Muaz Anuar: Cracking the Business Development Strategies as New Hires.

From building strategic partnerships, planning business expansions to identifying new markets, Business Development Managers are the cornerstones in any successful organisation that ultimately generates new revenue and contributes to the company growth.

Speaking about his onboarding journey with Curlec, we caught up with Muaz Anuar who had just recently joined the team and jump started his career as a full-fledged Business Development Manager at Curlec.

What Makes Curlec Different?

“Working at Curlec is definitely an eye opening experience for me. With an education background in Software Engineering and previous working experience as a Financial and Investment Consultant, the onboarding journey I had with Curlec really helped to refine my skills to focus more on problem-solving,” says Muaz.

“Unlike any other startups out there, Curlec implements a program that instills a variety of expertise to have you work from the ground up, which definitely stood out compared to any other FinTech startups I’ve encountered.”

Specifically designed for experiential learning, the program involves a full day-to-day involvement in actual projects and work alongside Curlec’s outstanding experts whose perspectives contribute to the understanding of the business, its demands and rewards.

“The orientation is all about setting me up with everything I need – this includes a brief overview of how Curlec was established, where the company is headed, how the product has evolved, getting to know the teams who I will be working closely with, as well as an introduction to the company tools,” he says.

“The first week is probably the time where I have the most ‘ramping up’ to do. Every day is different, and there is definitely a real mix of internal and external interactions between the team, partners that we work with as well as the customers and clients.”

The key here is to utilise the first week on the job to get the lay of the land, learn and listen. Once you have established this, then you can start moving and make an impact.

Monday: Take Notes

The first day is all about getting to know the team and bringing you up to speed regarding the payment industry and the current trends.

“Some of the key things I had the opportunity to learn from the Founders were identifying the brand’s core differentiators, understanding the roadmap of what is ahead, as well as familiarising myself with Curlec’s current product offering. The idea here is, I should be able to foresee where the payment industry is headed as well as how do we fit in the wider payment ecosystem.”

Tuesday: Get Friendly With The Team.

A major part of starting a new job is getting to know the people you are working with – understanding the company structure and what roles each team plays to complete the working ecosystem.

“While it is important to fully understand how each team fits in, and the processes which make the team excel in what they do, this is also a time where I start to build relationships with the people I will be working with, especially if we were to work together in the long run.”

Wednesday: Getting Technical With The Product

Day 3 is all about getting the grips within the technical side of our product and learning how to handle clients from the Customer Success perspective.

“Ultimately, the goal here is to achieve an in-depth understanding of the Curlec system by diving into how our clients and partners manage and administer their day-to-day business transactions with their customers using our dashboard.”

Having relationship-focused client management allows the alignment of both the client’s goals with ours for mutually beneficial outcomes.

“Support shadowing is crucial. Among the many practical things I had to do was to listen in during meetings and calls in order to analyse the type of questions we receive and learn how to answer correctly to better understand and serve our clients.”

Thursday: The Art Of Negotiation

Generally speaking, deciding which leads to pursue and strategies to employ are actually high stakes decisions. While a good strategy, if implemented well, can drive growth and profitability, a faulty strategy can prevent growth, in turn, frustrate valuable clients.

This is where you put your consultative approach to practice and make your first outbound calls and qualifying possible opportunities!

“Becoming a SPINNER is all about adapting the selling process to your customer and delivering personal solutions. This is where relationship selling becomes customer centric, as you grasp the parameters of sales by understanding the type of judgement calls you do and the etiquette for discussing these topics with prospects.”

Friday: Becoming The Business Development Expert

After an intensive week, the last day is all about ironing out anything you might still be unsure of and getting you to pass the final assessment before becoming a full fledged Curlec expert.

“This is where they test your product knowledge and highlight potential client gaps by demonstrating your insights on Curlec. Life in a startup is mostly all hands on deck. There is a big focus on upskilling new joiners to become an expert in all things Direct Debit. So, expect to be thrown into the deep end, but having the right people there to help you build your skills up with you.”

“Now, a few months down the line, I can definitely say I am a certified member of the Business Development team. Curlec has done an excellent job of bringing together theoretical and practical teachings for new hires, and enforces the value of continuous learning. As Curlec continues to grow, we face new challenges everyday and will continue to find more ways on how we can serve more businesses first in Malaysia, then beyond.”

Want to work with us? Our team come from a variety of backgrounds and we always welcome diversity – submit your applications today by visiting www.wps.curlec.com/careers