Get to know the people and the passion behind Tivian
In this exciting new ‘5 minutes with’ series, we’re taking a closer look at some of the incredible people who power Tivian.
Our guest today is Nicole Heckler, who is Account Executive at Tivian and is based in Munich. Join us as we delve into her background, expertise, and what drives her passion for Tivian’s mission
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Hi Nicole, thanks for chatting with us. Before we get into your career detail, please could you share a few things about yourself, including your inspirations and the values that mean the most to you.
What or who has inspired you most in your life, and why?
My mum is my biggest inspiration. As a young woman, she left her home country many years ago to make a better life for herself and her family. When she emigrated from Romania to Germany in the mid-90s, she was already thinking about giving me better opportunities, even though I hadn’t been born yet. She has mastered every challenge in life with strength and dignity and doesn’t know the meaning of “give up”. In every situation, she has been the first person I have asked for advice and has often helped me to see things from an entirely new perspective. I hope to learn a few things from her for my future.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Trust in your abilities, your mind and your strengths and don’t compare yourself to others.
What are the values you hold most dear to you?
Trust, honesty, family, friendship, and love.
You can invite four people to dinner (dead or alive). Who would they be, and why?
- Coco Chanel – I am passionate about fashion. I find her biography, designs and vision to redefine the concept of clothing for women (some 100 years ago) very inspiring.
- Felix Lobrecht – A German comedian. He is not only extremely humorous (at least in my eyes) but also a valuable dialogue partner when it comes to more profound topics.
- Kelvin Colt – I love music! Especially hip-hop. I’m also aware that this genre, in particular, has a lot of clichés attached to it. That’s why I really appreciate artists who break down these clichés and show how versatile and poetic rap and hip-hop can be. Kelvyn Colt is one of these artists that I would love to sit at a table with.
- Kris Jenner – what a powerful woman and Head of The Kardashians! I admire her business acumen, organisational skills and eye for things others might not see. I also think she’s incredibly funny. Sitting at a table with her one evening would be a dream.
Moving on to your career …
Tell us about your background before joining Tivian?
Before joining Tivian as an Account Executive, I worked in business development for a leading American CRM provider for a year. During this time, I left my home in Bavaria and moved to Dublin for this position. However, I started my career in retail. I first studied Retail Management and then worked for a while at an off-price fashion retailer in various positions for the Product Campaigns team. After a brief foray into food retail, I sought a new challenge. That’s why I finally moved to Dublin and found my passion for software sales here.
What does your role entail?
I am primarily responsible for identifying new projects and potential customers and discussing current challenges in daily business with them, especially when it comes to customer experience or employee experience. I am also curious how we can use our solution to streamline their feedback processes to make everyday tasks as efficient and transparent as possible. Apart from that, I get to be a trusted point of contact for some of our existing customers and have regular conversations with them about their satisfaction with our solution and new points of contact. If they have any problems or challenges with our products, I am their first point of contact and do my best to deal with their concerns as quickly as possible so that everything runs smoothly again, and they have the best possible experience with our solution and support.
What prompted you to move into Sales?
My initial thought when I moved into my first sales role was to take on a new challenge, especially in a country that was previously foreign to me. Both professionally and personally. Over time, I quickly realised how much I enjoyed interacting and talking to all kinds of different personalities and people. If we can work together with our customers on new solutions and offer them added value with our products, I have achieved my goal. The fact that working in Sales presents you with new challenges every day and that you learn something new every day makes it even more exciting.
What are the challenges you see (in your field)?
I see the biggest challenge in not losing the personal component in conversations with our (potential) customers, despite the advancing technological developments and all the advantages of digitalisation. Due to the pandemic, we quickly got used to holding meetings via Teams and Zoom, etc., which is, of course, very convenient on the one hand. However, we should not lose the personal interaction that is essential in sales in particular. That’s why at Tivian, we endeavour to meet our customers in person over coffee or lunch in addition to virtual meetings.
Another challenge for sales teams, especially in the current tense economic situation, is positioning themselves as a trustworthy partner and point of contact for customers. Many companies are being forced to tighten budgets due to macroeconomic problems, leading to technological investments being selected and made even more cautiously than before. Now more than ever, we need to be able to communicate our added value to customers and show them clearly how we can support and accompany them in the current situation rather than just being seen as a nice-to-have tool.
How does Tivian help businesses?
Tivian is much more than just a survey tool. With our platform, we want to support companies in capturing and utilising the insights of their employees, customers and target market. We want to offer our customers an easy way to listen to their customers or employees and, derive relevant measures from their feedback, and organise their feedback management processes in such a way that they can significantly improve their employee retention and customer loyalty.
Thanks so much for your time Nicole and for sharing your thoughts, insights, and story with us.
Before you go, please could you share one interesting fact about you (outside of work)?
I was born in Germany, but I have Hungarian roots. However, my family was born in Romania, meaning I have Romanian and German citizenship. Hungarian is my mother tongue, and I only learned German in kindergarten and at school. I grew up with a very diverse cultural background, which has often led to the odd identity crisis. However, this has made me a very open-minded person who rarely shies away from new things or challenges. I am grateful that I also had the privilege of growing up bilingual (which I took for granted initially but has now become a gift). However, I still can’t really answer whether I identify more as German or Hungarian, as somehow both nations lie dormant in me.
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