Milan: How did the career path start for our Customer Landing Manager?

How did it all start?

Well, it all started as a student job. I guess it usually does here. My job interview with our founder Andrej was probably the best interview experience I had ever had, but of course in my head I thought I had completely failed. Fortunately it turned out that I hadn’t and it was enough for the sales department :P However, then the time came when I had to prove myself to my first boss, my colleague and now my amazing friend, Josip. He only had one question but I somehow managed to answer it correctly, and it was: “Can you start on Monday?”. 

What did I do?

I’ve been through quite a few roles; starting in the sales department as a student. Proceeding with the BI department seemed a logical progression, which came somewhere between my engineering and business degrees. So, I moved on and started working as a Junior BI Consultant working with Qlik technology. I delivered several projects in the distribution industry and really enjoyed those times working in a small two-person team.

The next phase in my BE-terna life was managing our small department, which meant doing whatever was needed to try to get some new projects and customers on board. As the first years passed it was still amazing, and it became a three-person team. Year by year the business grew, and the team also grew, eventually becoming the most amazing team of seven to eight (depending on how high on chocolate they are; sometimes they are as productive as nine!)

Long story short, there were plenty of opportunities, and I am thankful for my colleagues and management as they all somehow tailored my current role (and my personality, since this is my 8th year onboard). 

Customer Landing What?

As the team grew, our plans and the company itself also grew. This all takes us to my current role, which could be described as teaming up with the sales and marketing teams to position our solutions in the market. It has moved me slightly away from projects, but also means that I have been able to team up with amazing colleagues in sales and marketing. I thought I had a high level of energy, but you should see those guys – they just don’t stop 😊 Currently we’re focusing heavily on joining forces with our new family members from BE-terna, and I’m really looking forward to sharing our experience and jointly helping our customers with their data-related challenges. 

Post-corona time?

Well, it was obviously a unique situation world-wide. I was left with the impression that the whole world had stopped in less than 5 days. Happily we haven’t stopped, and neither have our customers, so although it was a weird combination of heavy workloads and working from home, I was still left with a good feeling that I’m surrounded by a great team and that we’re part of a big, stable company. Currently, I’m trying to make the most of the benefits this working from home is providing us, and I’m still trying to find a location where I feel most productive. For now, this choice has come down to two spots. Let me know if you visit my hometown of Split and I’ll be happy to show them to you! 😉