Nicklas Ljungholm
Position at Addovation: Presales Consultant.
Area of specialty: The CRM and Project module in IFS Applications and Addovation Solutions.
Background: Maintenance and System Manager IFS Applications. He has more than 16 years’ experience working with IFS Applications from a customer perspective.
Working at Addovation – Nicklas Ljungholm
I recently had a chat with Nicklas Ljungholm, who has been working at our Gothenburg office since 2015. I got to ask him a couple of questions about what it’s like working at Addovation.
By Sigrid Marie Saastad
Marketing Manager, Addovation
So Nicklas, tell me about your role at Addovation?
I work with Presale, which means that I enter the picture when a potential customer has shown interest in our products or services. It is important that I understand the customers’ needs so I can do a tailored presentation and demonstration of the solutions we offer. Experience is key when you are working with presale, as you need to be able to place yourself in the customers’ shoes and be able to relate to their challenges! Working on establishing long term relationships is important, so when working with presale, it’s important to understand the customer and demonstrate expertise.
What is the best part working as a Presale Consultant?
For me it’s the part of meeting new people and building long-term relations with customers that is the most rewarding. As a Presale Consultant, I am usually the first person from Addovation that meet the customer, and making a good impression is a challenge I really like. I also enjoy getting the opportunity to learn about new businesses and technology.
Have the pandemic affected your way of working?
Building new relationships during the pandemic has been challenging, as you cannot meet in person. Online meetings are of course a great tool, but it leaves out most of your body language which makes it harder to communicate. I always turn my camera on, but it is still not the same as being in the same room. When parts of the body language disappear, it becomes important to explain my reactions with words to help the person on the other side understand how I feel about something. I also spend more time doing small talk with the customers, to help build the relationship.
What is your favourite Addovation solution?
The Office Automation Suite is amazing! It puts the customer behind the steering wheel so to speak. After a quick training session, the customer is more or less self-propelled! They can make their own templates and reports using the data they already have in the ERP system and increase their efficiency with a few simple steps. I also love the CRM Sync and the Email to Case solutions. These products were very popular last year, and this year R&D will continue developing them, making them true cloud solutions which further increase the flexibility, scalability and make them more cost efficient.
What will be the big ERP trends this year? Any predictions?
Previously, ERP systems were mainly built for larger corporations. These days we see that more and more small and medium sized companies are implementing ERP systems. I think the main reason for this is that the systems are modular, which makes them more flexible and they can grow in paste with the company. They also require a smaller investment starting up. This is also the case for most of the Addovation solutions. For example, the Office Automation Suite, where you can start with the Document Management module, and then processed with modules for merging documents, signing documents etc.
So, what is the best thing about working at Addovation?
In my case, it is variety! I have a lot of different tasks, and I get to meet a lot of new people every day. I find my job very educational and it allows me to grow as a person. I also like Addovation’s company size and structure, that gives me the opportunity to join the decision making and influence our future.