Mike Corbett: A Decade of People First Sales
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Marking ten years at CloserStill this week, Mike Corbett stands out as one of the most respected names in the events industry. From his early days as Sales Manager to his current position as Portfolio Director, Mike is redefining B2B events and is a big part of CloserStill’s success. In this conversation with Olivia Mezza, he reflects on a decade of growth, innovation, and the belief that when you lead with passion and purpose, the results speak for themselves.
Olivia: Ten years at CloserStill is an incredible milestone. What do you put your success down to?
Mike: I’ve tried to stay true to myself. My ethos of people first has stuck through every role I’ve taken on, from mid-level to senior. I give everybody respect, don't judge and always help where I can.
Olivia: You have built such a strong reputation for delivering results - what is it about the craft of sales that has kept you so sharp and passionate over the years?
Mike: I've always been a bit of a Wheeler Dealer. My family had a men's fashion store, so the first thing I sold was men's clothing. From 
Olivia: You are clearly someone who gets close to the sectors you serve. What is the secret to truly understanding your market and why does it matter so much for great sales performance?
Mike: Immersing yourself completely in a sector is the key. When you immerse yourself in the market, you become synonymous to it. You become seen, heard, and I think the big thing is that you become respected. I joined CloserStill at a time when networking, especially on LinkedIn, was emerging as a new platform for sales. There are people I met through LinkedIn eight years ago who still reach out now saying they want to come back to my show! For me, that is testament of throwing yourself into your sectors. The pandemic was also an interesting opportunity to really get involved in the market. We helped social care find PPE and became a real point of connection between supplier and customer. When life returned to usual, industry leaders who had it amongst the toughest said they want a big event where they can see other and celebrate. That was really special.
Olivia: A decade in, what is it about CloserStill that has kept you motivated, ambitious and pushing for excellence year after year?
Mike: I’ve always been ambitious and CloserStill is the perfect place to turn vision into reality. We’ve had a good run of industry awards so the kudos from that certainly helps to spur me on. Equally so, I still get so much joy from seeing the company hit run rate and ‘spin that wheel’! Watching my sales colleagues hit not only show targets but personal targets is also one of my favourite parts of the job.
Olivia: You’re known for constantly bringing fresh ideas to your events- where does that creative drive come from, and how do you keep shows feeling exciting?
Mike: I give a lot of credit to the pandemic for allowing me to pause for a second and really think about what I was doing, which is always hard when you’re crazy busy. I began to realise, and this is a bit controversial, that B2B trade shows can be quite static. For me, the bottom line is that shows should be fun! You pay money to go to a theme park or to a concert so we look for the enticing elements of their atmosphere that we could steal to take our shows beyond just your average business event. We always give our ideas a go even if they’re never done again. Once we had a whole petting zoo at Care Show Birmingham, aiming to reduce stress, improve emotional well-being and increase social interaction. We show innovation- it’s how we’ve disrupted the market and left the rest of the industry to play catch up.
Olivia: Everyone has a few golden rules they swear by. If you had to share your top principles for sales excellence, what would they be?
Mike: The main thing is, always keep moving. You can’t wait with these markets. If you're standing still, your shows aren't going to go anywhere. I'd rather you be finding £100 a week than doing nothing, because at least you're moving forward. The other thing I would say is turn up. It's important to turn up every day even if you're not feeling it. Just try and do what you can.
Olivia: Leadership is often about setting the tone. How do you create the environment that brings out people's best?
Mike: I'm always true, I'm always honest, but most importantly, I’m positive. Most of the time if the team are ever looking for anything out of me, it's reassurance. My team covers a whole host of experience – from newcomers to exhibition stalwarts. I’m all about trying to combine that industry knowledge with youthfulness and creativity to start a conversation of why do we do this? Or, why do we not do that? The team talks to each other a lot about ideas which means we’re always improving. We check in with each other and if we can't do something, we just ask for help. We look out for each other because we are one team. If someone's off, can someone else dip in? No one person should be big enough to stop everything else and that includes me.
Olivia: What is one thing you are proud of building within your team culture that you think makes a real difference? 
Mike: The one thing that I think I've done perhaps differently to others is look at where people's skill sets and passion pieces lie. We've had people working on shows for a long time but not being happy. If you move them onto a new show or a new opportunity where they're happy, you’ll see that they perform better. When we focus on individual needs rather than just business needs, the business reward is greater.
Olivia: You have seen the evolution of the industry first-hand. What timeless skills still matter most in sales success?
Mike: I've interviewed a lot of people who are incredibly transactional- that's not what we want. We want people who can find their own leads, start conversations and, most importantly, care about what they’re doing. In an interview, I want to see that you’ve made an effort and done your research. Those are the things that make a difference. You can see these qualities first hand in the people I employed in as sales managers or executives who are now being promoted within CloserStill. I’m proud to be designing an even stronger and more successful generation of sales professionals.
Olivia: What does the future look like for you at CloserStill? What would you like to see happen next?
Mike: I’m always happy doing the role that I have, but at the same time I always want more-it’s just the way that I am. Every day I’m buzzing with ideas because I know we can make our shows even better. I want to create teams who are so self-sufficient that I have the time to turn these ideas into reality and honestly, we’re well on the way!
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