02 | 2023 Laura Riuttanen, Sales Director

I have the honor of calling myself the passionate salesperson that was sought after here at Kipinä last year.

I am Laura, and what ultimately brought me to Kipinä were the deeply shared values that I also cherish in my own sales work. In this article, I outline a few key principles that have been most important to me throughout my sales career.

The strength of Kipinä, like all software companies in my opinion, is always the people. I feel I am in a service profession to our customers, partners and creators alike. My job as a salesperson is to find the best possible match between our author's skills and passions and the end customer's needs.

The best moments in sales are precisely those when that sparkling connection is found, and a developer is matched with a project they can truly enjoy and learn from. It might sound like a cliché, but I think it is absolutely fantastic to meet new people and hear about the passions and aspirations our team members have.

They say a good salesperson can sell ice to an Eskimo. Surely, but I would much rather sell you a developer that you actually want on your team.

"Happy, motivated professionals create happy clients."

Together, we are always more than anyone could be alone.

I am very much a pack animal and truly enjoy working with people. I am good at getting things done. I love collaborating with diverse individuals and learning from others. Few people are unicorns who know absolutely everything in the world. This is why we need teams and partners to brainstorm with and accomplish things just a bit better than we could on our own.

The feeling that we succeeded is always so much better to me than feeling like I succeeded.

Everyone wins when everyone wins.

The easiest thing in life is to tell the truth. The reality, however, is that ultimately everyone is doing business and trying to make a living. Whether working with individuals, partners, or clients, I always want to operate on the principle that everyone wins.

When optimizing solely for one party's gains, someone usually loses, often resulting in nothing but frustration. Playing with open cards and shared ground rules makes collaboration smoother and more enjoyable. And that creates more happy people.

Raise your hand and admit it when you make a mistake.

Things don't always go according to plan, and sometimes mistakes happen. It is always easiest to admit your mistakes and look for a solution rather than make excuses and cover them up. Based on my experience, finding those solutions is much easier when you follow the previous three principles.

In those moments, I remind myself that thankfully I'm not a brain surgeon, nobody died, and probably no one will remember this a year from now either. How many of your own past blunders do you still remember that keep you up at night rather than making you chuckle?

Shall we meet up and chat? And learn from each other? About mishaps, software development, sales?

Pick up the phone and give a call, or book a meeting directly from my calendar!