Crunching numbers

Janco Gous has been appointed as the new commercial sales specialist at First National Bank (FNB) Namibia and is excited about the possibility of learning new skills and pushing himself out of his comfort zone.
Evany van Wyk
In his new role, Gous will be responsible for looking after the non-financial sales in the commercial segment, mainly focusing on the SME segment. More specifically, he will focus on tracking and monitoring the current stance of the bank against its targets and bring new ideas to the table to achieve the set objectives for the year. This covers quite a wide variety of different areas like sales, marketing, cross-selling, training and strategising on a high level.

“I’m most excited about the opportunity to develop my skills to the next level. Being the commercial sales specialist is quite challenging, as you are faced with new challenges each day. People rely on you for answers in areas which sometimes you have no prior experience of. This, however, forces you to think on your feet and takes you out of your comfort zone. This excites me, because I will always be forced to adapt and develop my skills to accommodate the circumstances,” he said.

Gous holds an honours degree in business administration, majoring in banking and finance. He also has a higher certificate in economics and managerial sciences.

He is passionate about adventure, family and friends and loves history, specifically African history. “We have an amazing continent with a rich history; I would love to explore it one day like the great explorers David Livingstone, Sir Henry Morton Stanley and Richard Francis Burton.”

Gous loves sport and the outdoors and is an avid hunter and angler. He loves to camp and plays several musical instruments, including the guitar, drums and keyboard.

“I will drive innovation in the SME book, as FNB is the market leader when it comes to introducing new technologies to our client base, which our competitors have not yet been able to offer.

“In my opinion, consumers will flock to FNB for our comprehensive range of digital platforms, as they create a banking solution for our customers from the comfort of their own business premises. Our innovative approach has given us the ability to increase the loyalty of our customer base, which adds to the market share of FNB in the SME sector, whilst decreasing the market share of our competitors,” Gous said.

He will focus on strengthening customer relationships in the current book, in order to protect market share and prevent customers from jumping ship when competitors enter into the market with new offerings. “Emphasis should be put on service, as customers tend to frequently speak of a positive experience to friends and family, who then become attracted to joining the FNB family. This ultimately increases our market share and revenue via word of mouth, without increasing the cost of marketing.”

Gous aims to ultimately contribute to the growth of local entrepreneurship and provide employment opportunities in the country.

“My vision for FNB’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) growth segment is for it to become the leading institution in providing financial services to SMEs in Namibia, by growing FNB’s market share, responding to the needs of these enterprises and providing them with the necessary financial assistance and business support services for the short- and long-term,” Gous added.

Photo contributed:

Pic1-Janco Gous aims to contribute to the growth of local entrepreneurship.