You have been in Melaco since June and you work as a Sales Coordinator. What are your responsibilities?

Yes, I have been working for a short time and I spent my first weeks being inducted into my duties by another employee. Gradually, I took over responsibilities and issues related to sales and customer service. As a sales coordinator, I supervise projects and implementations as well as what is happening in the sales department.

Is this your first professional contact with the furniture industry?

Yes, I worked in the automotive industry before (laughs). So this is a completely different direction in terms of industry. However, when it comes to responsibilities, there are many common elements. I worked in the logistics department, so I also had contact with clients and organized shipments, we also carried out projects, so technically everything was the same. Everything is the same, we just sell different products.

What was a challenge for me was getting acquainted with the industry and products that Melaco offers. I just had to learn it by heart – what we produce, how, from what and for whom.

Also read: A new face in our sales department. We present Mrs Beata Prałat

Apart from the products, are there other differences between the furniture and automotive industries?

Certainly, the nature of the work is different. In the automotive industry, everything is fast, everything has to be done right away. We work much more calmly here, there are many conversations with clients, and the service is really professional and very specific. In this regard, it is definitely much better here.

Are there any projects you have been involved in from the beginning? Was it successful?

In fact, I am involved in all new projects that go to the sales department, from the beginning. There are many of them. Obviously, some will be closed, others will not. At the moment, we have a lot of new projects, so there is also a lot of commitment. I hope that most of them will come to fruition and we will successively implement them as orders for customers.

Do you look a little differently at furniture after these few months?

I definitely do (laughs). Since I got to know the industry better and since I know what furniture is made of, I started looking at all my furniture at home (laughs). I have noticed what the shortcomings are and that some of them, unfortunately, are not perfectly executed. We don’t do these in Melaco. Right now other employees laugh at me here in the company, because I am at the stage of purchasing furniture, so I already know that it will be difficult to find something that will meet my current needs.

Also read: 25 years in Melaco. The story of our operator, Rafał Śliwiński

And referring to the market situation, what are the trends among Melaco customers? Is the crisis still visible or is the industry mobilizing?

The summer holidays were weaker, but more because of the holiday season, and downtime. We also had a two-week technical break. But now this September has become more intense. We have more new implementations, which indicates that customers want to invent something new and sell something new. These are either completely new projects or improvements to existing products or solutions. So there is still a lot going on in the industry and we have our hands full all the time.

Which of course we all hope for. Thanks for the interview.