Business type
HRTech
Solution type
Interim & Fractional
Size of commercial team
7
Company stage
Series A
Founded in 2013, Arctic Shores was set up to help companies ‘see more in people’ by focusing on potential and capabilities rather than past experience or aptitude in traditional intelligence tests; both of which disadvantaged certain groups of society. A champion of social mobility, UK-based Arctic Shores used gamification and neuroscience to create Europe’s first behaviour-based recruitment assessment, which has now been used by 150+ companies in over 50 countries, such as Siemens, Axa and PwC.
Arctic Shores Need
From start-up to scale-up. Arctic Shores has grown rapidly since its inception in 2013, currently employing over 70 staff and making Deloitte’s list of the 50 fastest-growing UK-based tech companies in 2020. However, like many scaling companies, Arctic Shoes has also experienced growing pains.
As Arctic Shores tried to shift its mentality and processes towards the scaling end of the spectrum, its sales growth took a hit in the first quarter of 2021. Arctic Shores CEO and co-founder, Robert Newry, was keen to bring in extra resource to address the dip and help with the transition, but instead of rushing an important CRO hire, he sought an interim solution first. In particular, Arctic Shores wanted a seasoned sales leader that could be parachuted in quickly, mentor the sales team and improve sales performance in the time taken to find a suitable CRO. They turned to ScaleWise.
ScaleWise Impact
1. Restored sales team’s confidence
Off the back of missing their Q1 sales targets, Arctic Shores knew the importance of restoring confidence to the sales team. Straight away, Margo reminded the 7-strong sales team of their capability and potential. Focusing on the basics of the company’s amazing approach and widespread benefits, Margo used her optimism, energy and get-things-done mentality to instill the belief among sales reps that there was no reason why they shouldn’t be successful.
2. Renewed sales team’s focus
3. Reinitiated cross-team alignment
4. Boosted sales growth by 100%
5. Prioritised key actions
Instead of acting as a direct replacement for a full-time Head of Sales, hiring a Sales Lead for three days per week ensured Margo’s time was used to full effect. For example, Margo was not required to attend non-sales focused meetings or product reviews, but instead fully focused on the areas that had the most impact. This streamlined drive enabled Arctic Shoes to get the most out of Margo’s time and deliver the greatest impact in the time period.
Describing her time with Arctic Shores, Margo said: “Working with the team at Arctic Shores was a joy, the team are capable and motivated to succeed. With the support of the Senior Leadership we were able to put a plan in place that made an instant impact to the sales performance by identifying clear focus areas that from my extensive experience I knew would lead to better results.”
Robert Newry
CEO and Co-Founder, Arctic Shores
“You wouldn’t have known this was Margo’s first interim role: she was absolutely brilliant. There is a large spectrum of people who could do interim or fractional roles, but only a few that fit in the sweet spot overlap of the three critical areas that I was looking for. Credit to ScaleWise for not only having the breadth of sales leaders to choose from, but for working closely with me, having the right processes and asking the right questions to make sure we got the best match possible. To top the experience off, the handover to the new CRO has been well-thought through and structured. I am very happy with the overall results and collaboration.”