Hello Mike, thank you for your time. Could you please introduce yourself first?
Hello, my name is Mike and I’m leading one of the Key Account Management teams with our 3P Marketplace. We are here to consult and support our top 3P Marketplace sellers to increase their sales and support them with anything that they need to ensure they have the best possible experience with Coupang.
What was your experience before joining Coupang?
I was working for the largest mobile marketplace app in the US. During my tenure there I was mostly focused on automotive and scaling our sales team. In a sales environment, I have about 20 years of experience with close to 10 years of leadership experience.
Could you please introduce the Sales team organization?
My team is focusing on driving success for our top 3P sellers. Based on our data and facts' first approach, we spend time consulting and supporting sellers via face-to-face meetings, Zoom, and calls regarding our various tools and solutions. At the end of the day, our sellers are our customers, and we want to ensure we “wow our customers”.
The Sales team is a very attractive team. Can you explain the strengths of the Coupang 3P Sales team?
I think the biggest strength is how team members can adapt to an ever-changing environment. Not only in our 3P Marketplace, but also in Coupang, things change fast, such as priorities, business goals, and/or direction of our business. It is very fast-paced and like a start-up environment where some people may be uncomfortable with changes, but not the team members in our organization. They take it as a challenge and are now "comfortable being uncomfortable".
What is your professional philosophy? What do you think leads you to success?
Always staying curious and asking the “why”. I like to dive deep into problem statements and issues using data and facts. By digging deep, I can understand and identify the actual root cause of the issue. From that point on, I can work backward to solve any problem.
What do you think are the three main elements you need to become a leader in Coupang?
Demand excellence, Hire & Develop the Best, and Wow the Customer. These are the main 3 out of the many leadership principles we have. Leaders should lead by example to demand excellence from others. Our biggest investment is our employees, and our customers always need to be our highest priority for our team and company to be successful.
What is the balance between work and life as a manager at Coupang?
It’s great. I can unplug when needed and the flexible work schedule policy helps a lot to ensure that I have a good work-life balance. It is also important that the managers are leading by example to demonstrate work-life balance for other team members to follow. This is a high-impact item as it relates to company culture and team member satisfaction.
Why do you think Coupang is special as a workplace? Would you recommend it to future employees who are interested in sales careers?
Coupang is made up of a truly diverse group of team members around the world. There are so many different team members from different work backgrounds and cultures from every corner of the world. This makes Coupang an incredibly unique experience to learn from one another. I don’t think others will be able to have this type of experience from other companies in Korea.
I would recommend it to anyone and everyone. It’s a fast-paced environment, with numerous opportunities to grow your career in an incredibly unique environment.
What kind of candidate profile would you want to join your team?
We would want someone that fits our leadership principles. Many times, we lean on sales performance too much when assessing a candidate and forget to look at the behavior of the candidates. Culture is as important to us as performance, and within good cultures performance will follow.
Lastly, any words for future applicants interested in joining Coupang?
If you want to excel and challenge yourself in your career with a diverse group of people from around the world, Coupang is the place for you. We have an outstanding culture, great benefits, and the environment to help you grow in your career.
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