This year has marked significant growth for EG Silverbucket's sales organization. In May, we welcomed Jussi Toivonen to the team. Reijo Torpo joined us in June, and most recently, Martin Ekman came aboard in November. Each brings unique expertise, perspectives, and energy to help organizations transform their resource management.
Despite working with sophisticated organizations across the Nordics and beyond, all three were surprised by how many companies—even large ones—still rely heavily on spreadsheets for complex resource management. We sat down with them to learn about their backgrounds, what drew them to EG Silverbucket, and how they're helping customers move beyond spreadsheet chaos to confident, data-driven resource planning.
Why did you join EG Silverbucket & what is special about the team/environment?
Jussi: Silverbucket is a competitive project resourcing solution in the market with notable clients and is part of EG group. Even though we span countries—it feels that we are one big team.
Reijo: I completely agree. What really pulled me in was the combo of a warm, smart team and a product that solves a very real pain. Silverbucket isn't just viable—it's in that sweet growth phase where you can see your impact in real time. Also, people actually seem to like each other here. Wild, right?
Martin: For several years already, the idea of working in SaaS has been nestled deep inside my brain. So when the opportunity presented itself, I couldn't stop thinking about it. What ultimately made me decide to join was the people. It seemed like Silverbucket (and EG!) has a lot of awesome people, and that turned out to be true.
What is your background & how does it shape the way you work with customers?
Martin: I've travelled extensively for B2B Sales all over the Nordics, Europe, and China. I understand that different cultures have different aspects to selling, while one thing always stays the same: You have to listen and understand the customer. Managing a heavy workload at times has made me value my time, which is a finite resource for everyone.
Jussi: I have an extensive SaaS background in driving eco-system partnerships globally and working in customer experience consultation and AI analysis enterprise sales. Adding value to the customer in each meeting is a creed I try to abide to.
Reijo: Same here—Martin's absolutely right about listening being universal. I've worked with ERPs and project management tools across the Nordics—mostly with large customers who don't have time for fluff. That experience taught me to cut to the value quickly, speak the customer's language, and connect technical dots to business outcomes. I'm basically a translator between functional jargon and ROI.
What strengths or expertise do you feel you bring to EG Silverbucket?
Reijo: I bring a sixth sense for Nordic and North European customer pain points, a toolbox full of sales methodologies, and a decent radar for when to talk and when to shut up and listen. I also bring team spirit and a growth mindset.
Martin: I bring a very organized way of working, together with a strong will to help and listen to customers. Doing tasks with a smile on my face makes things easier for me, for colleagues, and for customers.
Jussi: I have presented on smaller and bigger stages, in person and online—worldwide. My strength is capturing the attention of my audience from top management to operative managers and users.
What surprised you most when you started working with the product or the industry?
Jussi: How planning for projects—or front-end loading—was something that corporate investments did not find their way adequately. This still leads to delayed projects, lost profits, and employee burnout.
Reijo: That people are still managing resources in spreadsheets like it's 1999. The market seems to be more ripe for modern tools than I expected, and the focus on actual people (not just resources) in planning is refreshing.
Martin: That so many organizations (even big ones) still rely heavily on Excel for complex tasks.
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Market & Customer Focus
What kind of organizations or roles do you find Silverbucket resonates with most?
Jussi: Companies that are project driven and want to optimize workload, profit margins and customer satisfaction with forward-looking capacity management.
Reijo: Engineering organizations, project driven organizations.
What are the most common challenges you hear from prospects?
Jussi: Lack of visibility into their resource capacity across their projects, organization and sub-contracting. Common challenge is that availability comes as a surprise because resourcing forecast is not correct or does not exist—leading to delays and extra costs.
Reijo: Exactly, and that lack of visibility Jussi mentioned leads to firefighting as a result of poor planning.
Martin: And often they're dealing with all of this in spreadsheets that have grown into uncontrollable beasts.
Reijo: Right—people assume their way of working is "fine" until they see how much smoother and less chaotic things could be.
Is there a particular moment in a demo when you see something "click" for customers?
Reijo: Yes—the moment they realize they can plan by role and person at the same time and do immediate drag-and-drop updates.
Jussi: Absolutely. Customer favorite is the shared overview graph that covers all types of projects, people, and roles (demand vs capacity) looking into the future weeks, months, and even years.
How do you see the resource management market evolving over the next year or two?
Martin: I think there will be a lot more customers and potential customers trying to make their own resource management system with the help of AI and so-called "vibe coding". Some might succeed, most probably won't. Who knows, maybe this could be a turning point, prompting more and more organizations to realize they need a dedicated, well-built solution.
Jussi: I agree—more automation and data insights delivered by AI as well as more adoption of dedicated tools and modules that solve holistic pre-planning related needs of resource management. The market is maturing.
Reijo: We'll also see more demand for AI supported human-centered resourcing.
Martin: Exactly, and I think tighter integrations will be crucial too.
Reijo: Absolutely—integrations with ecosystems like ERP, time tracking, and BI tools will become table stakes.
Product & Demo
When you prepare for a demo, where do you start—what do you want the customer to understand first?
Martin: Discovery should always precede presentation. I.e., before I agree on/start a demo, I make it a specific point to be interested in the customer, to understand their problems, how those problems affect them, and what are the outcomes they want. Then, as a last thing before starting the demo, I repeat my understanding of their situation to them, so that the demo will be relevant for them. We could spend hours discussing features with a potential customer but: a) How much value does that bring and b) who has that kind of time?
Reijo: Like Martin said, discovery first. I start by understanding their current needs, what's hurting, what's manual, and what they wish they had. Also, about their must win battles. Then I guide them toward how EG Silverbucket brings clarity to the madness, with a simple tool that people are willing to use.
Martin: Yes, basically directly relating the benefits of EG Silverbucket to the customer's specific wants and needs.
Jussi: I take a similar approach—I learn about the company and person(s) I am talking to before the meeting. I try to learn about customer needs, targets and business outcome expectations early in the meeting. During the meeting match customer requirements with our offering. The biggest takeaway is the proactive resource planning equals better project business which can be a competitive edge for the customer in the market.
Which areas of the product do you find yourself highlighting most often, and why?
Reijo: I highlight role-based and person-based planning most often because it solves 90% of the "we're overbooked" stress.
Jussi: I focus on project resourcing outlook into the future which helps avoiding costly problems. Some common examples include combining sales pipeline (CRM) with total capacity planning for better internal collaboration and better project delivery reliability.
Reijo: I also emphasize pipeline visibility—like what Jussi just mentioned—because decisions based on gut feelings are something we want to reduce. And customers are always surprised by how user-friendly the interface is.
Jussi: Additionally balancing sub-contractor work with own skilled-labor resources early on keeps projects more profitable.
What common questions or objections do you encounter, and how do you address them?
Reijo: The two most common questions are "Will it integrate with our current systems?" and "Will our team actually use it?" For integrations, the answer is yes, and if not directly, our API says hello. For adoption, yes, because they won't need a boring manual to get started.
Jussi: Budget is another one. I recommend building a business case with one team and showing the results. The math is on our side; small utilization improvements lead to huge cost-savings or revenue creation in billable type of project work.
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Relationship Management
What's your approach to building trust with a new customer or prospect?
Martin: My approach is to listen and understand, ask relevant value-building questions without wasting anyone's time, and then agree on next steps and do what I say I will do.
Reijo: Same philosophy here. Listen first. No "pitch-slapping." I focus on understanding their world, then showing how we fit into it—not forcing them into ours.
Jussi: It's a three-way process in my approach:
- Personal trust building - understanding their needs, showing expertise and high service attitude
- External trust building - showcase relevant industry references and success cases
- Business trust building - calculating ROI for customer's own business
Reijo: Also, being human helps. Nobody trusts a robot sales pitch.
When a customer shares challenges, how do you ensure their feedback is heard internally?
Martin: First I need to understand those challenges. What are the effects of those challenges, who in the customer's organization is affected and how many people are affected? Is it a true need or just a want?
Jussi: Blue ocean shift companies turn service quality into a competitive edge. This starts from with my solution sales work: not overpromising, asking for (and listening) feedback and sharing those customer comments with right departments and team members.
Martin: When I have enough information, I will discuss the topic in Product x Sales meetings, discuss with Customer Success or communicate via other relevant channels.
Reijo: I act as the feedback amplifier—bringing their voice into product and customer success discussions. Also, I use Confluence for recording improvement suggestions.
Jussi: And lastly keeping customer informed of how their feedback is being addressed and processed.
About You
What do you enjoy most about your role?
Martin: I love working with people, and I love a good challenge. In this role, there's an abundance of both!
Reijo: That moment when the customer says, "Wait... this is exactly what we need." Also, having conversations that feel like collaboration, not coercion.
Jussi: I have a chance to collaborate with world-class team members and industry professionals. Additionally working globally with different clients and partners makes work rewarding.
If a prospect could remember one thing after speaking with you, what do you want it to be?
Reijo: That a spreadsheet is not a long-term answer, and the problem is not going to go away by itself.
Martin: That I'm honest, cooperative, and a man of my word.
Jussi: I'll quote a client: "It's been great working with you"—this is my goal and enjoyable feedback.
What should customers come to you for?
Martin: Anytime they have a problem and don't know how to fix it or who to speak to. They can trust me to help them if I can, connect them with other relevant people if needed, and be honest if we can't help them.
Reijo: As Martin said, we're here to help solve problems. Customers should come to me for anything related to evaluating or understanding how to improve resourcing, questions about how we could impact their business performance.
Jussi: Learning about the best ways to drive project profitability with predictive resource planning. And how to drive success with technology, process and people.
Reijo: Or just to ask if we can help them get rid of the Excels.
If you could give one piece of advice to resource and project managers evaluating tools today, what would it be?
Reijo: Don't just solve today's pain—pick a tool that scales with you.
Jussi: Planning for individual project scheduling is not enough in today's market, holistic project spanning tools that users truly like using drive the real value and project impact.
Martin: What are your issues, what are the implications of those issues, and what would the payoff for solving those issues be?
What are you looking forward to in the next six months?
Jussi: I look forward to our presence in the UK growing and seeing how AI will make an impact.
Martin: Working hard toward my goals, side by side with a great team!
Reijo: Helping more customers jump off the spreadsheet train and start "planning with confidence". Also, pushing for new product features, like AI tools, that customers actually seem to want.
Looking Ahead
While Jussi, Reijo, and Martin each bring distinct backgrounds and approaches to EG Silverbucket, they share a common philosophy: listen first, understand deeply, and help customers solve real problems. Whether it's Jussi's comprehensive trust-building framework, Reijo's no-nonsense "listen first, no pitch-slapping" approach, or Martin's insistence that discovery must precede demonstration, all three embody a customer-first mindset.
As organizations continue to struggle with spreadsheet-based resource management and seek more sophisticated, AI-enabled solutions, our sales team is always ready to help them navigate the transition to confident, data-driven planning.
Interested in learning how EG Silverbucket can transform your resource management? Connect with Jussi, Reijo, or Martin on LinkedIn or book a call today.
