MALIN LILTON

Get an insight into what Malin Lilton’s work week as MD of Ballingslöv Gothenburg City looks like.

MONDAY

On Mondays, I’m always first to work. At this time of the year, I usually light a few candles because of the cozy atmosphere it creates. I have a little routine where I hang up my coat but without switching on the main lights. It’s nice with the subdued night lighting. I go through the warehouse and make a quick check that everything looks good and then into the showroom and make sure our catalog racks are filled and in the right place, that everything looks good overall and continue into our office landscape. That’s when I turn on the lights.

At nine, the first sales reps arrive, those responsible for the reception area and the showroom, and we usually go through anything special we may need to take into account during the day. The rest of the sales staff sit in our office landscape inside the shop and work with customer drawings.

My job includes being an operational CEO, which means that I am involved in or responsible for many of the company’s work areas, and Mondays mostly consist of reviewing and updating sales statistics, going over and updating liquidity reports, checking invoicing and order placement. But if there are a lot of customers in the shop, I also help out in the showroom.

TUESDAY

A small part of the day, but all so important, is that we get a direct delivery from Ballingslöv factory. I receive the delivery and at the same time take the opportunity to chat a little with the drivers.

I also make a compilation of all our upcoming deliveries and deliveries for the coming week, which I communicate to the transport manager in Ballingslöv and to our logistics coordinator at the company we work with here in Gothenburg. Some customers want help with carrying in their kitchens and others want to take care of that themselves. It’s then important that this is planned and communicated in advance, even before loading from Ballingslöv. Fortunately, I have extensive experience from the transport industry in which I worked for many years.

The 600-SQM showroom and the construction of new environments is my responsibility. I make sure that the showroom is updated with our own products, but also that we show the latest white goods, etc.

WEDNESDAY

It’s time for the weekly meeting and today I have invited one of our suppliers to present their latest products. We have many partners such as manufacturers of sinks, mixers and fans, as well as white goods such as ovens, stovetops and microwaves.

It’s a lot for a sales rep to learn and stay up to date on. Should you choose a carbon filter fan or exhaust air fan and what works in a house or apartment?  Is it okay with the tenant-owner association, what do the laws and regulations say, do you need an external motor, can you put the ceiling-integrated fan exactly where you want, and so on. Then we have our own products and our carpentry, and there we work with our own training/run-throughs because each customer is unique and all houses and apartments are different.

THURSDAY

More economics. Check and go over the weekly invoicing, review any repair, conversion, extension deductions as well as credit information. We have good collaboration with another company in the Sphere, Captum, that enables us to offer very advantageous payment solutions to our customers.

Otherwise, I usually try to spend a good part of the day working with our marketing and social media. Ballingslöv AB creates some of our materials that we can provide to the media when we have campaigns and the like. This is so that we can be as homogeneous as possible. With this, it’s up to each shop to decide how much they want to work with other social media, and I work quite a bit with preparing my own articles.

FRIDAY

On Fridays, I try to keep my schedule open so that I can deal with things that have been dragging out during the week. This Friday, like many others, I’m baking cookies. I want our customers to get homemade cookies when they sit in meetings with our salespeople. When customers come in and see that I am baking, they usually ask, “do you really bake in the kitchen?” Then I usually joke and say that you have to try the products you sell, and that is partly true!

Welcome – if nothing else for a freshly baked cookie – and a look around in our nice showroom.

FACTS BALLINGSLÖV

Ballingslöv AB is a part of Ballingslöv International AB Group. Ballingslöv International AB is a supplier of kitchen, bathroom and storage systems and is represented in large parts of Europe. Ballingslöv International is wholly owned by Stena Adactum AB.

COVID-19

Ballingslöv always offers video-meetings with their clients and this solution has become a popular way to “visit” the store during the pandemic. www.ballingslov.se