's eyes to a new marketing channel and, therefore, find a narrative that resonates.

What is your favorite memory from Mobal?

During these years, we’ve built up many memories together. But if I had to choose one, it would be the day we moved from our first-ever office (if you could even call it that - it was more like a little box we squeezed into) to a proper office. Somehow the feeling towards our operations changed from a friend group assignment to building a successful business.

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With a budget consisting of a small van and pizza, we certainly didn’t sit back and relax. Looking back at it now, I realize how much we’ve grown and established a company with processes, especially people I will never take for granted.

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You are always the one taking on the toastmaster duties at our events. Where does that come from?

What a fun question. I would say it comes from the family and our childhood traditions that have continued to our adult years. Not to forget that all these traditions, such as singing these so-called “snaps visor” during meals, were strengthened during my studies. The first song that I learned was probably “helan går,” which is one of the most common songs to sing during a party.

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How do you use business listings, and do you use your own experiences to sell to customers?

Naturally, I’ve become a much better user of business listings since starting at Mobal, and therefore I’ve also seen the value it brings to consumers daily. By becoming a better user of business listings I’ve been able to strengthen my thesis with personal experiences.

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I’ve noticed that everyone knows something, but no one knows everything about business listings.

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Most business owners and marketers know the importance of managing Google reviews and NAP (name, address, and phone number) information. Still, very few understand to what extent a well-optimized Google business listing can go. All this makes a selling process much more effective as we can bring actual value to the users of our platform (or managed service).

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Ultimately, we want to know your three biggest learnings and what you would’ve said to yourself three years ago.

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1. The people make the company.

‍ Every single individual in a joint effort creates success. Perfecting processes, visions, and strategies is always possible, but without the people, you can’t get even close to success.  

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2. Networking works.

I had a hard time with networking initially, but immediately when I started allocating time to it, my learning curve and success rate increased immensely. You should take every chance to learn from your peers and successful people in the field.

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3. Remember to focus on the good things.

There will always be fires to put out, especially in an early stage company, but you should never forget to celebrate a win—both bigger and smaller.

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