Long-term customer relationships are, of course, the heart of a business's success. Without customers, a company can't simply exist.

This is why we interviewed Linnea Rydberg and asked her some questions about her experience building customer relationships as a Sales Advisor.

In this interview, Linnea talks about her journey as a Sales Advisor for Trapets, her approach to building long-term customer relationships, and three best practices for building such relationships.

1. Tell us about yourself.

I work as a Sales Advisor at Trapets, but I don't see myself as a salesperson. I love to meet new people, stay active, and learn new skills. As a Sales Advisor at Trapets, I appreciate that I develop these parts of myself in my daily work.

In my role, I help customers find the right solutions for their needs and ultimately fight financial crime with more efficient work methods.

Working in sales can be very exciting and rewarding when the solution meets the customers' needs and adds value to their work.

As a Sales Advisor, my role is not just about meeting customers. It's about collaborating closely with colleagues from different departments to ensure our solutions meet the customers' needs. It's a true team effort. 

2. What initially attracted you to the role of a Sales Advisor at Trapets?

I was attracted to Trapets when I started in 2021 for several reasons. The culture at Trapets, with its "learn-it-all" mentality and collaborative atmosphere, was a great fit for me. 

I was also attracted by the overall growth journey and Trapets' mission. As a fast-growing SaaS company in a meaningful industry, there are always things happening and challenges to take on, making it a vibrant workplace. 

Working with sales at Trapets means working with complex solutions and building long-term partnerships with our customers. I see this as a great challenge I love to take on. 

3. What is your approach to building customer relationships in the financial sector?

The relationships we build with our customers are fundamental to our company's growth. To put it simply, without customers, we wouldn't exist. 

As a Sales Advisor, I am often among the first people our new customers meet. However, we are almost always several colleagues involved in conversations and building relationships over a long time. 

In a business-to-business (B2B) environment, it's crucial to establish relationships not just with our customers as an organisation, but also with the individuals representing them. Relationship building in B2B is similar to B2C (business-to-consumer) in that, ultimately, people want to engage with other people.

When our customers are happy and trust that our solutions are helpful and valuable, it will lead to new opportunities.

4. Can you tell us about a common challenge you face in your customer conversations?

One of the common challenges I face in customer conversations is the diverse nature of our solutions. Our platform is not a "one-size-fits-all" solution, but rather a flexible and scalable one that can be customised to suit different businesses. Finding the right fit for our customers with varying risk profiles and resources is always a challenge.

Another challenge I face in my communication with customers is the feeling of uncertainty. Customers tend to wonder, "Are we doing enough to fight financial crime and comply with regulations?". They have a great responsibility and many obligations to manage.

One of our strong solutions to overcome such challenges is not only our technology, but also our human expertise and experience in helping our customers achieve as much as possible.

Of course, such a challenge takes work and effort to solve. Although it's a tough journey, I believe, and my wish is, that we can make our customers feel more confident that they do enough. 

5. What are your three best practices for building and maintaining long-term customer relationships?

1. Continuous communication (just like any other relationship 😊) – especially when things are not going as planned. As a software company, unexpected events that don't meet the customer's expectations can occur. However, a lot can be solved as long as there's transparency and open communication.

2. Develop and grow together over time. Discuss long-term ways to support each other and add value to the businesses. Exchange ideas and feedback on how to improve the solutions and overcome possible future challenges.

3. Face-to-face meetings! As a SaaS company, digital meetings are very common and, of course, comfortable and efficient. However, face-to-face meetings are so much more fun!