Welcome back to our Employee Spotlight series. Here at Multiview, we feel very fortunate to be surrounded by such amazing colleagues, each possessing a diversity of skills and expertise. We want to highlight them.
In 2020, our 30th year as a software company, you will be learning about our Multiview Family, from Support, Implementation, Development, QA, Sales and lots more.
We see ourselves not as a technology company, but as a people company.
The third of our Employee Spotlight series focuses on our own Diana Gate, Director of Business Development.
Meet Multiview’s Director of Business Development, Diana Gate
What is your role at Multiview?
I am involved in many different aspects of working with a client from demoing to developing new strategies to helping solve client problems. I work closely with Jason Kraemer (Business Development Executive) on our team. We toss ideas off of each other. I work with other team members and with other departments to put forth new ideas. One of my recent ideas was on the marketing side, updating our quoting tool to fit the Multiview brand better.
What does a typical day look like in your role?
My day can be all over the map. I could be talking to current or potential customers or presenting a demo or having a follow-up call. I might be on a call internally to talk through a strategy on how to move a client forward, whether we have to introduce them to the implementation team or a development team. Then, on other days I will have internal calls to touch base, strategize, and develop new ideas on how we can be successful.
What is your role with new clients?
With a new prospect, usually, there’s an introduction from our SDR department. Then from there, I often strike up a conversation with the client. I try to find out what their pain points are and what they’re hoping to get out of a new ERP solution. Often, we develop a rapport because my background is in accounting. I’ve implemented and used Multiview software as a client. We often talk about the best practices. Once we have established a strategy, we move to schedule either additional calls or demos or follow-ups whatever is required.
What are some common pain points that you hear when you’re talking with clients?
Before Multiview, a lot of clients were using Excel. However, there’s no reliability because the numbers can change, and people can change those numbers. They often don’t have visibility on payables and expenses because everything is external outside of the system. It’s a paper trail as opposed to being an electronic trail. Then interfacing or integrations with other systems often is a pain point, so they all have multiple different solutions. They have to run reports from each solution, as opposed to going one to one source of truth.
What skills do you leverage in your role?
Accounting: Before coming to Multiview, I was a controller and implemented Multiview software. I did the due diligence of looking for new software, seeing what each software gave me; I felt it was going to give our team the best insight into what we’re trying to achieve.
Relationship building: I like to develop a rapport. We find common ground that we can talk about, whether it’s silly little things like the weather or children.
Organization: I need to be organized when I am trying to manage many different tasks. If I have a hectic day making sure that I have all the tools in place that I need to get the job done whether it is a meeting, having notes prepared or questions in advance, or if it’s a demo making sure that I know what the client’s pain points are so that I can focus on it. I make sure that I have done my research on the client. There’s no point in talking to a client who’s in an education field and using healthcare terms.
How did you get involved with Multiview?
I implemented Multiview software for the company that I worked for. Then after about a year, year and a half of using it, I was at a conference, and Multiview knew I was looking for a new opportunity and approached me to see if I’d be interested in working for the implementation team. That was 11 years ago.
After working on the implementation team for about six or seven years, I was asked to join the sales team. I said no at first but talked it over with my husband, and he said, I’d be very good at it because of my background and experience. I gave it a try, and needless to say, I’m still here.
Why did you get involved in sales?
When I was a controller, I had multiple FCS and multiple currencies, and I was doing everything in Excel. My month’s end close was challenging; I felt like I just got to close, and then I was starting all over again. Multiview changed that for me. The first month that I closed on Multiview, I was down to five days, which was a massive change for us. Then it got better (obviously) as we became more familiar with the software. So, when I hear about people using Excel, I immediately feel their pain because I remember those days.
How long did month’s end take before Multiview?
It took us a good ten days devoted to it where I would shut down everything else and work on my month close because of all of the revenue translations and re-evaluations. All of our Excel health spreadsheets had to be rebuilt if we added a new GL account.
So, what do you love the most about your role?
I love talking to and meeting with clients. I like the challenge of trying to solve their problem. I like it when they come to me with a complicated process that they’re currently doing, and they’re trying to improve them. I love being able to show them how Multiview can solve their problem. For example, taking a report of theirs and building it in my database to show them what we can do, and getting them to understand the process.
What do you do with time off?
Kayaking! My kayak was custom built for me. It’s 17 ft. long and weighs 37 lbs. It’s a composite of Kevlar and carbon fiber, making it very light. I kayaked the Atlantic and the Pacific; I also spent ten days kayaking in the Northwest Territories. It was amazing. We flew into Yellowknife, and then we took a floatplane to an island that was about 100 km away from Yellowknife to the middle of Great Slave Lake and kayaked around the island. If you ever want to get off the grid, that’s where you go. We kayaked in Newfoundland last summer and saw the icebergs, which was beautiful. When we first went out on our very first day, we were paddling in 2m to 3m swells in the oceans, and I couldn’t see my kayak or my husband beside me, it was a little nerve-wracking at first, but once I got there, it was pretty rewarding.
