Courage Chikati
Pretoria,Gauteng
Summary
Results-driven Account Executive with a keen eye on anything sales. Proven success in generating leads and driving revenue growth in fast-paced environments. Previous experience includes roles in market research and field operations management.
Overview
13
13
years of professional experience
Work History
Account Executive
ANALYTICS HIVE
Johannesburg
01.2024 - Current
- Manage accounts
- Scout for cross sell and Upsell opportunities
- Qualifying leads from marketing campaigns as sales opportunities
- Contacting potential clients through cold calls and emails
- Presenting our company to potential clients
- Identify client needs and suggest appropriate products/services
- Customize product solutions to increase customer satisfaction
- Build long-term trusting relationships with clients
- Proactively seek new business opportunities in the market
- Set up meetings or calls between (prospective) clients
- Stay up-to-date with new products/services.
- Presenting and Closing
- Handling the customer success aspects
Administration Officer/SDR
ANALYTICS HIVE
Johannesburg
06.2020 - Current
- Update CRM
- Respond to client complaints, and needs.
- Utilized excellent communication skills when interacting with customers both face-to-face and over the telephone.
- Managed incoming mail, responding to general enquiries where appropriate or redirecting them as necessary.
- Implemented effective document control processes to ensure compliance with company policies.
- Provided administrative support to senior management, including scheduling and coordinating meetings, preparing documents and maintaining filing systems.
- Maintained confidentiality at all times when handling sensitive material and documents.
- Updated client and employee information, financial records, and schedules in company databases.
- Developed comprehensive databases using spreadsheet software packages such as Excel to store data securely.
- Processed invoices according to established procedures while adhering to internal controls guidelines.
- Tracked company inventories to prevent shortages and minimize equipment losses.
- Coordinated logistics for conferences, seminars and events including catering requirements, venue bookings.
- Organized office operations, ensuring efficient use of resources and a high level of accuracy in all work produced.
- Responding to tenders and prospecting for new leads
- Set up meetings with prospects for the AE to present and close.
Field Operations Manager
Track Field and Project Management Consultants
Centurion, Gauteng
01.2019 - 01.2023
- Generate B2B based proposals to companies for market research studies
- Selected the most appropriate research methodology and techniques
- Designed qualitative and quantitative research plans for products in all stages of the Product Life Cycle
- Designed research questionnaires and moderator guides
- Worked with Project Directors to oversee the fieldwork initiative
- Writing reports, and making actionable recommendations
- Planned, coordinated, and executed assigned research projects
- Supervised team members on a daily basis to complete research projects within deadlines
- Tracked project progress periodically and reports the same to management.
- Responded to RFQs and queries from clients
Group Market Research Manager
Knowledge Research Group
Harare
01.2015 - 07.2017
- Prepared and pitched proposals
- Managed some key client accounts
- Maintained the client and fieldworker databases on spreadsheets.
- Advised clients based on market research findings.
- Provided strategic recommendations based on market research data that resulted in increased customer satisfaction levels.
- Identified new opportunities for product innovation by analyzing consumer attitudes and behaviors.
- Maintained up-to-date knowledge of industry best practices related to market research methods and technologies.
- Interpreted complex datasets into actionable business insights.
- Evaluated existing customer databases for accuracy and completeness.
- Managed the development of focus groups for qualitative data collection.
- Conducted in-depth interviews with customers to gain feedback on products, services and marketing campaigns.
- Coordinated with vendors to develop effective sampling frames for survey projects.
- Analyzed survey results and created detailed reports to communicate insights to stakeholders.
- Developed communication materials used in both online and offline surveys.
- Organized workshops with internal stakeholders to discuss key findings from market research studies.
- Ensured compliance with ethical standards when conducting market research activities.
- Designed questionnaires to collect quantitative data from target markets.
- Performed competitive analyses by researching competitors' products, pricing structures, promotional strategies and distribution channels.
- Coordinated or participated in promotional activities or trade shows to market products or services.
- Directed hiring, training, and performance evaluations of marketing staff.
- Developed pricing strategies to balance firm objectives and customer satisfaction.
- Initiated market research studies to analyze findings.
Market Research Executive
Knowledge Research Group
Harare
05.2013 - 12.2014
- Provide meaningful insights for internal and external clients.
- Developed and maintained relationships with key stakeholders to ensure successful completion of market research projects.
- Recruited participants for focus group sessions according to predefined criteria while maintaining ethical standards throughout.
- Created presentations detailing key findings from various market research initiatives for senior management review.
- Built strong working relationships with both internal teams and external vendors and clients in order to drive project success.
- Presented detailed summaries of data gathered during a variety of quantitative studies such as tracking surveys or ad hoc polls.
- Evaluated existing processes against industry standards in order to recommend improvements where necessary.
- Drafted comprehensive reports summarizing findings from market research projects including recommendations for future campaigns.
- Implemented effective sampling plans to ensure that representative samples were collected accurately.
- Coordinated with third party vendors or suppliers when needed in order to secure additional resources required for projects.
- Organized focus groups, interviews and other qualitative methods to gain deeper understanding of consumer behavior patterns.
- Designed surveys and questionnaires to collect relevant information from targeted audiences.
- Conducted primary and secondary research to identify target markets, customer needs, preferences and behaviors.
- Provided strategic advice on how best to use the insights gained from market research activities in order to inform business decisions.
- Assisted in developing strategies for approaching new markets by leveraging insights gained through previous studies.
- Managed all aspects of fieldwork operations including data collection, sample selection, quality control checks and reporting.
- Wrote detailed reports on findings from market research projects.
- Attended staff conferences to provide management with information and proposals concerning promotion, distribution, design, and pricing of company products and services.
- Conducted qualitative interviews with customers in order to gain a deeper understanding of their needs and preferences.
- Devised and evaluated methods and procedures for collecting data, such as surveys, opinion polls, and questionnaires, and arranged to obtain existing data.
- Directed trained survey interviewers.
Education
Bachelor's Degree - Social Sciences (Sociology)
Great Zimbabwe University
05.2011
Skills
- Active listening
- Adaptability
- B2B sales
- Cold calling
- CRM software
- Customer service
- Email outreach
- Lead generation
- Lead nurturing
- LinkedIn sales navigator
- Market research
- Qualifying leads
- Prospecting
- Sales pipeline management
- Salesforce
Personal Information
Title: Account Executive
Certification
- Foundations of Digital Marketing and E-commerce], Google and offered through Courserah Coursera -Jul 1, 2024
- Lead Management in Salesforce, authorized by Salesforce, Pathstream and offered through Coursera - Sep 21, 2025
- Sales and CRM Overview, authorized by Salesforce, Pathstream and offered through Coursera -Jun 13, 2025
- Opportunity Management in Salesforce, authorized by Salesforce, Pathstream and offered through Coursera - Sep 22, 2025
- Reports, Dashboards, and Customer Success in Salesforce, authorized by Salesforce, Pathstream and offered through Coursera - Sep 27, 2025
- The Persuasion Code, Part 1: The Neuroscience of Sales Training, LinkedIn - May 08, 2024
- Sales Strategy: Using AI and Automation to Sell More Training, LinkedIn - May 06, 2024
- How to Sell on Value, Not Price Training, LinkedIn - May 09, 2024
- How to Find Sales Leads Training, LinkedIn - May 09, 2024
- Business Development and Sales Processes - a bird's eye view Training, Udemy - May 31, 2024
Timeline
Account Executive
ANALYTICS HIVE
01.2024 - Current
Administration Officer/SDR
ANALYTICS HIVE
06.2020 - Current
Field Operations Manager
Track Field and Project Management Consultants
01.2019 - 01.2023
Group Market Research Manager
Knowledge Research Group
01.2015 - 07.2017
Market Research Executive
Knowledge Research Group
05.2013 - 12.2014
Bachelor's Degree - Social Sciences (Sociology)
Great Zimbabwe University