Meet Mustafa, Sales Ninja at Visual Components

Mustafa has been a Sales Coordinator at Visual Components since 2018. He knew from a young age that he wanted to work within the engineering industry, and began taking course geared towards this profession as early as high school.

When he’s not managing leads or presenting 3D simulation software demos, Mustafa has a few hobbies. He likes going to the gym, listening to music, watching TV series and movies, and reading when he has the time. He specifically enjoys science fiction and horror books by Stephen King.

What is your career background?

I’m from Pakistan, where the biggest engineering field is mechanical engineering. Mechanical engineering is a very broad topic. I decided to pursue the more specialized study of industrial engineering, a subfield of mechanical engineering, that focuses on manufacturing technologies.

After getting my bachelors degree and working for two years in Pakistan I moved to Finland for my masters in Industrial Engineering and Management, which focused more on operative sales.

How did you end up working at Visual Components?

I came across Visual Components by chance. The software was already being used at Tampere University of Technology, and a friend had been talking about it quite a bit. I wanted to focus on technical sales, but at the time there were no available positions at VC. I lucked out a while later when I found a VC Sales Coordinator job that had just been posted on LinkedIn that day.

I applied in the morning, spoke with HR in the afternoon, and by the end of the week I had an interview.

I had a few different job offers, but I chose to work with Visual Components because it was better aligned with my long-term goals.

Describe what you do as a Sales Coordinator

A little bit of everything. Being a sales coordinator includes all the duties within the sales process from start to finish.

For example, we meet people at tradeshows and provide information about our products. Later we schedule technical demonstrations with them to show the capabilities of our software and how it can benefit their company specifically. Sometimes during a trial phase we help them complete a small project related to how they could use our software within their company. When we acquire a sale, I help customers get set up and facilitate their training.

Describe your regular day here at VC

The day starts before I even get to work. I check my emails first thing so I can get an idea of what the week is going to look like. When I get to work, I start to process new leads and forward these to partners, send emails, and make calls. After lunch I focus on the direct sales aspects, and following up on leads I’ve already contacted.

What do you love most about what you do?

You’re always learning on the job.

The first part of the day is the best because new leads always come up with new ideas and questions.

Initially I thought I would learn everything I needed to know within the first few months here. But there’s always something new to learn from leads and VC staff. When I get questions and request for details, I look for the information from inside the organization by talking to different departments.

What is your favourite anecdote from working at Visual Components?

At the Christmas party, the company took us to a chocolate tasting and then we went to play Zorb Ball. I bumped into my teammates a lot, specifically the other sales people! That was a lot of fun, and I got a lot of good memories from that day.

What advice would you give to someone who would like to work with us?

There’s going to be so much that you learn when you come here, so you have to have an open mind.
For example, you might not have any experience in engineering activities. Even if you do, there will still be so much to learn. It’s more important to have the right attitude for most of the positions here, especially in sales.

In one sentence, describe what it is like to work here?

It’s a fun international environment, and also a process of continuous learning.