Within an organization, customer facing roles require the employee to act as the frontline of engagement for the company to its customers. Interacting with customers, problem solving, communication, and product knowledge are only a few of the many tasks required when working in a customer facing position.
In continuation of our Life at Sodales series, we’re speaking with Natalia, one of Sodales’ Solution Advisors, and exploring how she was able to garner a strong understanding of Sodales’ product to be able to answer questions, provide solutions, and foster brand loyalty amongst our customers.
What is a Solution Advisor?
Natalia explains that as a Solution Advisor, her focus is on interacting with customers, SAP Account Executives (AE), and other partners. She communicates through various channels including phone calls, online video meetings, emails, and in-person at events. Natalia is responsible for listening to customer inquiries, providing and demonstrating product solutions, and ensuring she is responding in a timely and helpful manner.
The Solution Advisor is the customer’s first point of contact as they handle the discovery stage of the customer journey. During this time, Solution Advisors are tasked with providing demonstrations of the Sodales product, assessing their requirements to discover how Sodales can fill any gaps, answering any product related questions, conducting discovery sessions with SAP AE’s, and more. “My day consists of a lot of emails, and talking to many people, the thing I love most,” says Natalia. On a daily basis, Natalia navigates through multifaceted scenarios as she finds ways to satisfy each of Sodales’ customer’s own unique needs when it comes to health, safety and employee/labor relations.
“It’s nice to be able to make people feel happy and that they’ve learned something when I finish any of my demos.”
Clear and concise communication is key.
What skills does a Solution Advisor need to be successful in this role? As a Solution Advisor, Natalia explains that you need to convey information and provide solutions in a way that the recipient can easily understand, which is why a degree of sales understanding is key to concisely pinpoint what a customer needs and how to best present it. Having a personable energy to build and maintain relationships, patience, compelling presentation skills, and problem-solving skills, are also a few of many great characteristics when considering a role like this. For example, you may encounter a situation with a customer that requires patience and empathy; as a Solution Advisor, it is your duty to be able to listen to that customer’s concerns, understand their emotions, and respond with compassion and accuracy.
Learn, understand, practice.
Solution Advisors should be adaptable to changing situations or customer preferences, which is why knowing your product is fundamental. At any given time, a Solution Advisor may have to give a demo on any aspect of Sodales’ product, which is why learning, understanding, and practicing is so important. Familiarity and understanding of the product are essential, however, you’re not always going to have all the technical proficiency when demonstrating; sometimes you may get asked questions that are too technical, so it is best to refer to the appropriate employee to get the most accurate information to the customer. If you don’t know, the best thing to do is ask. When she’s stuck, Natalia directs her questions to the appropriate team member. It’s always important to be able to assess what you can properly respond to, and what needs another team members opinion.
How do you collaborate with your team members to solve a customer’s problem?
As with any organization, collaboration with other team members is essential and valuable. She works closely with cross-functional teams to identify trends in customer feedback and collaborates on initiatives to enhance the overall customer journey. Sometimes in this role you may experience obstacles when presenting demos to customers, like language barriers. A simple solution Natalia suggests, may be to bring in another team member who speaks the language, but this may not always be the case. In instances where she cannot come to a favorable solution on her own, Natalia escalates this problem to her superiors to ensure she is obtaining the best solution possible for a customer. Maintaining a positive and professional demeanor, even in challenging situations, is essential to providing great and long-lasting relationships with customers.
Sodales is committed to their employees.
When she began at Sodales, Natalia quickly became known for her patience, empathy, and her pleasant can-do attitude. Recognizing her capabilities and demonstrating her leadership, Natalia has taken initiative by sharing her insights and techniques for effective interactions. Her experience since starting with Sodales has allowed her to propose new means of streamlining customer requests, and help customers make informed decisions that positively impact their corporate culture. Sodales prides themselves on creating a productive, engaging, and fulfilling work environment that shapes how all employees interact with one another.
“I know that Sodales invests in their employees as they always provide and encourage opportunities for growth, by giving us the necessary skills and training to do so.” Natalia continues both her personal and professional development, as she continues to garner a deep understanding of customer needs and product development with Sodales.
Interested in working as a Solution Advisor?
At Sodales, our passion is to help highly regulated industries improve their health, safety, and employee relations measures; this begins with developing a product that aligns with the goals of our company, and of our customers. Do you share our vision for breaking down barriers, and proactively approaching health, safety, and employee relations? If so, we invite you to explore our careers page to learn more about our company culture and any open opportunities to join our team. As a rapidly growing company, we at Sodales are constantly seeking talented individuals to become part of our team.
