BWD Marketing Podcast – Malebo Leepile

Lesedi: Hi guys, I’m Lesedi. I’ll be here interviewing Malebo on what it’s like to be an Account Manager at BWD. So, Malebo, maybe you can give us a brief history about yourself, where you’re from and what did you study.

Malebo: Okay. I am from African. I studied with TUT, known as Tshwane University of Technology. I came to TUT in 2007, and that’s where I got my managerial diploma there, and I also got my certificate in management with TUT.

Lesedi: So, Malebo, I know a lot of people do a lot of different things here at BWD. Maybe you can just give us a quick run-down on what it is that you do and what it entails to be an Account Manager.

Malebo: Okay. As an Account Manager at BWD, what I do is I communicate with clients and also with designers. So, whatever that the client tells me that he or she wants, I tell the designer to do it, and make sure that it’s delivered on time and how the client wants it.

Lesedi: So what does a normal day entail for you at the office?

Malebo: Entail, is going through a lot of emails, making sure that the designers do their assignments or projects that are assigned to them, and then just making sure that everything in the office goes well.

Lesedi: Yeah, so you keep the ship sailing, hey?

Malebo: Yes.

Lesedi: Okay. So, Malebo, I’m sure you work with a lot of great people internally and externally. Maybe you can just tell us who are some of your favorite clients.

Malebo: Okay. My favorite clients has to be KTL and Three Coin Investment because when I started with BWD, they were very good to me. They’ve never been rude to me. Sometimes you get clients that are extremely rude, but they were just nice people.

Lesedi: Yeah.

Malebo: It was nice working with them.

Lesedi: So, in your experience, what are some of the challenges that you find in forwarding your career?

Malebo: I guess it has to be just maintaining long-term relationships with clients and pitching to clients because sometimes it’s not easy to just go in there and say, “This is what I want,” because not everybody’s reading to the same tune, but you have to say, “Either you’re going to…” But some people don’t just give you a chance to say whatever you have to say, so I guess pitches has always been the most challenging ones.

Lesedi: So, Malebo, what do you think is your defining quality as an Account Manager?

Malebo: Patience.

Lesedi: Yeah.

Malebo: I guess patience, because sometimes you get clients that are not very clear. They’re not even sure of what they want, so obviously you need to be patient to try to find out exactly what they want and how they want those things. So, I guess it has to be patience.

Lesedi: What are some of the things that you do on a daily or weekly basis that forward you as a creator and personally?

Malebo: Okay. Firstly, I do a lot of research because we’re working with a lot of things here in BWD. I read a lot, so articles that usually one of either my colleagues or boss just shares with me, and then I read that just to learn new things every day.

Lesedi: Where do you see yourself in the near future?

Malebo: Well, I want to grow as a person, professionally and personally, obviously, and study further. And so, I’m hoping to further study [inaudible 00:04:04] either something to do with marketing again or website design.

Lesedi: I know there’s a lot of people out there who are quite interested in the creative industry. What advice would you give those people trying to break into your field?

Malebo: Well, my advice is just finish your studies. Try to get as much experience as possible because this industry is very complicated. So, try to always…