Interview with Zane Godwin – Trade Manager

An interview by Tony Amatulli

Last week I had the pleasure meeting with Mr. Zane Godwin, the Trade Manager ISC at Mediterranean Shipping Company. We enjoyed a cup of coffee together in a beautiful, large and sunny office on the 6th floor of MSC House, in Langalibalele Dube Street.

TA: Dear Zane, thank you for your time. First of all, how do you create a trade strategy and communicate this to the team?

ZG: When creating a strategy the key principle is to see if there is a demand for it and at what price, once this has been established and agreed to we will then roll it out to the various facets within our marketing team, We are a global brand with a huge footprint and healthy market share in South Africa.

TA: How does MSC Execute their marketing plans across the region?

ZG: Well, each region will not necessarily have the same marketing plan, as an example, across South Africa we have differing commodities in the Western Cape to that of Gauteng and we would tailor make that strategy. We would inherently filter the information to our regional managers and then onto the Sales Managers to action the target market set.

TA: Why is it important for you to manage and motivate your team?

ZG: Motivating a team is always of paramount importance, I encourage this as it is always rewarding to see people grow. You achieve the most out of motivated and well trained staff. Give your team the tools to deliver what you need!

TA: Can you describe your background and how you started at MSC?

ZG: I started at MSC in 2000 – after completing my financial and commercial studies and after a short stunt in the retail sector I joined the world of shipping! After 18 years of working my way up from a client services clerk to trade manager and in addition National Sales Co Coordinator it has been an exciting Journey.

TA: Why is it important to be highly motivated and passionate about shipping in order to succeed?

ZG: The demands of the shipping sector are high, but incredibly rewarding! You start to feed off the energy it generates which motivates you even further to achieve your goals. With any industry to be successful you have to take pride in what you do and have passion in executing your tasks in order to succeed.

TA: What is the work environment like at at MSC?

ZG: The work environment is unique! It is a corporate company with a family feel – who has their chairman come to the staff’s desk twice a day to see how your day is going? Very blessed to be part of this MSC Family.

TA: Thank you Zane, I wish you all the best for your career.