The Post: Sales Director, Cubo
The Post Holder: Conor Patton
There is no such thing as a typical day for sales director, Conor Patton,
Give a brief outline of your career to date.
I worked part-time in hospitality from the age of 13 washing glasses and moved my way through the jobs of floor staff, barman and eventually wine waiter. I then went on to work in sales for a multi-national gym chain for a short six month period where I learned a lot about myself before getting into communications for the first time with a local mobile phone retailer in their Ballymena store selling phones and airtime to the public. From there I joined Cubo as a Sales Executive and worked my way up over 17 years to sales director, share holder and owner since our management buyout in April 2021.
What was your favourite subject at school?
I have always loved sport so PE was my number one, closely followed by Art and Technology. I was capable academically but I lacked focus.
Did you go on to further/higher education, if so what did you study and where?
I spent one year at Northampton University studying Product Design. I only lasted nine months and discovered I wasn’t quite ready to leave Northern Ireland behind. Although I came away with no qualifications as I dropped out, I learned a lot about myself and who I wanted to be.
How did you get into your area of work?
Another wine waiter at the hotel I worked had gone to work for his brother who was the manager at a local mobile phone retailer and recommended me. I borrowed a suit that was too big and got lost in Belfast (I had only passed my driving test) then parked in a multi-storey and got soaked from the rain pouring down from the level above and turned up like a drowned rat 30 minutes late. I was going to turn back but went on in, was honest and tried to make light of the situation. The interviewer saw the funny side and gave me a chance and I’ve never looked back since.
Is this what you always wanted to do?
I didn’t know what I wanted to do and was always frustrated due to this. However, once I started to make a path for myself I didn’t look back.
Were there any particular essential qualifications or experience needed?
When I first got together with my wife,(who works as a midwife), she couldn’t understand what I actually did for a job and thought I just talked for a living. In my experience people buy off people, so all my time in hospitality and retail set me up well.
At Cubo, our solutions are so bespoke it’s nearly impossible for someone to have any knowledge of our processes and setup therefore a willingness and ability to learn is essential. We put a huge amount of effort into onboarding new staff and support their development whether that be internal training or external qualifications.
Are there alternative routes into the job?
Our most successful people in the business today have been with us a long time, therefore newcomers benefit from the combined knowledge and skills. We’ve had great people join us from all sectors – literally from a bank manager to a butcher. If you are driven and want to succeed in a great team and have fun doing so, you’ll fit right in.
What are the main personal skills your job requires?
Communication is number one, I’ve learned over the years to listen to our customers and our platform ‘MyCubo’ has been built on our excellent customer base expert industry knowledge from the ground up.
We listen to our customers, bring solutions from all over the world together to help mitigate risk, make efficiencies to save money whilst being more sustainable to help them be more competitive. My job role as CEO is ‘Chief Energy Officer’ – I need to make sure our team have all they need to support our customers and be the best they can be.
What does a typical day entail?
I wake up at 5.30am and spend 45 minutes on my personal wellbeing, I am a convert to the Wim Hof Method and breathe and have a cold shower every day to set me up for the challenges ahead.
I don’t have a typical day as my role incorporates the whole business. My working day starts with checking my emails and what meetings I have that day – I have a lot of meetings with clients and our excellent team of managers. At Cubo we are introducing the Leader-Leader ethos and empowering our staff to really shape their departments. I work closely with the other directors to constantly improve our systems, processes and communication. I speak to our existing suppliers to keep on top of new developments and always listening to the market and our customers. I travel to visit customers and suppliers as I believe there is no better meeting than face-to-face.
What are the best and most challenging aspects of the job?
The best part is the people. I get to meet and work with so many fantastic people. I am always fascinated how many different companies and industries can benefit from our solutions.
The most challenging is patience! Our management team have an ambitious goal set in our Vivid Vision of where we are going to be in three years so it’s very hard to live in the present sometimes when you can see how exciting the future will be.
Why is what you do important?
At Cubo, we bring global technologies to local business enabling them to compete and grow sustainably, benefiting their communities and future generations. We bring it all together.
How has Covid-19 impacted your business/role?
I used to travel a lot more and was worried that with team meetings and Zoom calls we would lose our connection with the customers. The team had to work from home and were separated for the first time. I found it extremely hard to communicate properly over calls/videos.
What advice would you give anyone looking to follow a similar career path?
Always go for it! Why not be the best you can be and use every problem that arises as an opportunity to succeed? Make sure you are preparing yourself and your well-being before you start taking big jumps.
If you weren’t doing this what would you like to do?
Professional golfer or full-time dad – otherwise I’m exactly where I want to be
What is the one piece of advice you would give to yourself on your first day?
Relax, you’ve got this!
Describe your ideal day off.
A day with the kids out in the sun followed by a good meal and then a catch up with family and friends at home.
And finally, what’s the key to any successful job search?
To find inspiration. Ask yourself if the company really aligns to what makes you get out of bed in the morning.
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