Phil Herridge – Assisting B2B organisations through the minefield of sales & marketing automation using leading AI
Q1. Did you always want to become a consultant or did you fall into the role?
I’ve worked in sales of various guises for 30 years, starting with selling vacuum cleaners door to door in the early ‘90s, to tele sales, recruitment and over the past 15 years, I’ve been working the telecoms & tech space, so consultancy is definitely something I fell into.
Q2. What makes a good consultant?
It’s a combination of my 3 decades at the cold front of sales, my ability to not be scared of change and my passion for being a disrupter. I spend time understanding what my clients currently doing and in many cases we collectively identify that there dream clients are something different to what they actually thought and can therefore pivot there business in the right direction.
Q3. Do you feel you manage yourself well or is it a case of ‘the cobbler’s shoes’?
I as an individual and us as a business have detailed SOP’s in place that ensure we manage ourselves effectively and this is something we subtly introduce to our clients as bitesized emails.
Q4. Are there enough hours in your day?
Because we are a sales automation consultancy, we are able to effectively scale things up & down throughout the month ensuring that we are always busy enough, without being overworked.
Q5. If you could magically stop your clients from making one mistake – what would that be?
I wish that clients would stop wasting 3 months trying lower cost solutions before coming back to me. It happens a lot and in some cases, we are unable to quickly repair the damage done.
Q6. What do you find is the best way to market yourself?
Unlike most companies, Semper Paratus Group use our own services & advice to generate new clients, so everyone we speak to is there own testimonial as the our sales automation being effective.
Q7. What do you do to unwind?
I’m a former Professional Kickboxing, so exercise is a significant part of my day starting with a run or bike ride in the morning and using the home gym at the latter end of the day.
Q8. What advice would you give a starting consultant?
The first thing I’d advise is using my sales automation to create a steady flow of new business for themselves. The other thing I’d advise is that they pin point there dream client and create there own niche.
Q9. What’s your guilty pleasure?
Binge watching boxsets, but this has been difficult as during the pandemic as I’d already done the best ones and filming had been suspended.
Q10. What’s your goal for next year?
Continuing to scale SPG and further expanding our global client list.