In the summer of 2016, I received a phone call asking me if I would like to work as a sales manager at AlfaPeople. I met the technical prerequisites for this because selling licenses and services associated with the Microsoft business solutions Dynamics AX and Dynamics CRM had been my daily business since 2013. There was only one catch: I was preparing to retire and was only working every other day. The caller didn’t take that for an answer and I had to think about it.

Sales, especially in the upper middle class, has always been my focus: initiating business relationships, mediating solutions and concluding contracts and the associated contacts with people in companies was fun. I started as a branch manager in the savings bank organization, then worked as a sales consultant for banking solutions and since 2003 I worked as a sales manager for Microsoft solutions. In the fall of 2016, I informed the caller from the summer that I would like to take over the task. I concerned myself with AlfaPeople and also looked at the website, which by the way is very informative and up to date. Suddenly I was asked via the chat feature if I needed help. In my answer I made it clear why I was visiting the website and shortly afterwards I was warmly welcomed. It was a nice start.

January 2, 2017 was my first day of work at AlfaPeople. The positive impression from the web chat was reinforced by the very friendly reception by the AlfaPeople team.

The sales work started straight away on the first day, because interested parties asked questions about the licensing of Microsoft Dynamics 365. It’s an area I’ve been working on intensively. And then things really got going.

Suddenly I felt like I was in the ‘next generation.’ The combination of appointments with customers, working in my home office and at the AlfaPeople office in Herford was new to me. Microsoft Dynamics 365 is the new generation of modern business solutions for the future. Everything in sales revolves around this product. We thoroughly inform customers and interested parties about it. We do this in personal conversations, through marketing campaigns, trade fair appearances and customer events. This is the environment in which I work and I enjoy being able to work with colleagues from the AlfaPeople team. We make a great team. I haven’t regretted taking the step to join AlfaPeople, because we are making a difference at AlfaPeople.

I would like to make one final comment:

In my free time, I have been volunteering at a Christian parish for many years. This entails looking into the Bible from time to time. Recently I noticed something that the apostle Paul had written to the people in Colossae at that time. The English version says in chapter 4, verse 4: “make the best of every opportunity”. There must have been some salespeople at that time too. In any case, this is how I try to handle my opportunities.