Sizwe Medical Services has recently appointed former Safrican Life Insurance CEO, Petros Mbewu, as head of sales and marketing tasking him with the responsibility of taking the country’s largest black medical aid scheme to new heights.
Mbewu brings with him a wealth of knowledge from his distinctive career history.
Starting off in human resources, he realised in 1987 that he needed a career change and moved into sales. He has since held senior sales and marketing positions at various organisations including Stellenbosch Farmer’s Winery, SAB and Telkom before taking up his post as CEO of Safrican Life.
Mbewu has big plans to increase Sizwe’s position as the fund that truly understands the needs of the community.
He says that in sales, the results of whatever you do are quantifiable, but cannot just be attributed to one person. The effort of the entire team is what really counts in the long run. "I have been successful in inspiring sales teams to believe in themselves and through that they are able to achieve great things. At Safrican and Telkom for instance, we substantially increased premium income and sales respectively in a space of two years."
"Working with people who care about the product is very important to me. So, a few years down the road, I'd still like to be leading a team of marketing people working on a product that they feel passionately about," concludes Mbewu.
When Mbewu, a married father of one, is not focussing on exciting new developments in the office, he loves to relax with a good book or spend time with his first love, soccer. He is an avid Kaizer Chiefs fan.
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