Having a waiting list of new clients for your products or services is a good problem. Who doesn't want to have it?
But while anyone can jabber about how good it is, few businesses have had the fortune of seeing it happen to them and even fewer have the transparency to share what's worked for them with everyone else.
Well, I found an inspiring entrepreneur who's done it consistently and who's willing to share what works with my readers - how awesome!
Enter Sabri Suby, Head of Growth at online marketing agency, King Kong. Sabri Suby has gone from starting the business in his bedroom with $0 and and aiming to turnover more than $7 million in 2017.
CREDIT: KINGKONG.COM.AU
I interview him and we had a lively, enriching chat about his business and some good secrets of his success. Enjoy!
Tell us about your background and how you started your business.
I grew up in a small beach town, Byron Bay. My first serious job and exposure to sales was a cold-calling gig, where we would call businesses to buy their empty ink cartridges....and then we'd go on the sell them back once refilled.
I struggled at first, however after 3 weeks I was the top salesperson and was making a great income at the ripe old age of seventeen.
I lived in London and the US for some time before returning back to Australia. I enrolled in a Business Degree Majoring in Marketing. It was at uni where I started my first business over the summer break, it took off and I dropped out to manage the business growth.
Since dropping out of university I've started, run and sold several multi-million dollar businesses. All of which, were centered around the digital space.
I took a look at what other agencies were doing and all they seemed to talk about were impressions, click-through-rates and social reach. They all failed to talk in actual dollars and ROI. Many times I had gotten quotes for these types of digital marketing services and they all came back in the ridiculous $10,000's of thousands of dollar range for simple things like banner ads.
I saw a real gap in the market for an agency that would actually multiply a client's marketing spend into ROI. No wishy washy branding campaigns but actual real revenue generation and customer acquisition.
What problem does King Kong solve and why is it important?
We solve the biggest problem that exists for businesses "how do I get new customers". It's something we're immersed in every minute of every day. The number one reason businesses fail is "lack of capital" which in other words is lack of sales and revenue. Sales and marketing is 80% of the battle in business and we solve this problem.
How did you come across this idea and what motivated you to start King Kong?
Having started several businesses all centered around the digital space, Customer acquisition has always been my responsibility. Many times in my businesses I had gotten quotes for these types of digital marketing services and they all came back with ridiculous strategies with no focus on ROI.
I saw a real gap in the market for an agency that would actually multiply a client's marketing spend into ROI. No 'wishy washy branding campaigns' but actual real revenue generation and customer acquisition.
I think having this focus in our business is why we've grown so fast and have had to literally turn down clients and put them on a wait list in order to not compromise the quality of our work.
How did you acquire your first customer and how long did that take?
Cold calling. One day.
How many hours a week do you work and could you tell us your schedule from start to finish?
Work starts from the moment I open my eyes, until I close them at night. As entrepreneur I look at everything I do as work, as it all plays a vital role to who I am as a person, my energy levels and the outcomes and goals I'm striving for in my business. Most weeks I would work 100+ hours.
I wake up at 5am and go the gym, where I do a mixture of cardio and weight training, followed an intense sauna session. This really gets me into a peak state to start my day.
I arrive at the office by 7am and start my day with my important tasks first, this is definitely when I'm my most productive.
8:30am I'll stop for breakfast or a bulletproof coffee.
At 9am I have a morning sales meeting. Followed by meetings with my team members of the different departments; Paid Social, Paid Search, Organic Search and client management.
By 10:30am I'm looking at 'Top Of The Pyramid' activities that are the most impactful for my time: Customer acquisition, sales funnel optimisation, coming up with new offers, setting up and refining procedures and systems to manage the growth of the business.
12pm I'll stop for a quick 15-minute lunch before I get back into it. 2pm-4pm most days is spent recruiting for the next A-player to join our team.
4-5:30pm I'm usually assisting my sales team with anything they need help with.
5:30-7pm is spent replying to emails and assigning tasks to the team.
7-8:30pm is spent communicating with our team members in the northern hemisphere. I try to get into bed by 9:30pm so I get my 8 hours sleep before starting again at 5am.
What are some hardships you had to overcome in the beginning and how did you overcome them?
Managing growth and finding top talent to help service the wait list of new clients.
List a few of your favorite books that you recommend others in your industry to read.
The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes, Purple Cow Seth Godin and The Go-Giver by Bob Burg.
What are some mistakes you made and how did you fix them?
Not having all service level agreements and contract legally airtight. Hired a lawyer.