Positive Commerce –
what’s the idea behind it and what’s to be gained from it?
Interview with Thomas Tittelbach
„Emotions are involved in every purchase.”
The new aye4fin motto states “Create positive commerce experiences”. However, there is more to it than just a catchy slogan. aye4fin CEO Thomas Tittelbach will explain why this expression also works as the company philosophy, why customers and employees benefit from it in the long run, and what skills are particularly important in order to get a job in the “positive-commerce-team”.
Thomas, what do you wish to convey with your motto “Create positive commerce experiences”?
On the one hand, we support companies in driving innovations into the marketplace; on the other hand, thanks to our expertise, we also help them optimize their existing processes. At one point, we asked ourselves: why are we doing this, actually? What is our purpose?
From a purely superficial point of view, we do what we do so that companies can be successful, make more turnover, or have lower expenses. However, money is just a trivial reason. The real idea behind what we do is completely different: we contribute to the fact that everyone is happy.
So, the management is happy because they can make new, innovative offers to expand their market position. The treasury manager is also pleased because, thanks to our solutions, the global costs can be reduced. And finally, the customers are also happy because they have a better shopping experience and they can use better services.
The essence of everything that we do?
We enable positive shopping experiences – “positive commerce experiences”, precisely.
Why are emotions important in a purchase?
Emotions always play a role!
We all know that feeling of satisfaction that hits us when we buy something that we really like. Also, we all have been annoyed at least once because the line at the cash desk was too long or the online checkout process was too complex. Feelings and emotions always matter.
As payment experts, we observe all parties and all commercial transactions: there are almost always specific issues in terms of speed, simplicity, and access to relevant information at the right time. This is where we come into play, to get these issues under control and to create positive emotions.
So, you rather promise happiness than profit?
Profit and growth are without any doubt extremely important for companies – small and large. But it’s not always just a matter of making the highest possible profit, but then maybe not having enough money to further train employees, to push innovations, or to finance marketing campaigns.
If it’s all about keeping costs as low as possible and making a big profit, at the end of the day only a few people in the company are going to be happy. That’s why we say: profit is important, but in the long run, the employees’ happiness is much more important. You have to bring the two together.
Is this a philosophy that is applied at aye4fin?
Absolutely. Our motto represents us, of course. We believe it is important that our work creates positive emotions, and we strive to create a positive atmosphere at aye4fin. Our goal is not only profit optimization. It’s not just about always working better, faster, and more efficiently, because in the process, employees often get left behind. In the long run, that helps neither the company nor the people. We want to achieve sustainable satisfaction – for our customers and for our team.
What are the values that aye4fin wants to transmit?
Our main goal is always to create positive feelings. That’s our core philosophy. All other values, such as transparency, team spirit and authenticity revolve around this fundamental concept.
We always communicate in an open and honest way, even when there are problems. We don’t just want to sell customers the largest possible contract package but find solutions that suit them individually and for the long term. Internally, too, we always strive to talk to our colleagues on equal terms. Everyone has the chance to express their own ideas, to make mistakes and to let off steam. That’s why we create a working environment based on trust and respect. Everything is okay, as long as everyone acts in an open and constructive way. Ideas from new employees bring a breath of fresh air to old ways of thinking. Mistakes show the courage to try something out and always bring good insights. Frustration should never be bottled up; it damages yourself, your own motivation and performance. No one wants that.
What do you need to have to get a job at aye4fin?
We are proven payment experts, and yet, we would rather hire someone who has no relevant work experience in the payment or banking field. Why? Because we firmly believe that employees with an unbiased view from the outside can make a more constructive contribution to our work. They don’t simply say: “Yes, okay. I know.”, but they ask questions, like: “Why do you do it this way? Does it have to be like that? Can’t it be done differently?”. This makes us grow.
That’s why we are looking for ambitious people, whose expertise actually belongs elsewhere, who, however, are keen to broaden their horizon. We’ve had a very good experience with this approach and we’re constantly growing. At the moment, we’re a team of 15 people. By the end of 2023, we will probably be around 20. We are looking forward to that.
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