Let’s start at the beginning: who are An and Toon?
Toon tells us, ‘I’m a really driven person who is always multitasking: my many hobbies, my friends, and my family.... I just can't sit still! Around five years ago, I began my adventure at Bechtle as a hunter. A few months later, Bechtle moved to its new premises and I gained more clients and, with them, more responsibilities. After that, there were a few more switches within the teams and the SMB, Mid-Market, and Corporate segments were created. I was assigned to the Mid-Market team as an account manager. In 2019, I also started working as an international customer coordinator, together with my colleague Dennis. In the summer of 2022, I joined the Corporate team as a key account manager and it is then that I started working with An. This was a huge change for me at first as I like to stay in control of everything myself. Fortunately, I learned to let go. It has been a great experience so far and we’ve been working together now for six months.’
An tells us, ‘I’ve been working for Bechtle B.V. as an inside sales employee for around 2.5 years now. Actually, my job is identical to that of the other account managers, apart from the fact that I don’t visit clients or help oversee projects. Toon is in charge of that. I’m in charge of transactional matters such as the running business and the contract agreements with customers.’
Could you briefly outline an average working day for me?
An says, ‘I start off my day with the everyday stuff: checking my inbox, checking quotes for things that are due to expire or which need to be followed up, and following up on orders. When tracking orders, I look to see whether any stock might be available anywhere where we have not placed our order. If that’s the case, I try to convert the order if this means providing a faster service to our customer. This may cost us money at times, but it does often benefit the customer relationship; you need to weigh things up. In addition, ad hoc matters come in during the day which I need to respond to quickly, such as a customer calling with an urgent question. I personally try to call one or two customers every day to ask them how things are going or to see if there’s anything else going on.’
Toon adds, ‘We are trying to schedule more and more QBR meetings with customers and to set them up for a whole year. I can easily do so in terms of planning and administration as I prepare reports for them. My days are filled with customer meetings or with internal meetings with our project manager, the contract manager, our legal department, etc. Meetings with customers are more often online nowadays than in person. The set-up is usually done in person, but most of the meetings continue online afterwards as they are recurrent and this makes it easier for both parties.’
What do you enjoy most about working at Bechtle?
An explains, ‘There is a great team spirit here. You give a lot, but you also get a lot back in return.’
Toon tells us, ‘I also like the freedom that you are given here. You can’t just do anything you want, of course, but if you come up with ideas, you are given the chance to develop them. There is also a fantastic atmosphere here at work.’
