Leading Through Sales: Lessons from Hannatu Adegboyega on Building Sales Culture That Delivers

Sometimes, the deal that changes your life doesn’t start with a handshake. It starts with a phone call you almost didn’t pick up.

That’s how Hannatu Adegboyega closed her first million-dollar deal within three months of joining Etisalat. She’s now the Vice President of Sales at Emtech, a New York-based fintech that helps central banks modernise their infrastructure. 

With a career that started in law and transitioned into revenue-generating roles at Oracle and Etisalat, Hannatu’s story proves that great sales leadership is built, not born.

She wasn’t a seasoned sales veteran at the time; she was a lawyer new to corporate sales, but she showed up, and it paid off.

In this restructured blog from her IG Live with Pandora’s Principal Consultant, Kehinde Ruth Onasoga, we unpack what makes great sales leaders different, her real-world strategies, from closing a million-dollar deal three months into a new job to building high-performing sales teams from scratch, and why introverts might just be the best closers in the game.

What is sales? Sales Is Listening

You don’t need to be loud to close big deals. That’s one of the first truths Hannatu shared, and it flips everything most people believe about sales.

Coming from a law background, she didn’t see herself as a natural seller. She was shy, reserved, and more comfortable behind research than in front of a pitch deck.

“To be honest, sales saved me. I was a very quiet, shy person.”

But that quiet nature turned out to be her edge. Because sales is paying attention and listening to the customer. In a world obsessed with pitching and persuasion, Hannatu reframes sales as a human connection, not just a commercial transaction. Confidence is key, but listening builds trust.

“If you can talk to one person, you can talk to two. Sales isn’t about crowds but connecting with the audience.”

She even makes a case that introverts might be better at sales than extroverts because they know how to listen deeply and think before they speak. That’s a rare advantage most extroverts don’t have

Trained as a lawyer, she credits her discipline, research habits, and attention to detail from her legal career as critical skills that transitioned seamlessly into sales. 

The $1M Deal That Started With a Single Phone Call

There’s a moment that changed everything for Hannatu. While working in retail sales, she transitioned into corporate. And within weeks, she received a call from a potential client that most people might have ignored.

That call led to Etisalat’s first million-dollar deal.

She didn’t get the deal by luck. She got it because she picked up the phone and showed up, especially when it was inconvenient.

“Showing up isn’t always about being online. Sometimes, it’s answering that call. Speaking up at that meeting.”

From that moment, everything snowballed. She started hitting her numbers, closing consistently, and was promoted to sales lead in just three months.

The lesson here is – Don’t underestimate the power of small actions. In sales and leadership, consistency is your leverage.

The Sacrifice No One Talks About

This part might make some people uncomfortable, but it’s real: sales leadership often demands sacrifice, the kind of sacrifice that rarely makes it into TED Talks.

Building a high-flying career, especially in sales, comes with sacrifices. And as a woman in a male-dominated industry, Hannatu doesn’t sugarcoat it.

“Many deals don’t happen in meeting rooms. They happen at 11 PM. Over suya. At someone’s house. It’s not ideal, but if you want to be top of mind when promotions come around, you have to show up.”

Suya: (a dried, grilled, barbecued-like meat garnished with spices common to Nigerians)

This doesn’t mean abandoning boundaries or principles. But it does mean knowing when to stretch, especially when excellence is your goal.

Her advice to women navigating visibility in the workplace:

“Lead with value. When they see your brain, they will realise it is more important to maintain a work relationship than an improper one.”

It’s not a popular opinion, but it’s the unfiltered truth many women in leadership live with. Know your boundaries, but also know that impact sometimes happens outside your comfort zone.

What Makes a High-Performing Salesperson?

“We’re all in sales, whether you know it or not.”

But if you want to be excellent, Hannatu says, here’s what great salespeople have:

1. Confidence: To talk to strangers, rebound from rejection, and remain unfazed by a “no.” To believe in your solution without arrogance.
   
2. Hunger: A real fire to go the extra mile. The kind of internal drive that turns “no” into fuel, the urgency that makes you research the company before the first call. Not everyone has it, but those who do win.
   
3. Research: Do your homework. The best closers ask smart, discovery-driven questions. Half of sales is research, which is how you build credibility and gain interest.
   
4. Resilience: Sales isn’t about never falling, but knowing how to get up fast, learn from mistakes, and keep going.

“There’s money on the table. You just have to want it bad enough to find it.”

Why Sales and Marketing Need to Talk More

You’d be surprised how many companies treat sales and marketing like rivals, not partners. That’s a mistake. You can’t lead sales in isolation. Great leaders build bridges, especially between sales, marketing, and customer service.

“If you’re in a company where sales doesn’t talk to marketing, I’m concerned.”

Hannatu believes marketing, sales, and sometimes customer service must function together. One feeds the other.

She even offered a framework for aligning marketing and sales goals:

• Marketing: Owns click-throughs, interest, and positioning
• Sales: Converts that interest into meetings and revenue
• Customer Success: Retains, upsells, and collects real-world feedback
  

Marketing builds the story. Sales carry it forward. Customer service keeps the promise.

But she goes further, saying KPIs should reflect shared responsibility.

“Don’t just send 25 names to sales and tick a box. Send 25 leads with substance. And sales? Follow up. Close the loop.”

How to Win in New Markets Even If It’s Crowded

So, what do you do when you’re stepping into a market that feels oversaturated? Hannatu has done this multiple times, and she starts from scratch each time.

• Do the Work: Know your product. Know your market and your unique selling point. Find out what the gap is in that market and attempt to fill it with your product or service
• Refine Your Messaging: Saturation isn’t the issue; lazy messaging is.
  
• Make Switching Easy: Highlight the urgency or value that matters to your audience.

She says most brands don’t fail because the market is crowded, but because their messaging doesn’t land, the value proposition is vague, and the ‘why now’ isn’t strong enough.

She suggests using urgency, emotional levers, or subtle pressure, depending on your target audience, but get the message right either way.

Leading High-Performing Sales Teams/Culture

You don’t build a top-tier team by accident. According to Hannatu, here’s what leadership looks like:

• 360° Feedback Loops: “Let your team tell you how they want to be led.”
• Empathy + Accountability: “I’ll challenge you internally but never throw you under the bus in front of management.”
• Open Door Culture: “Be accessible, not just instructive.”
  

She shares how even a well-intentioned leader can miss the mark by jumping to solutions instead of simply listening.

“One team member told me, ‘I don’t want advice yet. I just want you to listen. I thought I was doing well in that aspect. But he said I was quick to offer solutions instead of just hearing him out. That changed everything and my perspective regarding having conversations with my team.”

How to Handle Underperformance in a Sale’s Team

When asked how she handles underperformance, Hannatu was clear: it’s never one-size-fits-all.

There are two kinds:

• Those who are struggling with external factors (mental health, personal crises)
• Those who are just not doing the work, and don’t want to

With the former, you support. With the latter, you document everything so you have solid proof behind you when it’s time to act. “You can’t coach someone who isn’t coachable.”

And for top talent that lacks discipline?

“Hold them to standards. Make success not just about numbers, but how they show up for the team, their attitude towards other aspect of the workplace.”

Real Leadership Requires Service-Mindsets That Drive Results

“Leadership is hard. You’re a therapist, coach, mental health advocate, and strategist all at once.”

When asked about her leadership style, Hannatu reflects.

“I’ll never ask my team to do what I haven’t done myself.”

Her team knows she’s been in the trenches, from ground zero, which makes her feedback land better. But it’s not just work ethic. It’s about empathy.

Servant leadership, backed by performance. 

When asked what kind of startup she’d build?

“Something around capacity-building. Too many smart people are jobless. We need to fix that.”

And in the world of sales, she sees a similar issue: a lack of discipline, a lack of hunger, and too much noise. She’s on a mission to fix that. To help people in sales take the job seriously. To help teams sell better, lead better, and do more with what they have.

Are You Ready to Build a Marketing System That Works?

If you’re leading a team, hiring sales talent, or trying to build a culture that wins, take a page from this conversation. Because leadership through sales is less focused on pressure and more about leading through serving.

Want to build a high-performing marketing culture? Book a strategy session with Pandora Agency. We will help you build a results-driven system that drives visibility, conversion, and culture. Also, download our Personal Branding Guide to sharpen your leadership visibility and credibility.

FAQs

What is sales in marketing?

Sales in marketing is the process of converting potential customer interest into actual purchases. While marketing creates awareness, builds interest, and generates leads, sales focuses on nurturing those leads, understanding their needs, and offering tailored solutions that lead to revenue.

Sales is essentially human connection; it’s more about listening and building trust than just persuasion. The goal is to provide value and guide prospects toward a decision that solves their problem.

What are types of sales?

Sales touches on multiple real-world sales categories, including:

• Retail Sales: Direct to consumers
• Corporate (B2B) Sales: Selling to businesses, like million-dollar corporations.
• Strategic Sales/Enterprise Sales: Complex, long-term deals involving multiple stakeholders.
• Inbound Sales: Following up on marketing-generated leads.
• Outbound Sales: Initiating contact, often through cold calls or networking.

Regardless of type, success depends on confidence, hunger, research, and empathy.

What are the steps in sales process?

Here are some actionable sales processes built around impact and execution:

1. Preparation and Research: Know your product, your customer, and the market. This builds credibility.
2. Lead Generation/Prospecting: Identify potential clients, sometimes they come from marketing, sometimes it’s that unexpected phone call from networks.
3. Discovery and Listening: Ask discovery-driven questions. Listen deeply. Understand needs before proposing.
4. Presenting a Solution: Tailor your message. Don’t just pitch, show real value and urgency.
5. Handling Objections: Be resilient. Prepare for questions, doubts, and delays. Stay confident and clear.
6. Closing the Deal: Follow up. Show up. Be persistent and responsive.
7. Post-Sale Relationship: Collaborate with customer success. Ensure the client sees the full value, making upsells and referrals more likely.

The above process blends strategic thinking with human connection, a winning combination in any sales process.