I was originally in charge of sales at my previous job, but I wanted to increase my market value as a "salesperson" and chose our company as a place to build my next career path.

I chose this company as a place to build my next career because I wanted to increase my market value. I decided to join the company because I thought that in this challenging environment, I would be able to achieve my goal of becoming a "sales person who can be active in a wide range of fields anywhere".

Another reason was that the company was in the phase of making a fresh start after the company split in 2019, and I found it rewarding to be able to contribute to the company at a time when all employees were working together to make a fresh start.

I felt then, and still do, that there are many talented people at Works Applications, and my reason for joining the company was also that I wanted to work with these talented people.

I was particularly impressed by the female employees of the Company that I met during my job search. I was especially impressed by the female employees I met during my job hunting activities. I was impressed by their strong determination to "have this kind of vision and do this kind of work," and the way they proactively took action to "work in this way" not only with customers, but also within the company. I joined the company because I thought I wanted to work in that way too.

Yes, after actually doing it, I realize that sales is more challenging than I had expected.
One of the characteristics of our sales is that the products we handle are high unit price.
Therefore, some negotiations can take more than a year, and the project is of high importance to the customer who is considering introducing the product.

The number of "stakeholders" involved in the decision-making process is large, and because of the scale of the amount of money involved and the scale of the project, it is common for the client's management and upper management to be included among these "stakeholders.

I believe that this type of sales is quite challenging in that we are required to make proposals that will make all "related parties," including the management of the client company, think, "I want to introduce this product, and it must be this product.
For that reason, the work is very rewarding and gives me a sense of accomplishment when I receive an order.

As R.H. says, it is not easy to get people to buy high unit price products.
Because of the high unit price, I believe that our products will not sell unless people sincerely feel the value from the bottom of their hearts.

In our sales activities, we often hear from customers that they want to "streamline their business" or, more recently, "go paperless." If we only understand the surface of the customer's words and solve the problem, then, to take it to the extreme, it is possible to solve the problem by installing an inexpensive and easy-to-install system instead of our product. However, I think it is possible to solve the problem by putting in an inexpensive and easy-to-install system.

However, I believe that the value that Works Applications sales can provide to customers is not only "issues that are visible on the surface of the customer's words," but also "uncovering issues that are not visible and making them aware of them as issues.
In our proposal activities to our customers, we must grasp the issues that lie deep within the customer, and then we must tell the story of what can be achieved with our products, what can be achieved because of our products, and envision the future that can be realized. I believe that through the accumulation of such stories, customers will come to believe that "Works Applications' products are the only one.

I believe that the reason we can proudly tell our customers that "only our products can achieve this" is because we possess a wealth of functions and business know-how that we have developed through the introduction of our products to many major companies.

In addition, I mentioned earlier that we communicate the advantages of our products through stories, and I think it is particularly important to consider "to whom (position or title)," "when," and "how" to communicate. We call that "scenario" within the company, and I feel that it is really a highly challenging sales activity because it is necessary to make proposals based on these various factors.

This overlaps with what I said earlier, but I think the most important thing is to uncover "issues that even the customer is unaware of" during proposal activities.

In order to find "issues that even the customer is unaware of," I think it is important to establish a relationship in which the customer is willing to talk deeply about the issues and learn a lot about the business.

In order to "build a solid relationship," the first step in this process is to simply increase the number of times we have contact with the customer, such as through frequent phone calls. I am conscious of repeating this process.

I usually try to think about what the benefits are for the other party. Instead of simply saying, "I will do it because that is what the customer wants," I ask myself, "Why are they making this request? Why is it necessary? I always try to think about how we can provide the maximum benefit to the customer, while being aware of the customer's intentions.
It is an obvious point, but because it is so rudimentary, I think it is also a point that is often forgotten.

I have become more conscious of this since joining our company.
Although my previous job was in the same intangible products as ours, I focused on communicating with the contact person and building a deep relationship with him or her. In contrast, in the sales of our products, I was more conscious of the importance of the relationship with the contact person.

In contrast, in sales of our products, of course the relationship with the customer is important, but management needs to make decisions, so I asked myself, "What information do I need to make decisions from a management perspective? What is the essence of the problem? How can our products solve them? We need to provide information on these points. Therefore, I have become more conscious than before of communicating information that is necessary for the customer in front of me on a merit basis.

One of the reasons I became more conscious of this is an episode I had with a client.
During the closing phase of a project I was in charge of soon after I joined the company, I received a request from the customer for a price adjustment, or so-called "discount.
At the time, I took the request back to the company and discussed it with a senior employee, who told me, "If we give a discount, it will lead to a narrowing of the services we can provide and the scope of those services, and as a result, the customer may not be able to fully appreciate the value of the product. Is that in the best interest of our customers?" We have received such a point of view.

Based on this, we spoke with the customer again and found that they were considering discounting because they lacked information that would help them make a decision to introduce the product to their management.
We then worked with the client to verbalize the information that would be useful in making a decision, and as a result, the client was able to adopt the system at the original price.
This kind of experience has led to our awareness of considering the essence of the customer's request and the benefits from the customer's point of view.

In the spring of this year (2022), for the first time since I joined the company, I was able to receive an order for "HUE" in a project that I was in charge of together with my seniors. When I think about it from the perspective of "Why did we get the order?", I think it was as a result of building a solid relationship with the customer, understanding the characteristics of the customer's business and industry, digging deeper into the business the customer wants to realize, and proposing what value our products can provide for the business the customer wants to realize. I believe that this is the result of our accumulated efforts in these areas.

I believe that through the accumulation of these efforts, we were able to make our customers truly believe that HUE is the right choice for them.

In our proposals, we always try to present a clear picture of "what effects and advantages our products have for our customers. This may have something in common with what R.H. said about "thinking about the benefits to the person in front of you.

Since joining our company, I feel that I have gained the ability to grasp the "essence" of things. This ability has been developed partly because of the need to logically explain to our clients and their management, as I have mentioned, because of the high price and importance of our products to the company.

In my previous job, I was a one-person sales representative, but in our sales department, there are many people involved in the company as we work on a single project.
Our employees' way of thinking is rooted in "thinking logically about the essence of things," so even if they are from other departments, they will ask questions like, "Why is this happening? In fact, it is only when they receive such a question that they start to feel comfortable.

In fact, there are some viewpoints that are only realized after receiving such questions. As I have conversations with them and receive their questions, I become aware that "if I bring up this topic, our employees will have questions in this area," and I think they have come to think deeply about everything.

One of the key points in sales is to draw a future vision of "what can be realized in the customer's business and operations by using our products? When I first joined the company, I had no knowledge of the products or the industry, so I often asked for advice from my seniors. When I tried to create something from scratch by myself, there were so many things to fix that I had to fix almost everything (laughs)! There were times when I had to fix almost everything (laughs).

(Laughs) In the midst of all this, the senior staff around me gave me advice from angles I could not see, such as, "Perhaps the customer is having trouble in this area," or "This way of communicating might be better," and I was able to learn how to make proposals as a salesperson. Thanks to this, I gradually became able to create scenarios on my own, which I think was a key point in my growth.

One of the reasons for this growth was the environment that allowed me, a new graduate in my first year, to try my hand at it. I am able to grow day by day with the warm support of my seniors. With the warm support of my seniors, I feel that I am growing day by day.

As for myself, I hope to embody the "5 Ways" of "Wow! Of course, as a sales person, I think it is necessary to be aware of "Wow! with customers," but I also want to share surprises and excitement with everyone involved in sales work and projects, including customers, both inside and outside the company!

I am in the "Wow!
I want to create surprises and excitement together with our customers, from the perspective of creating the future together with them and proposing "the possibility of realizing this kind of future"!

To be more specific, I believe that as long as I am selling something, I am responsible for it, so I am now in my second year as a new graduate, and with the help of my seniors, I think I am running on a set of auxiliary wheels. I would like to be able to draw a clear picture of how I can help customers solve their current problems and improve their business and the company by using our products. First of all, I would like to become as good as my seniors so that I can pilot the machine by myself without any assistance wheels.

I myself joined our company after changing jobs from a different industry, and I believe that our company is a kind of rare company that is open to challenges from different industries and with no experience.
I believe that a career working for our company will be a positive experience for everyone who applies for a job with us in the future!
I am experiencing this on a daily basis myself, and I look forward to working with you!

As I have mentioned, our field sales is a highly challenging sales job, but if you raise your hand, you will be allowed to take on the challenge, and I think it is an environment where you can grow very much. Also, some people may have an image that there are not many female employees in the IT industry, but I believe that our company has a relatively large number of female employees regardless of the department. There are also active female managers in the sales department.
I would like to encourage those who are willing to take on challenges for their own future and career to enter this company!

I think we are a free company in terms of how we work, how we work, and many other aspects.
We are given a lot of discretion in how we take on projects, and even if it is a large scale project, new graduates are allowed to take on the challenge with the support of their seniors if they raise their hand.
Also, in terms of working styles, there is a high degree of freedom, such as teleworking and a full-flex-time system.

As mentioned a little in the interview, one of the characteristics of our employees is that many of them are good at "thinking logically.
The direction of sales proposals, as well as the overall work process, has clear reasons and objectives, which makes it very satisfying and easy to work with.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, there are highly enthusiastic and talented people whom I would like to make my goal!