Elke Sabrina: Working in startups can be challenging but rewarding

Can you briefly describe your role as an Accounts Manager in our Indonesia team? 

As an Accounts Manager, my role is to connect Quincus with potential customers. I introduce Quincus to them and explain what and how we can provide for their companies. 

I feel that not every customer understands what they need or want. Or maybe they know what they want but are not sure how that translates into specific requirements. So, I spend a lot of time looking at their operations to propose how our solutions are able to meet their needs.  

What are the challenges that customers often face?  

My experience will be different from other countries because I feel that each country has their own obstacles. But based on my experience in Indonesia, sometimes we need to educate our potential customers on the different solutions, and it is not easy.

They will ask: why give information or data to Quincus when more familiar vendors can provide us with the same solutions as Quincus? They do not understand how our products are different, and they prefer more vendors that they are more familiar with.

A large part of our time is also spent on educating customers on how Quincus solutions are different from other competitors. 

Right now, you are working in a startup, but you have worked in much larger corporations before—if you have to point out the main differences, what would they be?  

Actually, this is my first experience working at a startup.

There is a huge difference—because our solutions are configurable, we usually have more communication between the commercial team and our customers. This is because we are more involved in understanding customer needs and requirements to map their expectations. So, it is more than just selling the products. I also have to manage other timelines alongside our product team.  

I would say that it is more challenging now because there is a lot more communication between our commercial team and customers as well as internally within Quincus. But that is okay! I enjoy the challenge.    

You are often liaising with customers. Do you ever feel like it is tough or you are on your own?  

I am so grateful to have a boss like Ali because he supports me 100%. Other members in the commercial team also support me in customer communication and meeting customer needs.

Jonathan (Quincus CEO and Co-founder) also helps me when I face obstacles with customers. Jonathan is also very active in providing resources to liaise better with them so I am very grateful. 

When you are working in a big company, the internal support is usually weaker, but it is a different story for Quincus. We have each other, and we support each other. I think it is because everyone shares the same end goals, so we actively try to support each other as much as we can.