06 Dec Welcoming Challenges! A Resilient Sales Team Manager Shares the Thrill of Sales
“Yaraku-Jin (やらく人)”, a series of articles that unravels Yaraku and YarakuZen by focusing on the “people (人) ” surrounding Yaraku, introduces Kazuhiro Nagao, the sales team manager at Yaraku. This time, we talked to the sales team manager, Kazuhiro Nagao.
Yaraku-Jin <VOL.13>
Yaraku, Inc. Sales Team
Kazuhiro Nagao
Q. Could you tell us what you were doing before joining Yaraku?
In university, I studied graphic design using Illustrator in the Faculty of Design. But honestly, I really hated doing work at a desk all the time. That’s why I decided to go into sales. Right after graduating, I worked at a Japanese trading company for about 5 years. After that, I did sales at a cybersecurity company for over 20 years. I’ve had a long career at foreign companies. I found Yaraku while looking for a side job and applied because it seemed interesting. After starting there, I spent a few months before I was asked to become an employee.
Q: What is your current job?
I’m still in sales now. I’m also the team manager, creating an environment and an organization to achieve our target numbers.
Q: The product you’re dealing with now, “YarakuZen,” is totally different from the products for cyber security. Does your way of sales change?
The way of selling has not changed much. The points we focus on during hearings vary for different products, but the basics feel the same. When I was at the trading company, I handled a variety of products, so I’m not too pressed with changes in products to sell.
Q: What do you find interesting about sales?
In sales, there are no qualifications like “Sales Level 2” or anything like that, and there are no fixed ways of doing it, so it’s probably the fact that you get what you put in. Also, I feel that reaching targets together with the team through collaboration is something you can only truly enjoy in sales. I’m not particularly strong under pressure, but I guess I am quite tough. I also like to take the initiative to solve difficult or unpleasant things.
Q: Don’t you get negative in tough situations?
Not really. I think about everything positively. I’m good at handling stressful situations. When I was a kid, I would always think about how to avoid getting scolded by my parents, which might be why I am the way I am now. Thinking about the worst-case scenario, falling into negativity for a moment, and then shifting that to positive thinking, that thought process might have been developed during childhood.
Q. What do you want to do at Yaraku from now on?
Regarding the company’s goal of going public, if it’s going to happen anyway, I want to make sure my presence contributes to driving the numbers up. Our targets till 2027 are set, so I believe it’s about how we achieve them. There must be various approaches, of course selling YarakuZen, providing translation services, and maybe new services coming in the future. I’m also looking to come up with new ideas. And increasing our partner companies a bit more.
Q. What kind of coworkers are you excited to work with here at Yaraku?
Honestly, there isn’t anyone specifically I want to work with. We welcome anyone and everyone has a chance to take challenges, which is probably one of Yaraku’s strengths, or it even creates its diversity.
At this age, I can usually read sales techniques from conversations. That’s why I focus on whether they are likely to get along well with the team. I think the feeling of supporting others is important, for example.
Q. Besides yourself, Kaz-san, there are many members from Fukuoka at Yaraku, including Sakanishi-san (CEO). What’s appealing about Fukuoka?
The food is delicious, and there are mountains and easy access to the sea. It’s compact yet has everything.
Fukuoka welcomes people from various parts of Kyushu, so it’s also quite a “welcome culture”, perhaps not on the scale of Tokyo, but still quite welcoming I think. If asked what I want to do in the future, I might say I want to return to Fukuoka.
