Meet Caroline Torsthensson - Account Executive with 8 years at NetClean

This month you've been with NetClean for eight years - how has your time with us been?

It’s been incredibly instructive. Most importantly it has been an opportunity to try different roles and work on an issue that I’m passionate about. I’ve been in sales for a while now, but my first job was as a marketing assistant; updating the website, writing newsletters and organizing seminars and customer events.

The latter was something that I enjoyed a lot as it gave me the opportunity to work closely with our clients. So when the Head of Sales offered me a job, I jumped at the opportunity to work in a role that was more customer focused. It’s a move I’ve never regretted.

You've now held several roles in sales, one being Customer Care Business Manager - how would you describe that role?

It’s a role that’s given me a lot of drive, it’s been instructive and I’ve been able to develop loads of skills. Our Swedish customers are located as far up as Kiruna in the north, down to Ystad, which is as far south as you can get in Sweden, and by now I have met most of them, which is great.

If there’s one thing that strikes me, it’s that there’s great engagement amongst businesses, local authorities, and organizations to work actively to prevent the spread of child sexual abuse material. It’s always a great motivator to work with people who show this type of commitment.

Although many today see it as a hygiene factor to have detection software to detect child sexual abuse material, the decision-making process that leads to investing in detection software can sometimes be longwinded. This is where collaboration and experience come in handy, and the fact that we today have existing customers who are willing to support and guide prospective clients is a testament to all the engagement that is out there. Another one of our successes is our structured collaborative meetings, which rest heavily on the engagement of our clients and partners.

Sales is dependent on building and maintaining relationships, and this year has been a challenge in terms of outreach - how have you navigated around the Covid crisis to ensure that you can stay in touch with existing and potential new clients?

Well, yes, this year did not pan out as expected at all, but now that we’ve had time to react I’d have to say that things have gone better than we initially expected. Our clients and contacts have been quick to adapt. Some meetings we’ve pushed into the future, while others have happened as planned. The greatest change has of course been in the number of webinars we’ve hosted, which has given us a new channel to reach our clients - one that we had previously not really used.

About the collaborative meetings that you mentioned, can you give us some insight into why these are organized and what they entail?

Of course! A couple of years ago we realized that there was both a need and interest around understanding the workings after an alarm had been triggered. Our clients understood the technical side of NetClean ProActive, but wanted a deeper understanding of what happened after an alarm was triggered and the police had been contacted. We also knew that the law stipulates how material is handled, and the police have their procedures and we therefore realized that it would be a good idea to get all parties into a room to share best practices and knowledge. We invited the National Operations Directive (Swedish National Police), local police, the prosecution service and our clients - and the meetings turned out to be very successful.

Good work has been improved by sharing best practices. Previously these meetings were arranged like traditional meetings, but this year we arranged them as webinars, with the added bonus that geographical location is not an issue. All our clients and prospective clients can attend. This is something positive that has come out of the crisis that we, and everyone else, have faced this spring.

Before we end - do you want to add anything else?

I would like to say a big THANK YOU to all our clients, collaborators and not least of all to my fantastic colleagues who have all shown how flexible, helpful and solution orientated they are. It has made a great impact on me, and I look forward to our continued collaborations.