How This Senior SVP at ADP Scaled $30M to $60M in 3 Years

Most sales leaders think bringing their authentic self to work is corporate fluff. Eric Hachmer proved them wrong by scaling a business from $30M to $60M in three years.

Here's how he did it.

Eric took over ADP's underperforming UK business. New market. New team. People who expected they'd get his job. The odds were stacked against him.

But instead of trying to fit the corporate mold, Eric did something different. He brought his authentic self to the role.

"You jump into a role, there's pent up expectation for success," Eric explains. "You've probably got more senior people encouraging you to do things a certain way, but they put that person in the role because of their unique mix of talent and expertise."

His advice to first year VPs? "Have the courage just to be your authentic self. You'll get some stuff wrong, but have confidence that you've got the backing to go out and break some glass."

 People Over Numbers

While most sales leaders obsess over dashboards, Eric built his success on a different foundation. People over numbers.

"It's all about the number? I think that's a lazy, simplistic way of viewing sales," he argues. "Yes, we use numbers to measure success. Those are the outputs. Let's talk about the throughputs... what people are doing, how they're doing it."

This wasn't just philosophy. It was his tactical approach when taking over the UK operation.

First, he mapped his stakeholders. Clients, team members, internal partners. Then he structured his entire week around building relationships with these three groups.

"It wasn't uncommon on a Friday at 5:30, we would all be back in the bullpen talking about maybe celebrating the deal, but talking about what worked and what didn't," 

Eric recalls. "Monday comes around in two days. We'll start again and hopefully do more of it."

Managing Up, Leading Down

The challenge every sales leader faces is managing the tension between corporate expectations and team needs. Eric's solution was simple but powerful.

Manage up with transparency. Lead down with authenticity.

"Part of it is understanding how to manage up well... having clear conversations, set expectations early. If there's going to be a misunderstanding about what success looks like, get it out early."

But where authentic leadership really shines is with your team. "The culture you're creating, the dynamic you're leading with... that has a lot to do with your ability to maneuver and bring your own style."

This approach proved crucial when Eric had to make unpopular decisions. Like keeping underperforming team members longer than senior management preferred.

"There's been times where I probably haven't moved as fast as my senior management would like because it's easier for senior management to say 'get rid of that person.' They're not involved. They don't see the human beings involved."

The Real Success Metrics

Eric's strongest criticism of modern sales leadership centers on the obsession with metrics over people development.

"The leaders that kind of whip the bullpen... the lowest person on the totem pole is getting fired this quarter... that doesn't humanize and personalize the process. It also creates unintended consequences."

His alternative measurement system focuses on leading indicators of cultural health.

Referral recruiting. "If you've got a sales team that are bringing their friends over, that is such an important measurement of culture and buy in."

Client advocacy. "If your team are getting client referrals, that means your salespeople are really out there delivering the brand, being optimistic, doing all the things you want."

These metrics, Eric notes, "are very hard to game and very hard to create in the short term. That takes long term sustained focus on the human aspect of the bullpen."

The result of this approach? The UK became "the growth engine for Europe for quite a few years." Eric developed his successor from within the team. And he proved that authentic leadership isn't just feel good corporate speak.

It's how you scale revenue.