People of Vox: Spotlight on Adriaan Buitendag
After a solid five years at Vox, Regional Sales Manager Adriaan Buitendag is taking on a new and exciting challenge with a move from Polokwane in Limpopo to Gauteng, embracing increased responsibilities and the excitement of a big, bustling city. It’s not necessarily going to be a ‘monstrously’ difficult challenge – anyone who knows Adriaan will know why that’s funny! – but it’s definitely a significant step forward.
Says Adriaan: “I’ve lived most of my life in Polokwane, but I have stayed in Joburg previously, for about a year when I was younger. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to explore many new places, at the same time as tackling new responsibilities and a wider range of tasks within my day-to-day working environment.”
There are ways in which the change of pace will be challenging in these still-early days, but this is a man who thrives on challenges.
[You could, in fact, call him the Chuck Norris of sales…]
We delve into the story of another everyday Vox hero, who in his career so far has (both officially and unofficially) embraced ‘Rookie of the Year’ more than once, and risen quickly and efficiently into a leadership role.
How Life at Vox Began
Adriaan – who also has an enthusiastic and successful entrepreneurship history – had been running his own business when he applied to Vox, being appointed in March 2020. Of course, this was just a few months before South Africa went into the Covid lockdown.
“Like everyone else,” he muses, “I remember that first ‘My fellow South Africans…’ speech, which suddenly turned our whole worlds upside down. But starting at Vox during the first month of lockdown turned out fine for me. At that time in Polokwane, there was just one residential area that was about to go live with Fibre, with about 500 homes. When we went into lockdown, I asked my reporting manager, who at the time was JP du Plessis, what he expected from me, and he said: ‘Well, just sell as much as you can.’
“I took my phone and started phoning through my contacts – pitching Fibre to the Home to them – and I think within the first month of sales, I did 100 quotes, with 39 accepted orders and 28 approved, to a total of R23,000 worth of sales, which placed me into third position in the country.”
[Again, see the notes about ‘the Chuck Norris of Sales’ and ‘Rookie of the Year’]
Vox CEO Jacques du Toit was overheard saying that, in 25 years in the telecommunications industry, he ‘had never seen anything like it’.
“And you know,” continues Adriaan, “hearing those supportive words just affirmed that what I was doing was the correct way of doing things. And I’ve never stopped doing it that way since.”
Here, we could define ‘that way’ as driving sales with energy, warmth, honesty and attention to detail, all wrapped together in a tasty dollop of fun and excitement – it wouldn’t be too long before Adriaan’s special blend of out-of-the-box thinking, with both his internal incentivising and external sales campaigns, would come to the fore.
Driving the Daily Moments
Adriaan clarifies that Limpopo and Mpumalanga, his previous ‘stomping grounds’, together contain some 7.2 percent of the country’s Fibre network for Vox salespeople in these two provinces to sell on. “In contrast, Gauteng has about 44 percent of the country’s network,” he clarifies, “so I believe that the addition of Gauteng into my portfolio is definitely a great opportunity for me to show what I can do!”
Perhaps as a reaction to starting at Vox during Covid, Adriaan is a fan of working at the office rather than from home. He explains: “As soon as I get into the car and start driving to work in the morning, my mind starts switching on in terms of what tasks I must complete for the day, what we should do as a team, and the discussions I need to have – essentially, what tasks and challenges do I need to drive that day? By the time I get to the office I’m in work mode.”
As for the transition between Polokwane and Gauteng, Adriaan clarifies: “A current focus for me is to increase efficiencies, and I’m satisfied that we’re making good progress. In other ways, though, there are many similarities in my role within the two different places, including communicating with my team to see how they’re tracking towards their numbers and sharing the strategies that we’re implementing, as well as liaising with senior management, to ensure that my team is empowered with the correct tools and so forth, to continue driving the business forward.
“Essentially, when I compare my working life in Polokwane to Gauteng, it remains community-focused – there are still communities everywhere, but in Joburg and Pretoria, it’s just a larger variety. At heart, it remains all about people, both with colleagues as well as our clients.”
Bringing the Monsters with the ‘Gees’!
When Adriaan headed up the Polokwane branch, it was – and still is – famous for having Monsters everywhere – the energy drinks, that is – because, says Adriaan, ‘Our blood is green!’
Well, watch out Joburg, because the Monsters have come with him: “They’re standing in boxes and boxes here on the floor!” he says enthusiastically. “I did stick them up against the wall initially, but I’ve now got a new plan: I would like to find someone who can cut, mould and shape these tins into a symbolic sculpture that depicts what we stand for here at Vox – something that represents life or growth, perhaps, to attract and inspire our salespeople.”
[It seems like Adriaan might also be the Chuck Norris of recycling…?]
He is also famous for his trophies, which he made himself: “I created two impala heads for my ‘Top Salesperson’ and ‘Best Customer Retention’ awards. And I have another trophy here designed like a mince meat grinder, which symbolically talks to the sales process….”
[Wait, what?]
“…as follows: your top funnel, where the meat goes in, represents your sales prospects; the lever that you turn to kickstart the process is your closing of the sale; and in the front end, where the mince comes out in its final form, you have your commission! All the processes work in turn with each other to represent the complete sales process.”
It’s a great conceptual idea, and it isn’t all that Adriaan has up his sleeve in terms of his creativity and ingenuity – he’s looking forward to unfolding more initiatives over the next few months in Gauteng. For now, the photos tell more of the story.
“I enjoyed creating a competitive yet positive and family-orientated mindset within my branch in Polokwane, which was also replicated in the Mpumalanga branch, and yes, I hope to install the same, in the coming months, in Gauteng as well,” says Adriaan.
A True Survivor
Despite all the fun elements that Adriaan brings into his work, it hasn’t been a sunny journey all the way through – he’s had to overcome some real challenges in his life, including two retrenchments in one year (“That was one of my lowest ever points,” he notes) as well as being involved in a very serious car accident, which at the time affected both his health as well as his job security. How, then, does he remain so unswervingly optimistic, and continue persevering with such unwavering determination?
“I think,” he says, “that much of my inspiration comes from my late father, who was a police officer for 26 years, as well as my late grandfather, who was a pastor for 28 years. I have tremendous respect for them and for the life lessons that they taught me, including dedication, perseverance and being disciplined.”
Adding to their excellent example, Adriaan also learned some great life lessons during his school years through his karate training, when he became a three-times national colours recipient.
“I believe that in life, some of its punches will hit you and others will miss,” he says, “but are you going to stand still and just allow the punches to land on you? No! You have to remain strong in bobbing and weaving, to successfully duck as many of them as you can – and then, of course, when the punches do land, you just have to get back up on your feet.”
Inspiration from the Top
Pointing out that the telecommunications industry is dependent on adapting to new challenges and ideas, Adriaan appreciates the energy that is always apparent within Vox. “My inspiration comes from the top down,” he says, “through our CEO, Jacques du Toit and national sales manager, Johan Pitzer, and their drive and passion always energises me.
“I see how, within our company, there’s a shared awareness of challenges that need to be overcome and results that need to be achieved, and the encouragement to do this is always positive, forward-thinking and motivational, which I love. I also highly appreciate having the freedom to be an out-of-the-box thinker.”
As for moving forward, Adriaan says it’s critical to share knowledge and expertise. “From my experience, we always need to adapt and innovate,” he says, “and I’ve found that people as individuals are often afraid of teaching others, or imparting their knowledge to someone else – perhaps they’re afraid that they’ll then be challenged later. My idea, though, is that it’s better to share our knowledge, and in this way continue to encourage and challeng each other as we keep moving forward.
“People need to bring others into the fold of a culture that we’re trying to achieve, and in this way, this is already bringing us all a step closer to shared success. After all, a candle that lights another candle doesn’t lose any of its flame,” concludes Adriaan.
About Author
