Elijah Kilonzi

A seasoned Marketing professional with a proven success record in Corporate & MSME financial advisory,  business development, relationship management, risk analysis and management, customer service, team leadership and portfolio management. I utilize my networking and stakeholder management skills to acquire new clients and build profitable and long-lasting  business relationships with key clients through my relationship management and financial analysis expertise, as well as service and operational excellence. 

Jun. 2023 – Current: Sales & Marketing Manager, Crophealth Technologies Limited

• Conceptualize strategies to market products, generate sales conversions and deliver a superior customer experience.
• Generate and qualify leads to identify high-potential prospects, and understand their needs to align them with company’s solutions.
• Prepare sales budget, schedule expenditures, and ensure the sales team meets their quotas.
• Monitor and optimize sales pipeline to ensure leads progress smoothly through the sales funnel.
• Keep track of targeted, as well as actual sales, to determine the extent of success and/ or marketing support required.
• Generate regular performance reports to identify success areas and improvement gaps to guide on strategy and tactics change.
• Manage, mentor and coach the sales team to ensure they meet their individual and team targets.
• Cultivate and deepen client relationships and partnerships to create loyalty and anticipate possible emerging business opportunities.
• Work closely with closely with cross-functional teams for timely closure of customer issues.
• Stay updated on the industry trends, competitors and customers needs to provide insights for improvements to achieve marketing and operational goals.
• Continually assess our marketing techniques and their efficacy in affecting sales.

Feb. 2021 to May 2023: Regional Relationship Manager, SME - National Bank of Kenya Limited 

• Formulate and implement strategies and tactics for balance sheet and revenue growth, portfolio health, business development and relationship deepening in SME sector.
• Establish a network from which to source for and recruit new clients through networking, referrals, market research and effective utilization of centers of influence.
• Prospect, acquire and onboard customers in line with the Bank's and regulator's requirements.
• Grow portfolio revenue and balance sheet through new customer acquisition, cross-selling, new need identification and product reengineering.
• Continuously identify, promote, and recommend solutions that best serve customer’s credit, trade, treasury, transactional and cash management needs.
• Assess customer needs, determine appropriate facility structure, negotiate facility terms, prepare, and present credit proposals for consideration. 
• Develop and implement strategies to nurture strategic business relationships with key customers to increase our share of wallet. 
• Establish cordial relationships with key contacts within the customer’s organization to gain timely insights on new opportunities and threats for proactive account management.
• Determine key messages and decide on the most appropriate communication methods to convey the message to customers.
• Promptly deal with customer queries, requests, instructions, suggestions/service feedback through effective stakeholder management.
• Collect and analyze feedback from stakeholders, identify any gaps in products, processes or service and recommend improvements required to enhance overall customer satisfaction. 
• Maintain up-to-date account plan and conduct periodic reviews for purposes of profiling and identification of emerging opportunities and risks.
• Maintain an optimal mixture of long and short-term loans, wholesale and transactional deposits as well as term and current deposits for portfolio sustainability.
• Ensure adherence to the Bank policies and regulatory requirements throughout the customer journey. 
• Train and mentor Business Bankers and assist them in structuring complex credit deals.

Apr. 2017 – Feb. 2021: Relationship Manager, Commercial & Corporate Banking - National Bank of Kenya Limited

• Formulate and implement of portfolio strategies and tactics for balance sheet and revenue growth, portfolio health, business development and relationship deepening in the Sector.
• Grow portfolio revenue and balance sheet through new customer acquisition, cross-selling, new need identification and product reengineering.
• Continuously identify, promote, and recommend solutions that best serve customer’s credit, trade, treasury, transactional and cash management needs.
• Assess customer needs, determine appropriate facility structure, negotiate facility terms, prepare, and present credit proposals for consideration. 
• Develop and implement strategies to nurture strategic business relationships with key customers to increase share of wallet. 
• Determine key messages and decide on the most appropriate communication methods to convey the message to customers.
• Promptly deal with customer queries, requests, instructions, suggestions/service feedback through effective stakeholder management.
• Maintain an optimal mixture of long and short-term loans, wholesale and transactional deposits as well as term and current deposits for portfolio sustainability.
• Ensure adherence to the Bank policies and regulatory requirements throughout the customer journey. 
• Train and mentor Associate Relationship Managers.

Oct. 2013 – Mar. 2017: Corporate Associate Relationship Manager - National Bank of Kenya Limited

• Major responsibilities included credit origination, screening of customers, customer-issue resolution, stakeholder management, portfolio monitoring and coordination of bank-customer interactions.

Jan. 2009 – Oct. 2013: Graduate Clerk - National Bank of Kenya Limited

• Served as a Clerk in customer service, cash, back-office operations, personal and business lending roles at Branch level
   

2012 – 2015: Master of Business Administration (Marketing) - Meru University of Science & Technology

2005 – 2008: Bachelor of Business Administration (Marketing), 2nd Class Honors Upper Division - Maseno University