Vital stats
- Thabo Molefe, 43
- Designation: Sales and marketing director
- Company: LexisNexis
- Sales Team: A national sales team of 25 people, based in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban and Port Elizabeth.
After completing his BCom, Thabo Molefe joined IBM as a systems engineer, and was taught that you cannot sell what you don’t know how to fix. He moved into sales and marketing and joined HP as a sales engineer.
He then worked with HP resellers to sell solutions to the corporate market, where he closed numerous big deals with blue chip companies.
In 2005, Molefe was appointed executive director of LexisNexis and is responsible for new sales strategy and the development of customer markets for LexisNexis South Africa through multiple sales channels, including direct sales teams, telesales and managing customer relationships and key accounts.
What are the biggest deals you have closed?
There have been many. We have grown our business substantially in the government and financial services sectors. We took away significant market share from a competitor that did not see us coming.
That was achieved by observing how their clients bought, and then putting together a better package to meet those needs. It took ten months. Also, after I joined I resolved to have every one of the big banks as a client within one year, and we did it.
The Department of Justice was a significant deal, which we closed in 2007, and which has grown threefold since then.
What makes your team so successful?
It’s a cliché, but in this business teamwork is everything. They also appreciate having a strong leader who is only too keen to take on the competition. I’m happiest when I’m in front of the customer.
What is the best advice you have ever received about sales management?
Sales management is more about people than numbers. You should never make the mistake of neglecting your employees. Focus on their needs as people, and then numbers will follow.
What’s your sales leadership style?
The process of leading begins with recruitment of the right people. Next, you need to create an environment in which your team invariably want to be the best.
That means you don’t have to waste time trying to encourage them to perform. I appreciate feedback. When creating incentives, for example, I listen to what my team want.
What’s your greatest sales learning?
People buy from people. Always know when to walk away. Spend time focusing on your customer’s business, not your own, and the sales will naturally fall into place – if you know what your customers’ needs and challenges are, you can become a partner to them instead of just another sales person looking to close a deal.
What’s the worst sales mistake you have ever made?
Not asking for the order. In my rookie years I had to learn that customers do not mind if you ask them to seal the deal once you have courted them. It’s the logical next stage of the relationship. Another mistake to avoid is over-promising and under-delivering.
What business lessons have you learnt from colleagues and mentors?
A colleague at HP told me that the more chances you take, the more opportunities you create. It’s like playing football – the more shots you aim at the goal posts, the likelier you are to score. It’s an attitude I live by every day.
To succeed in sales, you have to keep knocking on doors. There’s no sitting behind a desk in this job.
Do you have a favourite business quote?
Two that come to mind: “The top sales person in the organisation probably missed more sales than 90% of the sales people on the team, but he or she also made more calls than the others made,” by Zig Ziglar, and “Sales are contingent upon the attitude of the salesman – not the attitude of the prospect,” by W Clement Stone.
What motivates you every day?
I must admit to getting a kick out giving competitors a bloody nose. Although I love winning, losing does not scare me – I see
it as part of the natural cycle in a world that is so highly competitive. That said, I always strive to be better today than I was yesterday.
