Chris Webber
Foxleigh Commercial Performance to gain a commercial edge and deliver revenue and productivity targets through enhanced communication skills. Give your team the confidence to succeed with even difficult customers.
Chris Webber
Who I am
I am Chris Webber the founder of the business.
I spent the early part of my career playing professional rugby league for Wigan. I was devastated when at 22 my contract was not renewed and I was forced to find a completely new direction in life.
During my time at Wigan I learned much about leadership, coaching, performance and how to get the most out of individuals and teams that I took with me on the next phase.
After some soul-searching and personal reflection, I picked myself up and refocused on the future. I realised that I always had a gift for connecting with people so I used that to help me secure a job in sales for a pharmaceutical company.
It was a wonderful decision and I spent 17 years working in sales, marketing and leadership for large pharmaceutical companies and discovered a talent for connecting with and influencing people. I rose quickly through the businesses into leadership positions and with the responsibility of managing large customers and significant budgets.
People became my new passion. Understanding how they make decisions, what influences them and what prevents them from achieving more.
I noticed that sales can be an incredibly lonely job.
Not only are many salespeople working alone, spending days, weeks and months away from their colleagues while they conduct meetings with prospects, but they also feel the loneliness and pressure to achieve on behalf of the rest of the team.
When a salesperson goes to see an important client to close an agreement, there is a weight of expectation from across the organisation.
Others wait for good news while they are in the meeting and it can feel like being under a spotlight as everyone holds their breath waiting to know the outcome.
This expectation becomes especially heated when the salesperson meets someone known to be a difficult customer.
Pressure and weight of expectation influence the choices of salespeople.
They are likely to try to delay or avoid tough meetings, they agree less valuable terms than possible to close a deal, they choose not to offer additional products or services for fear of rejection and they fail to ask enough questions of customers in an attempt to say what is required and then leave as soon as possible.
All these behaviours exist in sales teams across industries.
All these behaviours are reasons why clients engage Foxleigh to work with their teams.
Foxleigh is dedicated to helping sales and commercial people to feel confident under the spotlight and to succeed.
We want clients to feel empowered to have difficult conversations. To be courageous enough to ask questions. To be ambitious in their negotiations and to run engaging, memorable meetings that inspire customers to act.
84% of clients would recommend Foxleigh to a friend or colleague
95% of clients rate the experience with Foxleigh as excellent
93% of clients were able to resolve immediate commercial challenges
Our Customers
I was introduced to Kieran through a mutual contact in the winter of 2023. I was walking through a cold, dark and wet London when we first talked on a Friday evening. It had to be Friday evening because that was the only time he had available. His business was in a mess.
He had been contracted through Fujitsu to the British Government and when the post office scandal came to a head, his contract, along with all the rest that Fujitsu had was cancelled.
He lost 90% of his revenue overnight and after being forced to sack most of his staff he was desperate to find investors to keep his business going. He was weeks away from losing everything.
We talked for an hour that night about a range of topics including structuring his pitch to investors and building a sales pipeline.
Over the next few months we spoke regularly. We refined his pitch deck and discussed potential customers he could approach. We pulled together ideas for his sales strategy and began to outline his sales process.
During the first half of 2024 Kieran secured the funding he needed and positioned himself and his business as leaders in the sector. Even being invited to Downing Street to discuss how he and others could support Britain's trade with the EU.
Today Kieran has a strong sales pipeline and we are working on the details of defining their target customers, with a specific focus on the problems that they face so we can tailor meetings to the customer segment, role in the business and stage of sale.
We continue to explore the problems his customers have and how we can quickly work through large and complex customer organisations. We are dedicated to efficiently closing sales and negotiating valuable contracts that will deliver sustained growth for his business.
I did not charge Kieran for the advice that he received to save his business.
He didn't have any money to be able to pay us and at that point, our focus was simply on helping someone to save their business and livelihood.
We worked together for six months, we gave him advice and supported his preparation for key meetings without any fees.
Today Kieran is one of our most loyal clients and retains our services monthly, not just because we helped him through his darkest hours, but because he values the advice and support Foxleigh provides him.
He has gone from a desperate and lonely businessman, trying to stay afloat, to having a clear strategy, an excellent pipeline of clients and a reputation for innovation and excellence that continues to grow.
We are very proud of Kieran and the transformation that we have been part of supporting.
Many of the clients that Foxleigh work with have been repeat clients who have worked with us for many years on a variety of projects.
Our goal is to delight clients, deliver the revenue that they demand and help them balance both commercial results and the strong relationships that are essential for ongoing performance.
