Swim with ‘sharks’ boosted credibility
SOMETIMES in business you just have to swim with the sharks even if that means you might lose a limb of your operation.
For ISR Training that limb was their recruiting arm, and the sharks were of the televised variety.
The Surfers Paradise business, started by Jack Corbett and Ryan Tuckwood, recently received a boost when it was featured on national television, on the Ten Network’s Shark Tank.
While the business was well received, with members of the Shark Tank handing over a six-figure sum to take a stake in the company and give the fledgling organisation a financial boost, as a result the firm jettisoned its recruiting arm.
Mr Tuckwood said the company was now aiming to have 1000 people enrolled in its sales training packages at all times.
“Our academy has trained more than 3600 people in total and we relaunched it as a tactic after we appeared on Shark Tank,” he said.
“Our sales training consists of both face-to-face and digital training.
“We took on an extra six staff members and all our content and videos have been remade.
“Access to these costs $5 a person a day to access and we want to see 1000 people using it at all times over the next three years.”
While dropping the recruiting side of the business was no small matter, with Mr Tuckwood saying the group had placed 200 people into work and saved Centrelink $25 million in ongoing payments in previous years, it did allow the business to move strongly into the training field.
“We created the SWISH academy, which stands for Selling With Integrity and Selling Honestly,” he said.
“Our mission is to change the perception of sales people and prove that you don’t need to lie and cheat to sell.
“You can be consultative and take people on a guided journey where both the seller and consumer can feel comfortable.
“Intent is what separates us, and the intent is to help the individual.”
“I think people don’t buy what they need, they buy what they want.
“So we want to help people convey the need to the consumer. There’s no need for bullying and manipulation. If you are open they will come to decisions themselves. It’s permission-based marketing.”
He said Shark Tank had given them national credibility.
“We’ve grown 100 per cent year-on-year for the past four years and we’re projecting a growth of 200 per cent this year.
“We recently moved to new offices in the Gateway building in Surfers Paradise which is a good location.
“We will stay on the Gold Coast but our flagship operation is digital and we have people studying in the USA, New Zealand and South Africa. So we have been able to build that online presence.
OUR MISSION IS TO CHANGE THE PERCEPTION OF SALES PEOPLE AND PROVE THAT YOU DON’T NEED TO LIE AND CHEAT TO SELL