This article is part of WS Technicals’ series Engineering Perspectives, where we highlight the people behind our battery solutions. Each article gives insight into the expertise, challenges and partnerships that shape the way we work.
A battery project doesn’t stop when the development phase is complete. Once a battery has been designed, documented and moved into production, the commercial work continues. Orders need to be managed, delivery dates coordinated, changes handled, prices reviewed and customers kept informed.
This is where Trine, Key Account Manager at WS Technicals, comes in.
“My role is the dialogue with both the customer and production around pricing, quotations, delivery and the ongoing agreements with the customer,” she explains.
Trine works across several parts of the organisation and acts as the commercial link between the customer, the engineering team in Denmark and production in China. A large part of her role is making sure everyone is aligned, that expectations are clear and that the customer always knows what happens next.
“We need to make sure that everyone understands the same thing and that we’re on the same page.”
Making the process easier for the customer
Once the technical requirements for a new battery have been defined, Trine takes over the commercial side of the project. She works with pricing, coordinates with production and keeps the customer updated as the project moves forward.
That often means finding solutions that work for several parties at once. The customer may have a target price or a specific deadline, production has its own requirements, and the project as a whole still needs to make commercial sense.
For Trine, flexibility is an important part of that work.
“..When you take responsibility for a customer’s needs, you have to be persistent and systematic.”
If there’s room to adjust, WST will look for it. If a delivery changes, the customer needs to know. If a technical requirement develops, the right people need to be brought into the process straight away.
“You can’t always control whether something is delayed,” Trine says. “But you can control whether the customer is informed.”
She works closely with WS Technicals’ Commercial Operations Coordinator, who follows orders and operational progress, while Trine keeps the broader commercial relationship moving. Together with the technical teams and production, this gives customers several people working behind the scenes to make sure things stay on track.
That follow-up is a big part of Trine’s approach.
“You have to keep going and push for answers. You can’t just send a message and hope for the best. When you take responsibility for a customer’s needs, you have to be persistent and systematic.”
That mindset also fits her background. Trine is educated as an Export Engineer, a degree that combines engineering with business, economics, language and communication.
“WS Technicals has customers and projects spread around the globe. So you need to know how to communicate with different cultures and different kinds of people,” she explains. “You need to know how to formulate yourself, and you need to be outgoing and have the confidence to keep things moving.”
Much of the job is exactly that, bringing together people with different priorities, backgrounds and ways of communicating, and making sure everyone is working toward the same goal.
When the customer journey starts with a BMS
Alongside her Key Account role, Trine is also responsible for Lithium Balance products at WS Technicals.
As a distributor and support partner for Lithium Balance, WS Technicals receives enquiries from companies looking for BMS solutions. Trine follows up on those leads, learns about the customer’s setup and helps determine which BMS fits their application.
“We’re not just trying to sell,” Trine says. “It has to be because we can see that we can actually help the customer.”
But the first question isn’t simply, “What can we sell?”
It’s, “What does the customer actually need?”
“We’re not just trying to sell,” Trine says. “It has to be because we can see that we can actually help the customer.”
Sometimes, the answer is simply the right BMS and the necessary support. WS Technicals can help with product selection, pricing, technical support and follow-up throughout the process.
In other cases, the conversation develops.
One customer originally came with a need to replace the BMS in an existing battery system. During the dialogue, it became clear that the battery solution itself also needed to be reconsidered. What started as a BMS enquiry eventually developed into a completely new battery project.
This is where the connection between Lithium Balance and WS Technicals becomes particularly valuable.
Instead of working with one supplier for the BMS, another for battery development and then coordinating between the two, the customer can handle both parts within the same organisation.
“They have one company to contact,” Trine says. “Working with us means not having to coordinate all the different parties themselves. We’re able to take care of the different parts of the customer journey.”
One partner from BMS to battery production
For WS Technicals, the BMS isn’t an isolated component. It’s part of the complete battery system.
That means a customer can enter the process at different points. Some come with a complete battery requirement. Others come with a BMS question. Some are still testing a concept, while others are already in serial production.
The advantage is that they don’t have to change partner every time the project moves into a new phase.
WS Technicals can support BMS selection and technical support, battery development, engineering, production and the commercial relationship afterwards. If requirements change later on, the relevant technical teams can be brought back in, while Trine continues to manage the commercial side and keep the customer updated.
For Trine, that’s what good customer management comes down to.
“My mission is to make it easy for them.”
That means listening to what the customer actually needs, making sure the right people are involved and keeping the process moving, from the first BMS enquiry to battery production and the ongoing relationship afterwards.