”Meet Acubiz” is a series of articles that’ll take you behind the scenes at Acubiz. They’ll tell the stories of the everyday heroes. In this article, the spotlight is turned towards Line Haferbier Gade, who is Sales Manager.
Can you tell us about your role in the Sales team in Acubiz?
I’m employed in Acubiz as Sales Manager, and I have the responsibility for both new and existing customers in Central and Northern Jutland. My workday is a bit different from my colleagues’ as I live in Jutland and therefore work remotely. It’s important to me that I visit the office a couple of times a month as I need to feel the presence of and connection to my colleagues.
My work tasks include customer meetings, sending offers and follow-ups on the meetings I’ve been to and checking up on leads. I also look into if I can book meetings with potential customers. In addition to that I attend annual meetings with existing customers where I try to figure out if it’s possible to optimize their solution. It’s important to me that the customer feels like I can solve their problems and that our solution creates value.
What’s it like not to sit besides your colleagues every day?
It was definitely challenging during the COVID-19 pandemic because I’m very social and outgoing as a person. Normally I get my social needs covered by meetings where I meet the existing or potential customer in person. It’s just not the same when the meeting is held online and on top of that the amount of meetings also decreased. But fortunately everything seems to be going in the right direction now 🙂
What’s the biggest difference between the Acubiz you started working for versus the Acubiz you work for today?
The biggest difference is probably that Acubiz has been sold and is now owned by Visma. That’s the first thing that comes to mind – that now we suddenly are a part of a much bigger organization. It’s going to be a very exciting journey and it’s just getting started.
For me personally, it means that I now have an office to go to every day. Visma has an office in Aalborg which I can visit when I feel the need to. Even though I still don’t see my Acubiz colleagues often, it’s nice to meet my new Visma colleagues.
How would you define the perfect customer meeting?
It’s very important to me that the customer has given some thought to what their challenges and needs are. A perfect meeting to me, is one where we get to talk through a lot of different processes, and where the customer is curious about our solution and challenges the processes and workflows that we work with. We need to get all around the solution and the functionality the customer gains.
What is the funniest or most surprising thing that has happened at a meeting?
I think that my most unordinary customer meeting took place at a small company. Their need for a digital solution to manage expenses probably wasn’t that big actually. I’d been speaking to them for a while and the meeting had been rescheduled a couple of times. Anyway, we figured out a new date and I showed up to their office. In the middle of the meeting, the person I’m talking to gets up and tells me that they have to go and get lunch. So I sat there and waited in their kitchen. It was a bit of a weird experience. We ended up agreeing that they didn’t have the need for a solution like ours – yet.
What is the biggest difference between Acubiz and your previous workplaces?
I’ve had a total of three workplaces in my life and the biggest difference between them is that Acubiz is located on Zealand and myself in Jutland. So it’s the first time that I’ve worked remotely. My most recent job was in a company that consisted of only women so the social aspect has been a big upheaval. Now I work in Sales as the only woman.
I’ve also been employed at a large German-owned company. Everything was managed from the headquarters in Germany and the work tasks were very defined. We did not have free reins to try different things out. There were very strict rules and protocols for everything. On the other hand, my latest job was quite laid back and if I wanted to try something new, I just did it.
I think that Acubiz is the right combination between the two.
Can you mention three funny things about yourself or something not many people know about you?
- I am the chairman of the local badminton association, although I can’t play badminton myself at all. It definitely takes some people by surprise.
- As mentioned, I’m a very social person. That surprises new people that I meet, since I’ve chosen a workplace where I work from home.
- I own 20 dresses and maybe two pairs of pants. I almost never wear pants.
