How to build a BNZSA Rocker
By Paul Briggs, Director Global Corporate Development
If you know anything about BNZSA, you’ll know that rock music has been a huge inspiration for us. We recently launched our first ever song, Together We Rock, which is an ode to our company slogan, and we refer to every single one of our employees as a BNZSA Rocker.
Like all the best bands, we got started in a garage. Our CEO, founder and frontman Brahim Samhoud explains why rock music is so important to him: “I love the image of the rock band. A group of people who might not have a lot in common apart from their single goal to work together and produce an incredible result that inspires and delights the crowd. I hope that’s what we do here every day – our multinational, multilingual teams come together to get great results for our clients”.
“I also firmly believe that anyone has the potential to be a great BNZSA Rocker. I challenged our onboarding team to come up with a programme that any person from any professional background can jump into. With the right attitude and the right support, anyone has the potential to excel here at BNZSA”.
This has been even more important as we prepared to scale fast! From March 2020 to now, we have grown our headcount by almost 400%. We want to fill people with the BNZSA spirit as quickly as possible and give them the tools they need to succeed from Day 1.
What makes a BNZSA Rocker?
There is no magic formula to create a BNZSA Rocker. Some people come with years of experience in B2B Sales, others can apply their skills from customer service, hospitality or other industries. Some people have many master's degrees and others are fresh from school. We look for people who have the drive and ambition to grow with us.
The people who succeed with us are those who live by the four Core BNZSA Values:
- People – we would be nowhere without our People! Respect and support for each other as professionals and as human beings is something we always look for.
- Extra Mile – this is not about working extra hours; in fact, we encourage everyone to close the laptop at 17.00 sharp. Extra Mile to us is about giving that bit more – trying just one more phone call after your 10th “no” of the morning, raising your hand in the team brainstorm or encouraging a colleague who is having a tough day.
- Highest Quality – we ask everyone to give the best they can at any given moment. What you can do in your first week is not where you’ll be a year later. Keep pushing for YOUR highest quality and you’ll be great!
- Changing the industry – doing things differently is in our DNA. People with new ideas will always thrive at BNZSA.
How do we build a BNZSA Rocker?
We hired the amazing Álvaro Aldana three years ago to help us grow our onboarding process. Álvaro brings his experience as a learning and development manager from Starbucks to industrialise our onboarding and get our Rockers performing fast.
This training mostly focuses on those who will take on roles as BDRs, but we are quickly adding programmes for the digital, development and data teams, as well as a stream for new management positions.
We currently onboard up to 40 Rockers a month and have just two weeks to get them ready for the intense world of B2B lead generation.
Week 1: The tools for success
Week 1 focuses on instilling the BNZSA Values and culture – we spend a lot of time talking about our history, showcasing role models in the company and sharing our vision for the future. Being coachable and ready to grow is also an essential element of this week, so we include an immensely popular module called “Learning How to Learn.” There´s a strong focus on the basics of the IT products required by businesses so that any Rocker can prepared for whatever our clients throw at them.
During this first week we ensure that the new Rockers acquire all the basics that they will need to start getting the job done while also giving them space to absorb and reflect.
We finally also make sure that we find some opportunities to decompress with colleagues at our weekly Friday barbecue.

Week 2: Learning by doing
Week 2 is when things get serious. The best way to learn is to get on the phone and out in the market talking to potential IT buyers. Our newbies will first do some shadowing and role playing before they jump straight in and receive live coaching on their conversations. We support them with additional workshops on building connections over the phone, handling objections and tackling difficult situations – all using real examples from the group’s experience. Pretty much all of our newbies will make their first leads during this week – a huge confidence builder that prepares them for what comes next!
By their second Friday with us, we have a whole new batch of BNZSA Rockers ready and waiting to join the band!

Week 3 and beyond: the learning never stops
From Week 3, our new Rockers join the rest of the team and enter our ongoing coaching and training programme. We offer product trainings and team learning sessions as needed, as well as one-to-one coaching. Everyone at BNZSA also has access to a huge library of content via our Learning Management System Skillsoft Percipio – Rockers can work on their current skills gaps and take courses that help them meet their development goals for the future.
Together We Learn!
