Hailey Stories: Meet Jenny!
Chances of winning the lottery every month, without a hard sales culture.
"I believed in Hailey, the founders, and what they are capable of. I really had nothing to lose. I thought that if I wasn't a good salesperson, I could always look for another job," she explains.
Nowadays, Jenny is the sales manager for Sweden at Hailey HR. Fundamentally, she is an HR professional with extensive leadership experience in the association sector. Her knowledge has provided Jenny with insights into the daily problems that managers often face.
"At many companies, the right tools are missing, leading to both time constraints and unclear responsibility allocation," she explains.
What attracted Jenny to change her career was the drive to want to change and improve the job market for managers and employees.
"Many managers are overwhelmed with stress. Many employees are dissatisfied with their managers. The HR department now have the opportunity to ensure that that employees have the necessary tools they need"
An unexpected career choice
Going from being a regional manager in recruitment and staffing, and then learning and development, to picking up the phone to sell was a personal challenge.
"You doubt your own abilities a lot at the beginning. Can I do this? But I just went for it," says Jenny.
"To be honest, I felt that the product itself was so appealing to customers that it didn't really matter much how I performed as a salesperson in the beginning," she continues.
Transparency and supportive colleagues
The support from colleagues meant a lot too.
"The job itself is not that complicated. Prospecting, making calls, and demonstrating the system - that's it. I received positive feedback from customers, and the experience quickly built up. But it is also challenging to work in sales. That's why you need a team behind you."
One thing that may seem intimidating for new salespeople is the transparency of success. It is easy to see how each individual salesperson is doing. The numbers speak for themselves.
"But it turned out to motivate me a lot as well. Statistics, expectations of results - it suited me much better than I thought," says Jenny.
Sales organization without a tough culture
At Hailey HR, the preconceived notion of what it means to work as a salesperson is refuted.
"We decide for ourselves what it entails. A sales organization does not have to be characterized by a tough, masculine culture. Even if I, myself, only work with men at the Hudiksvall office. Because what is sales, really? It's about offering value to someone else."
Most of those who have started working in Hailey's sales department have previous experience in HR. At the Hudiksvall office, the salespeople come from different industries. One is a former store manager, another has worked in recruitment and staffing, and a third comes from the insurance industry. But they all have one thing in common.
"They have all had personnel responsibility, and they have all worked in sales," says Jenny.
Perhaps the best combination for those who want to sell an HR system. We have employees from all kinds of different industries with a variety of seniority – it's more about the will to grow that is in common.
"If you have worked with HR in any way, or as a leader, you understand the challenges placed on managers and HR employees in a different way. That is invaluable to us."
Power over the calendar and controlling one's own days
"I have not regretted my decision to start working at Hailey for a single day. Of course, sales can be challenging psychologically sometimes, there are a lot of emotions involved. But then it's also a freedom to be able to reschedule or ask for help from a colleague," Jenny explains.
Not everyone is molded in the same form, and that's something the sales managers at Hailey take seriously.
"We help each other find balance in the office. Competitions may motivate some people but be stressful for others. With us, you have the space to be yourself. We have a variety of salespeople, and each delivers value to customers in different ways."
High salary and generous commission structure
Another driving force for people choosing a career in sales, of course, is the salary.
"We offer a good base salary to provide security, with an additional commission model. At Hailey, sales cycles are long – few companies spontaneously buy new HR systems. But after a while, the effort you've put in starts to pay off, and then you can earn very, very well."
If the drive to change the HR industry doesn't always feel present, the feeling of winning the lottery every month can temporarily take over as the goal. All motivation is good motivation.
"The dedication you put in actually yields results. For me, the motivation for a while was that I was getting married, and I wanted to deliver to save for that occasion. It made me take the step outside of my comfort zone and deliver in even in the moments when it felt challenging. In general, I just want things to go well for myself, my colleagues, and the entire company - that's probably the biggest motivation."
Do you also want to leave your comfort zone and take the chance to win the lottery when you go to work? Apply today!