It’s hard to imagine a more enthusiastic person in the role as the partnerships manager for Executive Communities East Africa.
Humbu Karugo is a born businesswoman. Whip-smart and eloquent, she can make the most uncertain IT, HR or finance solution vendor understand the value of an Executive Communities summit or a dinner as events delivering unparalleled networking and opportunities.
Which is why it’s so surprising that she is actually a biochemist by qualification.
“You will find it interesting to know that my background is in science,” she laughs. “Although it is true that I often worked on the business side of healthcare: I sold solutions in pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, medical spaces’ construction services, such as theatres, radiology rooms, or MRI and X-ray rooms.”
But what was her true calling?
“I wanted to look at businesses: what makes them do well, what it takes to bring in a customer, how to build businesses that actually work. My orientation is towards business solutions. I want a customer to be happy about the business solution. And in healthcare, if you’re selling medication, for example, you don’t want to make it sound as if you are happy that the customer is sick!”
So when she saw an advert for a position at Executive Communities in East Africa, she applied. “I mean, business is business and sales is sales, whether in the healthcare or business sector,” she says. “The first thing I did was to review the company. It was fascinating. I have always wanted to be in the business space, to interact with people who make decisions about managing big businesses at high levels. I wanted to know what this X-factor is that really successful people have. And here I get to do exactly that!”
Settling in
That was more than seven months ago now, so, as she settles into her current role, Humbu shares what a typical day looks like.
“Daily, my work involves reaching out to potential partners, people who are interested in getting the attention of leaders in business, think maybe of people in the tax space, or in HR technology solutions or banks. I do a lot of research before targeting a company to partner with us in sponsoring an event or a summit. Which companies have a presence? Who would be interested, who has a budget?”
She then researches the right people to reach out to in the company – “prospecting, in a nutshell,” she says.
“Then, I must organise meetings with the potential partners, have those meetings, and learn all about them and their pain points. These are consultative meetings.”
Then, in the afternoon, she says, she does her follow-ups and post-sales meetings, to make sure that the partners she has onboarded are gaining value from the partnership and getting a return on investment.
“There are lots of negotiations along the way,” she chuckles. “I use almost all my skills, relationship-building, reaching out to people, getting them to see the value in what we are doing, making sure we deliver the value. They are similar to the skills I learnt in healthcare, where I needed to develop trust and strong bonds with doctors.”
Humbu is selling partnerships for summits and dinners, which she enjoys because of their intimate nature, which means her partners enjoy exclusive access to top decision-makers in engaging settings.
“An exhibition makes more noise, but there’s less contact,” Humbu sums it up. “We are delivering the decision-maker to our partner in a neutral room.”
Humbu calls this “value-based selling”, and says that “the kinds of solutions we sell require extensive follow-up. I need to marshal my strong follow-up and pipeline-building skills.”
Sometimes, it’s a long game. “If the commitment is significant, you cannot sell it on the first day. You need to create pipeline first,” explains Humbu. “That’s also why you need good communication and people skills. This job is about creating an environment where people can network, and you must be able to communicate the value of that.”
Culture fit
Humbu says she enjoys the culture at Executive Communities, calling it relaxed and engaging, and a little like a tight-knit family. And even though she has discovered she enjoys working from home, “Everyone internally is just a text away. I really appreciate that. A decision-maker is always promptly available should a financial decision need to be made quickly, and that makes my work a whole lot easier.”
She says her team “gel very well, we have good relationships and we help each other. And we have fun – remember, we are selling parties, and parties are fun things!”
Clearly, Humbu enjoys her job, but what does she do when she’s not working? On an ideal day, you’d probably find her on the beach at Diani, munching on some barbeque meat on a pristine white beach staring out at the clear blue water. That or binge-watching true-crime documentaries. “I probably know more about serial killers than I absolutely have to,” she says.
And as a parting shot, a little-known fun fact about Humbu. Did you know that, due to decades of badminton and tennis practice, her right arm is longer than her left?
If you would like to get in touch with Humbu about Executive Communities’ East African partnership opportunities, you can reach out to her on [email protected].