Greg has been tasked with building a business development team for the company and to growing our business in our international markets such as the USA, UK and Australia. We had a chat with Greg to get to know him better, and to understand why he is such a major part of Ignition’s plan for future growth:
I previously worked for an international facilities services company that focused on the African continent.Â
Prior to this my corporate experience was gained at a global retail marketing specialist company, where we helped brands to promote themselves in-store as well as working with retail chains too. The goal was to ensure that they converted shoppers into buyers.
While at first glance it may appear to be a very different business to Ignition, there is actually a lot of synergy between my earlier experience and my role at Ignition. After all, what we do at Ignition is help partners to increase their customer acquisition and, most importantly, increase the lifetime value of that customer for our partners.
While my corporate experience has been focused on business development and so is very pertinent to my current role, my previous work life also played a role, albeit a less obvious one. It’s not something I speak of often, but for 8 years I was privileged enough to play professional rugby in Europe, and it contributed to putting me in the position that I am now where I can contribute to the growth of Ignition. Even from the age of 22, I was planning for life after rugby and working towards building a long-term career.Â
One of the privileges of playing professional rugby was that it put me in contact with supporters and patrons of the club, so from the age of 22, I was exposed to CEOs and prominent business people on a personal level. That helped me to build a wealth of interpersonal experience that someone starting in corporate needs to build up before they are comfortable talking to senior business people.
I also believe that the pressures of performing at a professional sporting level, week in and week out, where you are only as good as your last game, transfer well into the business environment. Being dedicated and pursuing excellence at all times stands you in good stead to be able to bring these attributes into the business world. What I love about Ignition is that it gives you the opportunity to think with an entrepreneurial mind, to really knit in with our partners and clients, to come up with a solution together that is going to increase customers, at scale. Ignition has been an incredible business opportunity, to get to know not just the South African market but also the international market at depth, and to be in a position to craft strategies with our partners to exponentially grow their businesses.
Essentially, it’s all about understanding customers, what they want, what they need, where they are in the buying process, and how a brand can convert or retain them. This is what Ignition does for its partners, although how Ignition does this is very different.
Ignition uses data science to make sure we’re bringing customers the most relevant messages, at the most relevant time. By only connecting with people when they’re receptive to what’s being said, sales and marketing activity becomes exponentially more efficient – and customers stay for longer. Our predictive modeling capabilities crunch historical customer behavior and purchase data to help sales experts anticipate inbound customer tendencies and expectations, as well as current customer support needs.
Ignition is at the front of the technology and the CX space but is always looking for more opportunities for expansion. There is so much happening at Ignition. We have extended our influence into the financial services sphere with SPOT money as well as our billing and payment services. We have become a significant player in the MVNO business, with MVN-X and uConnect servicing some of the biggest retailers in the country. Another exciting recent acquisition is Gumtree, and we look forward to innovating in this field too. We are
constantly looking for new opportunities in South Africa and are hugely positive about the future of our country.
Greg Goosen is Senior Director of Business Development at Ignition Group.i
