“Making mistakes is to make room for growth to gain new knowledge” -- Amos Fute【Baridi Baridi employee interview vol.12】

This time, we interviewed Amos Fute, our Sales Leader in Baridi Baridi. 

Baridi Baridi members appearing in this interview

Amos Fute
Experienced working as sales officer at WASSHA Inc. (Baridi's parent company). From WASSHA, joined Baridi Baridi in 2020. One of the members who has been involved in the business since the foundation of Baridi Baridi. Currently assigned as the Sales Leader.

Nagisa Irie (Interviewer/Editor)
Currently a university student at Kwansei Gakuin University. Joined Baridi Baridi as an intern in May 2021. Involved in making company regulations and managing the CEO’s tasks.

Before joining Baridi Baridi Inc.

--Thank you for taking your time! First of all, please introduce yourself briefly.

Amos: My name is Amos Fute, and I’m working as the Leader of Sales Team in Baridi.

--Thank you. What were you doing before joining Baridi Baridi?

Amos: OK. I joined WASSHA Inc. (Baridi's parent company) as a sales officer in October 2019. WASSHA is providing lantern to off-grid community. Most of the customers are in off-grid areas, so I was the person who got assigned to go to the customer site.

If the customer is interested in the service, we visit customers and explain about WASSHA and our benefits to sell the product.

WASSHA is saving off-grid communities by providing lights. It was a great experience being part of it.

In the end of 2019, Hiroki san (CEO of Baridi Baridi) & Yoshi san visited WASSHA to start a project of what will become Baridi Baridi. That’s when I got assigned to support their project.

Role as a Leader

-- What have you been working on recently?

Amos: Our sales team have 14 members including me, so I’m leading 13 members. The team have 2 sections, Inbound and Outbound. I am currently in charge of leading Outbound team.

There are 3 members in the Inbound section, with one leader. The section’s task is to monitor Inbound inquiries from our social accounts like a Facebook, Instagram, and other Inbound program like Referral program.

In Outbound, we are dealing with large-account customers. Our aim to get more orders from sources other than Instagram, Facebook, and other Inbound sales platforms like Referral programs.

Right now, both Inbound and Outbound are dealing with customers from the first contact, site check, to closing the deal.

-- What situations do you feel challenging when you are face to face with customers?

Amos: We initially start communicating with customers using phone calls or messages. If the customers require, we go to the site to explain directly so that they can understand well.

Most of the customers ask about the difference from other AC companies because Baridi is the only company in Tanzania that provides subscription ACs. So, we often explain how the customer would benefit from our service.

--I see. What is the difference between your current job at Baridi and your previous job at WASSHA?

Amos: The experience is almost the same because when you’re selling the products, it doesn't matter if it's WASSHA products or Baridi products. In addition to that these products are of the same marketing field (leasing products).

You’re using the same techniques when you're selling both products. However, these are different services. While Baridi Baridi’s service is currently provided in towns and cities, WASSHA’s customers are all over Tanzania, mainly in upcountry where electricity is limited.

Another difference is that I’m leading the team currently, while at WASSHA, I was just a member of the team.

Doing things the right way

--What responsibilities do you feel as a team leader now?

Amos: At WASSHA, I was accomplishing individual works I got assigned by my team leader.

However, I’m the leader now, so I have to give directions and make sure each members work on their tasks properly.

--So, you were gaining a lot of knowledge and experience, having to experience being a leader for the first time. What do you pay attention to as a leader?

Amos: As a leader, I always make sure I'm doing things accurately. Accuracy is my main point of leading others. What I mean by accuracy is you must do something in the right way. In order to have accuracy, I need to prioritize.

Each member deal with different issues. So, sometimes it's very difficult to accomplish things the right way. However, I'm always advising them on prioritizing things, because prioritizing makes the result very clear.

A lot of knowledge, skills, and chances to grow career wise

-- What do you think have you grown the most?

Amos: I think it’s being assigned as a leader at Baridi. I’ve been just assigned a few months ago, but I think you can imagine there are many issues you need to accomplish as a leader.

I must make sure the group are supervised well, so I’m arranging duties within the team and company and take a lot of time of thinking. You need to think in both terms of individual and group.

I have to come up with action lists on how to set and achieve tasks and KPIs. Before becoming a leader, I was just thinking in terms of individuals, but right now I'm thinking in terms of group.

I've never been in an environment where I need to create new programs from scratch. When creating these programs, you need knowledge of how you are going to accomplish them. I still feel that there are room for improvement on decision-making on strategy and actions.

-- How have this growth affected your career?

Amos: When I joined, there were only few Japanese founding members and Queen (Assistant Accountant who also joined from WASSHA). But now we have more than 60 members with different departments. I feel that the bigger the company gets, the more opportunities I’m getting to lead the team.

Also, I would like to say thank you to the management for employing so many young people. I feel that the power of young people, full of energy, is driving the company in a big way.

This is having a really positive effect for me as a leader, and it is a real blessing to see the company grow from its establishment to now.

Making mistakes has a positive side

--Nice. What individual and team goals do you want to achieve at Baridi?

Amos: I want to grow more and more with no boundaries, as the sky have no limit. I feel that Baridi Baridi gives me the opportunity to achieve this.

To have outstanding sustainable sales results every month, we must keep an eye on our performance (KPIs).

--Finally, do you have any messages for your team and Baridi?

Amos: We’re in a growing phase, so a lot of mistakes and issues are arising. However, I think that making mistakes is to make room for growth to gain new knowledge.

Making mistakes has a positive side, because we know to identify what’s the weakness and what's the problem so that we can have a good result. 

So, I want everyone to learn and improve by themselves. Baridi Baridi is growing into a larger company as each member learns and improves.

That’s why I would like to tell everyone not to stay the same person for a long time. Sometimes making mistakes or something wrong is the right way of gaining something NEW for our knowledge improvement. However, don’t get used to making mistakes. That is my message.

--Thank you so much!

The Baridi Baridi Times will be posting interviews with Baridi Baridi employees on note.
Baridi Baridi HP 
Baridi Baridi Service Site
CEO Asada's note