This series involves PayPay employees giving their honest opinion on why they joined and the surprises encountered after joining.
This time, we sat down with Keita Suzuki from Sales Analysis of the Sales Planning Department, Sales Strategy Division!
Keita Suzuki
Sales Strategy Division
Keita joined PayPay from the group company SoftBank Corp., and is active as a sales planner. His main task is to design and align goals based on the business plan that PayPay’s sales persons in charge (PIC) will aim for, and to link the results of sales activities in 20 offices nationwide to business growth. He also performs data-analysis that becomes the basis in initiatives that help our sales staff achieve even greater results.
PayPay Inside-Out
From where & why did you join PayPay?
Keita Suzuki
I joined PayPay on October 1, 2019. Before that, I was in sales planning for SoftBank’s consumer business, in charge of expanding sales in the SoftBank Shops that you may see all over the place.
At the time I joined SoftBank, the smartphone penetration rate was close to 70%, and the work environment when I started working there was created by the people who had already promoted smartphones before I became a part of the company. I’ve felt from before that I’d rather test my abilities in a place where there is no existing framework than perform established operations in a mature organization in a mature market. So I decided to go on a secondment to PayPay, which was attempting to open up a new market in Japan through the promotion of cashless payments.
Then in October 2020, after a year of working with PayPay, I transferred here from Softbank. I sensed that I wanted to be involved in PayPay’s business of revolutionizing payment methods, while feeling a sense of thrill and urgency of not knowing whether I could put bread on the table depending on how we performed in work. I tend to get spoiled when I have a place to run to, so… (laughs) I’m now working, fully determined, with no backup plan.
PayPay Inside-Out
What things surprised you after joining PayPay?
Keita Suzuki
＜Plus side＞ There are so many things that I want to chat about over a couple of drinks. There are times when I don’t understand the various statements made at work and at meetings because of my lack of knowledge or insight. But many times, once I understand the reasons behind those words, I’m surprised at the thought process and go into self-reflection.
I personally like to go out and drink, and those are also great opportunities to get to know other people’s thoughts. I hope that COVID-19 calms down as soon as possible, so we can drink together again and have exciting conversations.Also, in addition to members from Yahoo and SoftBank, PayPay has many mid-career recruits, bringing together members with diverse expertise and backgrounds. I think it would be interesting if we became all the more diverse.
＜Downside＞ Compared to my previous job, where work was vertically divided and a system of labor was already in place, the new PayPay lacked so many things: no system, no knowledge concerning certain fields, and no PICs. I was quite confused at the beginning. For example, even when I wanted analyze data, there was no one around me who could extract it from the database (in my previous job, there was a dedicated team)
In order to explain a project in a reasonable manner, I had to study SQL on my own, learning how to extract and process data, while making the necessary analysis and creating systems. It was like running in a race while at the same time getting a new pair of shoes and reviewing my form. It was a good opportunity to take a good look at my skill set again.
PayPay Inside-Out
Are you happy having joined PayPay?
Keita Suzuki
I’m very glad I joined. I think PayPay is a very good environment if you don’t mind encountering obstacles in order to grow. It’s a great experience to have many opportunities to be involved in the processes of creating a business, building an organization, and establishing operations. It’s an extremely stimulating environment because it forces you to think, “What should I do now?” and move forward, rather than “There’s no such thing?” and halt. In addition to expanding our business, we are entering a maturing phase as a company, and there are still many challenges ahead.
I really encourage people who can overcome these challenges together and make PayPay a more exciting and interesting place to join us!
Click here to apply for the same position as Keita’s
Thanks to：Keita Suzuki / Edited by：Sota （PayPay Inside-Out Editorial Team）
*Employees’ affiliations are as of the time of the interview.
