How Hustlebean Helped Watu Simu Generate Over ₦250M in Revenue with Smart Staffing

Introduction

Watu Simu, a leading mobile phone asset financing company, had one goal: to sell mobile phones with flexible repayment plans in Lagos. Competing with established brands within the asset financing niche, they needed a dynamic and skilled salesforce to drive their vision beginning with the Ikorodu area in Lagos.

That’s where Hustlebean stepped in.

Initially focused on the hospitality sector, Hustlebean pivoted to retail staffing and secured Watu Simu as a client after successful conversations with top management. What started as a simple staffing request quickly grew into a full-fledged partnership involving recruitment, training, real-time performance tracking, and hands-on sales management.

The result

Over ₦250 million in revenue generated through Hustlebean’s strategic staffing in 18 months of partnership!

The challenge

Before partnering with Hustlebean to build a high-performance sales team, Watu Simu goal to break into the Lagos market especially around the Ikorodu axis faced key challenges:

Unreliable sales performance: Many temporary sales reps were untrained and struggle to close deals consistently.
High staff turnover: Frequent hiring and training cycles often lead to increased costs and disruptions.
Lack of visibility: Without real-time tracking, it was difficult to monitor sales activities and resolve payment disputes.
Difficulty selling the product: Watu Simu’s flexible financing model was new to potential customers and it made conversions difficult.

To compete effectively, Watu Simu needed a smarter, more structured staffing approach that ensured they had skilled, motivated, and well-managed sales reps on the ground.

The solution: Hustlebean’s smart staffing approach

Hustlebean went beyond just providing Direct Sales Reps (DSRs). Our approach included:

Pre-vetted, trained sales reps: Hustlebean recruited and onboarded DSRs with strong sales experience.
Advanced real-time tracking: A custom-built dashboard ensured transparency in sales performance, reducing payment disputes.
Flexible staffing: Hustlebean allowed sales reps to take breaks and return, creating a motivated workforce.
Sales competitions and incentives: A leaderboard-driven approach kept DSRs engaged and performance-driven.
Strategic hiring: Initially, finding quality DSRs was a challenge, but once we began leveraging employee advocacy and referral, we built a super sales team.

Implementation and execution

From November 2023, Hustlebean began deploying DSRs for Watu Simu. Our process included:

Rigorous hiring: Identifying skilled salespeople and securing strong guarantors.
Targeted training: Focusing on soft sales skills like persuasion, negotiation, and closing techniques.
Seamless sales reporting: Each DSR recorded every sale, tracking the customer’s name, phone details, and IMEI number.
Continuous improvements: Learning from challenges like price inflation, device locking, and DSR management to refine our hiring process.

Results and Impact

Over 500 mobile devices sold.
Over ₦250M+ revenue generated, proving the power of strategic staffing.
N1m average weekly payouts in commissions to our DSRs working with Watsu.

In just a few months, Hustlebean helped Watu Simu build a trained and actively selling salesforce that has driven over N250M+ in revenue

Key takeaways

Strategic staffing is a game-changer: The right people drive better sales.
Technology enhances workforce management: Real-time tracking eliminates guesswork.
Flexibility and incentives boost retention: Empowered staff deliver better results.

The future and next steps

The partnership between Hustlebean and Watu Simu is just getting started. The next phase includes:

Scaling up to 50 trained Hustlebeaners driving 7-figure sales weekly.
Expanding beyond Lagos to capture new markets.
Investing in better analytics and reporting for continuous optimization.

Ready to start hiring smartly today?

Join the growing list of businesses leveraging Hustlebean’s smart staffing solutions.

Let’s discuss how we can help you scale, talk to us today.