Sales Manager who knows both Swedes and Finns
When Petter Olofsson saw the vacancy ad for Mylab, he knew it was a job for him. He wants to establish a market position for Mylab in Sweden using his versatile experience of the healthcare and health technology industries. He believes that every well functioning healthcare system needs a first-class laboratory information system.
A recent recruitment, Petter Olofsson, Sales Manager, is the first Mylab employee based in Sweden. His recruitment process was rather exceptional as it took place only in virtual space. He has now worked for Mylab since the beginning of 2021 and has not met his collegues in person.
The COVID-19 pandemic has posed challenges for recruitment and orientation processes. I would love to meet my colleagues in Finland as soon as possible, but due to travel restrictions it is not possible at the moment. I just need to adapt to the circumstances, like everybody else, he says. Luckily it has been possible to carry out all necessary introductions successfully with virtual meetings.
Olofsson is very impressed about the extensive careers people have at Mylab. He has a very good impression of the company, its culture and policies as well as its stability.
I have met people from Mylab already during my career in digital pathology and I had a very good impression of the company and its employees. When I saw that Mylab is looking for a Sales Manager in Sweden, I knew that this is the job for me. And now I will get to establish a market for Mylab in Sweden.
How to establish confidence remotely?
Before joining Mylab, Olofsson worked for Elekta Instrument AB that provides clininal radiotherapy and stereotactic neurosurgery solutions. He has extensive experience from healthcare and medtech sales in the Nordic markets and he has also worked for Leica Biosystems, Toshiba Medical Systems and Philips Healthcare.
Olofsson is excited to open a new market for Mylab in Sweden. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought along major changes in sales, because you cannot meet your customers in person. Building customer relationships and establishing trust is lot more demanding through remote connections.
The change in interaction is very drastic both for customers and sales. We need to recall old ways to contact potential customers with cold calls. We need to be able to build the trust in other ways than we did before the pandemic.
Olofsson does not perceive major differencies between healthcare systems in Finland and in Sweden besides Finland being slightly ahead in the development of healthcare information systems.
We need to find better ways to connect the vast amounts of healthcare data. Big data is a hot topic, but its full benefits have not been seen yet. Healthcare information systems need to participate in increasing the well-being of patients, for instance, with suggestions based on stored information. Laboratory is the heart of a healthcare system. If the laboratory information system does not work, there is no healthcare system, he says.
First installation is an important step
Olofsson is originally from northern Sweden. He describes the culture there to be very similar to Finland and working with Finns feels familiar. He thinks that the Finns are very honest and open and they keep their promises meeting agreed deadlines. When establishing a new market, it is important to understand both the company culture and that of the market – and Olofsson knows both.
I want to establish Mylab in in the Swedish medtech market and make it market leader. It may take some time, but I believe that Mylab has what it takes to make it here in Sweden. First installation is an important step, because it shows customers how differently Mylab works compared with competitors in the market.
Work hard and have fun
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Olofsson works remotely from his home in Uppsala, about one-hour drive from Stockholm. His spouse is also from the north and they have a son aged 14 and a daughter who will soon turn 11 as well as a Golden Retriever aqcuired during the pandemic.
We wanted to get a working strain Golden Retriever, because I hunt grouse, in particular willow ptarmigan in the winter. We make regular skiing trips to Northern Sweden and sometimes I go hunting there. I have also built two saunas and one of them is in our cottage, where we bathe practically every day in the sauna.
In his spare time, Olofsson coaches junior soccer and floorball teams of both boys and girls. He enjoys assisting young people to find active hobbies that will possibly help them to keep out of trouble.
He has a driving principle that he follows both in his work and spare time: “Work hard but remember to have fun”. In addition, learning something new every day is essential for him.
It is important to celebrate the everyday life and to venture into something new, he concludes.
Petter Olofsson – Sales Manager who knows both Swedes and Finns.