Meet Alexandra Ahlfield From The Ecommerce Team

This "Meet The Team" blog features Alexandra Ahlfield, regional sales executive for the ecommerce division at ECI Software Solutions. We sat down with Alexandra to learn more about her role within the LBM team.

ECI: Describe your role in 50 words or less.

Alexandra Ahlfield (AA): I consult with a range of LBM businesses, from small hardware stores to large lumberyards, on future-proofing their business with ecommerce and account management self-service tools to address the new buying patterns of customers.

ECI: What and where did you study?

AA: I studied Psychology at Goucher College and completed my MBA at the University of Baltimore.

ECI: Tell us about your background and the path that led you to your current role.

AA: I was an entrepreneur of a small business with a software consulting background, which included multi-family CAPEX projects. I had recently transitioned my business online when ECI recruited me to use my knowledge of software and experience as a small business owner to help customers navigate the ups and downs of transitioning from in-store to online.

ECI: What is the most important lesson you’ve learned since you began your career?

AA: I learned you must find a visionary who sees change as an opportunity, not a threat to their business. Someone onsite is steering the ship through the storm of change to get to the other side. Finding that person can be difficult as this seems to be a very emotional decision for our clients to adapt to. I think adopting an ecommerce strategy is particularly challenging for our customers as they may have always viewed themselves as fighting the good fight against the big box store.

ECI: What do you enjoy doing when you're not at work?

AA: I love walking my dog along the Chesapeake Bay and I absolutely love traveling!

ECI: If you could go travel to any area of the world right now, where would you go?

AA: Ah, what a question. If only it were that easy to just fly around the world! I have always heard amazing things about Bali, Vietnam and Thailand. I also have only heard amazing feedback on Italy, so I would love to go there for a honeymoon. Pizza, pasta, wine, art, romance, culture, architecture, history, and family... it's all my speed. I did have the honor of going to Istanbul, Turkey with my team last year. If you love waterfront cities, kitties that can roam as citizens in and out of businesses, and stunning architecture that touches East and West capabilities, this is a place I would recommend! Travel is my favorite thing to do! Life is short. Book a trip every year!

ECI: What's currently on your music playlist?

AA: I grew up with a fashion illustrator and fine artist mother and am marrying a musician so art is part of my soul! Music is so important. My fiancé is in a band called Palm Trees in Moscow, so I listen to him quite often in addition to classic disco hits, Chet Faker, Maneskin and Dua Lipa. I saw Depeche Mode, Maneskin, Incubus and Sublime live last year. All were great! I have pretty eclectic tastes - anything with a good beat and I'll put my dancing shoes on!

ECI: Where do you live and what do you love about it?

AA: I live in Mount Vernon, Baltimore, MD. I live right on Mount Vernon Square next to the Washington Monument. That always confuses people, especially the DC crowd! Baltimore City also has not only a gorgeous waterfront, we also a Mount Vernon and a Washington Monument. The area is described as "The Little Europe" of Baltimore and is filled with cobblestone streets, gothic churches and stunning architecture. There's also four parks surrounding the monument where we love taking our dogs to play. I love it!

ECI: Who inspired you on your career path?

AA: My parents. I come from two entrepreneurs, rebels, and hustlers! My mother was one of the top-producing fashion illustrators in the country for over 30 years! She was credited with influencing the American woman's sense of style across 13 of the top major department stores and graced the pages of The New York Times with her designs every Sunday. Her illustrations sold billions of dollars of retail merchandise. My father, on the other hand, was equally successful as a TV commercial production and sales executive with CBS for over 22 years. He launched three companies and is an avid house flipper. He worked until age 77! My parents always taught me to believe in your gifts and follow your dreams. We since have also launched a family company, Sisumoi.

ECI: What does your day-to-day work life look like?

AA: Daily, I am talking to a range of stakeholders with differing opinions and experience on what ecommerce means to their business. I counsel customers as they adapt to changing online needs of their customers that their grandparents, and sometimes even parents, never had to think about. I am really working every day to help protect small to medium-sized businesses, or SMBs, from falling to big box retailers. I take a true partnership approach when talking with customer about this change. Change is scary and I know how addressing that fear feels.

ECI: What excites you most about working within this industry?

AA: Being part of a massive digital adoption wave such as what we are seeing with ecommerce in our industry is a special moment in time. Our customers are gritty and have survived some pretty incredible feats. They are survivors and we can help them survive with this massive opportunity to modernize their approach to servicing customers. The success we see from the adopters is a testament to the value these products and services offer as a modern source of competitive differentiation.

ECI: What advice would you give someone just starting in your industry? Any words of wisdom?

AA: Be honest, accountable and real. The customers I talk to are some of the most hard-working and down-to-earth business owners that I have meet. That includes many of my coworkers too! As long as you are authentic with your team and customers, everyone wins.

ECI: What do you find most challenging about working within this industry?

AA: As someone who has been in the ecommerce game for over a decade, and as a digital native, it's very challenging to hear from customers that they think their business is so different than the rest of the world in the way that people transact and conduct commerce. There are a lot of humbling moments on phone calls when customers realize how much money they're losing to their competition which has adapted to providing self-service to their customers.

Ultimately, when you Google your company, what people find about you will influence if you earn their business over the conveniently modernized option of Lowes, Home Depot, or Menards. If your website says you offer the best customer service and you are not online, you don’t. Convenience is the new loyalty. This can be a hard pill to swallow. Helping clients see our solution as an extension of their business online, a competing offering can be challenging to overcome.

ECI: Since you started working in the industry, what changes have you witnessed?

AA: In the last year since I started with ECI, I have watched multiple accounts that are not in the cloud get hacked and held for ransom. I have also watched multiple accounts who have told me, "I want to wait and see,” and continue to dig their heels in not budging to the ways in which the world has changed.

I have watched younger employees come in and try to bring modern technology to some of our customers, and when this did not land well with an old guard of decision-makers, I have watched these employees leave to find more progressive companies.

I have watched customers stay loyal to websites that generate very little just because “that’s the way we have always done it and that’s what our peers do.” I have watched people sell their businesses and give up the fight to big box stores. I have listened to countless people tell me, “lumber isn’t online,” even though multi-million-dollar big box stores thrive in these categories and grow sales 5% YOY in this category.

On the flip side, I have also witnessed customers take the leap and benefit from a streamlined business process with self-service (surprise!) I have watched customers triple their sales window with 24-7 e-commerce and account access. I have watched customers rake in thousands of dollars monthly with our online virtual branch.

I have watched customers land new contractor accounts with the suite or pro tools we offer that big box stores can’t compete with. I have watched customers able to breathe and get relief from being glued to their phones all day with basic self-service questions.

I have watched turnover decrease as employees are happier in their jobs. I have watched our customers able to showcase their expertise and superior value onsite as opposed to entering self-service admin work. Most importantly, I have seen customers relieved by our solution’s ability to give them more time with their families without compromising sales, and a way to future-proof their business and protect their family’s legacy.

ECI: What book would you recommend for anyone to add to their ‘must-read list?

AA: I would recommend: “Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen.” This book helped me clarify my message as an entrepreneur and one I would recommend to my clients as well. Branding is all about competitive differentiation and answering why someone should purchase (and stay) with you as opposed to your competition. Often, the story gets overlooked, which is a big part of our customer’s value. This book is a great outline for building your brand.

Be sure to check out related blog posts here:

• Meet the Team: Keith Getz, Senior Sales Engineer
• Meet the Team: Dan Dvorak from the LBM Team
• Meet the Team: Rob Crawford, RockSolid MAX Sales Engineer