I don’t see gender as a factor for success —Adesola-Ogunsan

Mrs Oluwaremilekun Adesola-Ogunsan is the Head, Consumer Electronics, Samsung Nigeria. In this interview by SEGUN KASALI, she explains her journey into the technology space and other issues.

 

Why  did you study Philosophy at University of Lagos?

After spending four years at the Department of Philosophy, University of Lagos, I  became  more open-minded and always excuse people’s behaviour as a result of their background and orientation. That has helped me to create solutions for people. So, it really defined the way I think and see people. But, overall, I would say the first lesson I learnt from Philosophy was to first know myself and then to be open minded.

 

These philosophies pushed you into the technology space?

Just like everyone  else, after school, I   thought of the career to choose. So, many opportunities opened up such as Banking and Finance and so on. But, I went for telecommunications. This was because the industry was new at that time and there was potential to grow easily. In banking, I already assumed that the only thing they would ask me to do was marketing. Though I did not see anything wrong in doing marketing,  I just felt the need to challenge myself and not do what other people were doing. So, I took up the opportunity in telecommunications and started at the call centre. I did that for a year, despite the fact that there was a lot of pressure, I scored consistently high in my quality assurance.

 

What kind of  pressure?

Oh! You worked in a store unlike the stores we have today where everything is automated. Now, you can do a sim swap by just sending a mail to your customer care person. Then, everyone who wants to do a sim swap had to enter a shop. So, just imagine you getting to a shop and finding 100 or 200 people queuing up in a shop just to be attended to and they needed very hands-on people. So, when the opportunity came and they asked me, I said yes. Of course, it was very challenging- had little ups and down because you would see a lot of customers who want to slap and kick you. Actually people did that.  For instance, one day, a woman actually came with her child.  She was upset that the network on her phone was not working. and asked me to  fix it. I kept on explaining that it  was network and  it would definitely come up later. But, this woman did not want to take no for an answer. So, she threw  the phone at  me and the phone shattered to pieces.

 

How did you feel about that?

I felt terrible. At the same  time, I felt she did not know any better. So, it was not about me because I also understood the job. Before you taking up that job, we were  would meet different caliber of customers . The training we got was that the customer was always right. So, we just really wanted to please the customers always. Yes, I felt bad but I was also pleased that she left with a satisfactory remark.

 

Satisfactory remark?

Yes. After smashing the phone, I picked up the pieces, packed and packaged  it and  gave it to her . Then  told her she might need to wait until the network comes up. Luckily for me, the network came up 30 minutes later. And on her way out, she mentioned that she was going to send a feedback to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) about my outstanding customer service .

 

Would it suffice to say that the woman’s satisfactory remark paved the way for you later?

Well! I spent eight years in Airtel before I left and occupied five different positions. So, I think it depends on what is personally driving you. So, I knew I wanted so much more but I needed to pass on that spirit of excellence so that if she goes to Sanusi Fafunwa today, she would meet another Remi there. That is the consistency I wanted to pass across, not necessarily to prove a point or get result. I just wanted customer service to be priority for us.

 

How were you able to pass on this message to other staff?

Over the years, when I got the opportunity to move to the head office as the strategy consultant for all the shops nationwide, I came up with the policy that we have a written document in all our centres showing that customers had to respect our own staff and that was vital at a time.

 

You moved to Samsung after eight years in Airtel?

Yes. I was in the Customer Service Department and had moved to several other departments-service strategy, training and development before I got on to where I am today at Samsung and I stepped in as the branch shop manager in 2014. So, I came into a  very robust team at that. The initial reason I took on the job was that my target in Airtel for five years was meant to be my target in Samsung for one year.

 

What do  you mean?

In Airtel, we were interested in rolling out service centres on touch points nationwide. But, we had a long time strategy that would have covered five years. But, in Samsung, we were interested in creating those touch points and we wanted to do them in a shorter life span. So, we were looking at a year to roll-out those stores. Of course, when I heard what the task was, I thought that    if I  do this in one year, that means I would have done what I  was expected to do in five years. I just said come on! Go for it. So, I really took up the position. After a year, I completed the task and I got promoted despite it being unusual in that organisation. But, I got that in just one year.

 

What did you do differently?

I am good at creating plans and strategy but I didn’t stop there. I am very hands-on. So, you would find me doing implementation a lot. We have a team but I don’t leave it to the team. So, we created  a master plan and we got down to the nitty-gritty. How do we make it happen? How many dealers do we have to call to convince them to take Samsung as partners? You have to tell them how you want to grow and share with them roadmap and what they stand to gain. So, I am very hands-on and being hands-on has helped me to gain the trust of our partners, dealers and stakeholders.

 

Your gender did not play out here?

Not at all. I don’t see gender as a factor for me. Even during my interview, I think the question that came up was what my weakness was then and my weakness was my voice. It was very terrible because once I opened my mouth to talk, they would think one teenager was speaking. But, I have learnt to turn that weakness to a strength.

 

How?

When you hear my  voice, you would at least be interested in what this suprano-pitched person want to say. I kind of took it as a strength-like okay, what does that person want to hear from me that would add value? So, it could just be me talking to my boss, my husband or my children or my parents or my partner. Either ways, I  found a way to ensure that the voice is taken in a way they could relate  with.

 

How has your experience been, being a female leader?

Frankly speaking, I only had three female dealers as our partners and that was a huge gap. Many people sell electronics but you hardly find women selling them. So, of course, they know you are a woman and you are young or they assumed you are young, they think you can add value to their business. So, many people have lost proposals, propositions, value that I would have given them because of such discrimination and all. But then, you have to find a way to win them over. Ideally, if I am to appeal to women in similar situation, I would appeal to three people in a world of a thousand and one in Nigeria. How would the market grow?

 

Don’t you feel  discriminated being the only female?

Not at all. In a bid to grow the business from what it was, opportunity was given to everyone. You have to show what you can bring to the table. And I think the opportunity would have been given to everybody and not just me. In between that time, I went for my maternity leave and they were expecting results. And it made it easier to prove to myself that it is result that they want to see. Once they saw a track result of excellence, they would say think this is the person. It is not necessarily about if it is a lady or a man. It is about the result and track record of excellence.

 

Combining work and the home-front?

If I say that it was entirely up to me to deal with this pressure pot, I would be lying. You almost cannot do it alone. So, first, I have been blessed with a very supporting husband. I think that is very critical. So, I have to give thumbs up to him. Secondly, I have a fantastic mother that is my backbone. Until very recently, due to aging, I don’t have to go to the market. For instance, all my market runs, my mum did them for me because to her that was her contribution to this my journey. So, she has really made it easy for me. So, I don’t think without those two platforms of support, I would have been able to do it alone. So, for that young person that is just starting, guess what? if the pressure pot was very hot then, it is hotter now. You have to work those long hours. You have to drill that machine like you want to go crazy. In a place like Samsung, we try to create that balance of male/female. But right now, I believe I am the only female leader. At least, I have been able to maintain it for close to three years. It is very difficult, right? If you are not consistent, you would stop being relevant after a while.

 

How do you mean?

So, you have to consistently come up with initiatives and ideas that are meant to evolve. you have to factor that in. You have to bring your best foot forward. I have done a number of interviews and I try to separate the idea of male and female but what you are bringing to the table.

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