Getting to know Steve Cooper, Business Development Manager

When did you first take an interest in business development within design and why? 

I fell into the industry back in 1994 working for a furniture dealer based in Mayfair called Hill + Noyes. Before I began my stellar career in the industry I’d tried my hand at all sorts, including domestic nursing, trainee hairdresser (I feel sorry for all of those old ladies who’s dresses I’d managed to soak whilst washing off their blue rinses), I was even a licensee of a bar for a bit. The role at Hill + Noyes was in admin covering for the office manager who was on maternity leave and once she returned my manager asked me to stay on as trainee sales rep. He gave me W1 and SW1 as my ‘patch’ and I was instructed to walk my area knocking on doors and collecting comp slips with the names of facilities manager to follow up. These were the days before email and the internet (just) so the process was knock on the door to get the contact name if they wouldn’t see you there and then – then back to the office for a follow up cold call. Believe it or not it did work. I’ve always been a bit of an all rounder throughout my career, working for manufacturers selling to the trade, furniture dealers and fit out contractors selling to end users. One constant is I’ve always been more of a proactive type of sales person, happy to shake trees, kick rocks, knock on doors and most importantly pick up the good old fashioned phone and make cold calls.

What is one of your highlights since being at Wagstaff?

Well this is my second tour of duty with Waggy’s so there have been loads. I left the business back in the year 2000 returning in 2014 after various adventures around the industry.  In my first stint one that stood out was winning a project just down by Monument, the North side of London Bridge.  It was, at the time, one of the biggest jobs we had won.  A complex mixture of relocating existing furniture over four weekends along with the manufacturer and supply of a host of bespoke veneer secretaries and work wall type desks. It was a seven day a week project over the course of a very hot June. I remember the final Sunday, a room at the old building had been overlooked and was still full of furniture which HAD TO BE MOVED BEFORE THE MONDAY WITHOUT FAIL!  I had to do a desperate ring around to find a driver with a Luton to help me empty the room and move everything across to the new site, being Father’s day I didn’t hold up to much hope. I did however, get lucky and a father and son team managed to help. The dad was called Junior and his boy was called Junior Junior, which made me smile. Second time round opening the doors to Regus and AutoTrader stand out, they're two great clients that the Fit Out team have consistently delivered projects that we’re all really proud of.

What are some of your favourite projects that you have been a part of?

Anything the sales team win that we put them in front of really. As mentioned before Regus and AutoTrader were two great ones but also Ubisoft was great design and build scheme delivered by Jason and Amanda from our Northern office. Costello Medical was a satisfying one, Ian one of our reps emailed us the details of a new build in Cambridge that he’d driven past, I got one of my team, Richard, to do a bit of digging and eventually he got us onto the tender list which we subsequently pitched, won and delivered.

What advice would you give to business development executives just starting out?

I guess that it’s hard graft, you need to have a thick skin as you do come across lots of rejection on a daily basis. Be fearless, never give up, work smart, you need to do the numbers and exceed your KPI’s and most importantly keep smiling and have fun!

If there was one thing you wish people knew about business development what would that be?

It’s not a walk in the park, but if you stick at it and make sure you have a high output of activity you will, over time, have success. In short it’s a numbers game, the commercial interiors industry is a great one to work in and business development gives you the best grounding in sales that anyone could hope for. I’m extremely proud of the guys who have worked for me, who have over time moved into external sales or moved into other industry roles with our supply chain.

How important is building the right team for business development?

This is critical to the success of the department and it’s contribution to the business. They need to be intelligent, tenacious and hard working with a never give up attitude. I don’t recruit from within our industry so new starters need to be able to hit the ground running, pick up and understand our industry on a wider scale and the culture and heritage of Wagstaff quickly. Above all else they need to get on and understand the ethos of teamwork. I’m very lucky with my current crop of business developers, they’re great fun to work with and all get along really well.

What do you like to do away from work? 

For the past 24 years parenting mostly.  I have six kid’s with my wife Lisa but things are calming down now three of them are pretty much grown up and fully cooked. Outside of that I love the outdoors, we have an allotment plot that keeps us busy during the warmer months and also keep chickens (who make great pets and give us the best eggs I’ve ever tasted). I’m a season ticket holder at Charlton Athletic Football Club and enjoy going to the occasional gig (I’m afraid I’m a bit of an old school indie kid, well not so much of a kid anymore).  I also like to do my share of the cooking at home and I must say I’m pretty good at it. Although the kitchen generally is a huge mess by the time I’ve finished but I actually really enjoy washing up (bit of a weird and random one!).

Now the kids are at an age where they can look after themselves and each other one of our plans is to travel a bit more. We've had twenty odd years of UK caravan holidays under our belts, so a bit of guaranteed sunshine is definitely on the horizon. We’re off to Crete, Croatia and lastly Amsterdam this year. I’m also turning an outbuilding into my very own man cave, all of the complicated stuff is complete now, just needs a lick of paint and the beading done and I’ll have my very own little quiet space.

My long term plan is to move to somewhere a bit more countryfied into a house with a field where I can add a herd of pigs to my brood of hens.

What message would you give to a younger Steve?
Blimey this is a hard one! I guess just keep on being you. Trust your own judgment and stay on course.