Rzeczpospolita: Real sales professional

17.03.2010

Wojciech Bieńkowski – is at the helm of a company which has grown from a small-sized business into an outsourcing market leader.

 

The Arteria Group now operates a 460-consultant call centre, a nationwide network of ca. 400 sales representatives  and several dozen outlets in Media Markt and Saturn stores. Mr Bieńkowski is an economics graduate; in 1999 he graduated from the Warsaw School of Economics. While still a student, he began working at Citibank, which, as Mr Bieńkowski says, was then  just starting to operate in the retail banking sector. “I was the sixth person to be employed,” says Bieńkowski, adding that in the beginning the work environment was quiet and cosy but as time went by, the bank kept growing and before long the personnel numbered hundreds.  ”Corporate procedures started to be introduced. At the time I was young and I thought that procedures limited my freedom to act,” Bieńkowski admits.

He left his job at the bank and joined Wizja TV, where he worked as a sales manager. He has good memories of his service there. “I learnt a lot while at Wizja TV,” he says. Afterwards, he found a job with Astercity. Bieńkowski explains, “We would meet our targets but the work was not interesting.  My salary was high but I simply was bored. I was 27 at the time. I found I was too young to be bored all the time, so in order not to get bored I left Astercity.”

After a few years, he found his way to Arteria. Having first become a shareholder and company president, in late 2006 he oversaw the company’s listing on the Warsaw stock exchange. The Company quite well delivers on the promises it has made to investors. Even the crisis has not affected the Company’s results. The Group is steadily improving its performance, and shows no intention of resting on its laurels. Management have set themselves a goal of improving net profitability in the next few years. The company’s turnover is expected to increase by several dozen percent on a year-on- year basis. Results for the entire 2009 have not been released yet. On a YTD basis, over the nine months of 2009, Arteria’s consolidated turnover was PLN 98.8 million while net profit was PLN 3.7 million.

The group might expand this year. Negotiations are underway to acquire two companies. One operates in the financial services sector, and earns annual net profit of ca. PLN 1 million, generating an annual turnover of more than a dozen million zlotys. The other company is a telecommunications company. “We’ve made a non-binding offer to purchase the business. It’s not a large company. It is very interesting, though,” says Bieńkowski.

What is the hobby of Arteria’s president? Tennis, tennis and tennis again. Mr Bieńkowski says, “I play tennis every day before I go to work; sometimes I also play in the evening.” He also loves cooking.

What do his colleagues think of Mr Bieńkowski? According to Małgorzata Wozba, Head Office Manager at Arteria, he is a demanding boss. He likes having things ready and done before the deadline. She says she is also impressed with the ease with which Mr Bieńkowski deals with financial data and does quick mental calculations.

 

Source: Rzeczpospolita