While she acknowledges her looks gain her a lot of attention, Faktura.ru Marketing Director Natalia Kuznetsova says clients have no trouble keeping their hands off her software when they realize that she means business. Kuznetsova says she enjoys the challenges that her dynamic industry puts her way, a sector where flexibility and quick reflexes are vital.

The Leader: What’s your background?

Mrs. Kuznetsova: I’m 24; I was born in St. Petersburg and my family moved to Norilsk when I was 10. I left Norilsk High School with a Gold Medal Certificate, and then I continued my education at the Siberian Public Administration Academy, from where I graduated in 1998 with an excellence degree certificate.

As I neared graduation, I was lucky to receive job offers from several large companies. I chose the Center of Financial Technologies, one of the leading companies on the Russian software market today. For two years, I worked at the company’s main office in Novosibirsk, and then the director of the company suggested I become a head of the company’s office in Moscow.

The Leader: What was your position when you started work at the Center for Financial Technologies, and how did you become marketing director?

Mrs. Kuznetsova: At first, I worked as a service manager, so I made use of my psychology lectures. This work meant a lot of contact with people and a lot of project-promotion work. Next, came the post of project promotion manager. My responsibilities involved developing the [computer payments] system’s infrastructure. We worked in cooperation with the Central Savings Bank of the Russian Federation [Sberbank], Elektrosvyaz and other large enterprises.

Working as a project promotion manager helped me to acquire the necessary experience in product promotional support. Later, working at the newly founded Internet Technologies Department, I realized how important that experience was for my career. After several months, I became a leading manager and shortly after that received an offer to head the Moscow office.

The Leader: Tell me about the Center of Financial Technologies?

Mrs. Kuznetsova: The Center of Financial Technologies is a group of companies founded in 1991 with emphasis on financial-industry software development. Its offices are in Moscow and Novosibirsk. The company has more than 350 staff.

The Leader: You work for Faktura.ru. How does it fit in with the Center of Financial Technologies?

Mrs. Kuznetsova: Faktura.ru is a department of the Center of Financial Technologies, a company with 100 percent non-state investment capital. The majority stake is owned by the company’s founders.

It has become a brand that includes several corporate Internet-technologies easily integrated with each other. Today, a Faktura user can create their own Website, corporate marketplace and e-distribution or e-procurement system. Under the Faktura brand, we also promote technologies for effective management of the holding structure, with a budgeting system, invoice-management system and integrated-management-accounting system. So, we offer enterprises the technologies to build advanced corporate portals that combine all the corporate activities.

The Leader: What are your main responsibilities as marketing director?

Mrs. Kuznetsova: Among my responsibilities is the analysis of the market, working out the general marketing strategy and carrying out activities on its implementation. At our Moscow office, we put emphasis on working with VIP clients — that means I’m also responsible for carrying out negotiations, participating in seminars and conferences. Apart from that, I administrate personnel for the Moscow office and coordinate its work with our head office.

The Leader: What is the most difficult thing about your job?

Mrs. Kuznetsova: There are some things that influence our work negatively — for example the image of the Internet in the press, which has come from praise last year to a skeptical prognosis at the beginning of this year. All that can only affect our clients’ opinion.

Personnel recruitment is another problem. Building a team of effective professionals was not at all easy — we had more than 100 job interviews over the past year.

Working on the Internet and software market is a big challenge. It develops at a very fast rate, and we have to constantly upgrade our knowledge to stay in competition. We have to be flexible and react fast.

The Leader: How do you spend an average day at work?

Mrs. Kuznetsova: My working day starts with a phone call to the head office, usually before I get to the office. The time difference between Moscow and Novosibirsk is three hours, so, when it’s early morning here, it’s the middle of a busy day in Novosibirsk.

At 9:30 we have a team meeting where we discuss our tasks for the day. Then I have two or three client meetings. During the day I have a lot to do — phone calls, meetings, interviews with new people, a lot of paperwork. Each day, I try to find some time to look through the Internet and press.

Faktura.ru regularly conducts conferences and seminars in Moscow and that involves preparation work and participation on my part. A typical working day ends after 8 p.m.

The Leader: To what extent do you need to understand programming and the topics that the site deals with?

Mrs. Kuznetsova: Of course, I had to do a lot of reading to educate myself. Speaking a foreign language was definitely a plus — I could read books on e-commerce long before they were translated into Russian.

In any case, we have qualified technical staff who can always consult our clients on details.

The Leader: Why did you choose to work for an Internet company?

Mrs. Kuznetsova: CFT is not an Internet company in the full sense. We develop and sell Internet technologies, but that’s just one of a few business activities. We have a number of offline projects, including Faktura. We don’t depend as much on foreign investment as most Internet companies do, and I consider it our great advantage.

The Leader: What does the Internet mean to you?

Mrs. Kuznetsova: The Internet is penetrating our lives deeply. Today, I can't imagine how I could live without e-mail or ICQ. The Internet gives you a different kind of freedom as far as information acquiring and communication are concerned.

The Leader: How has being a woman affected your career?

Mrs. Kuznetsova: It’s quite an advantage. If negotiations start with a compliment, it just strengthens self-confidence. But what’s really important in business is professionalism so what I can count on is only professional competence and personal achievements.

The Leader: Do you think that being pretty works to your advantage or to your disadvantage in the workplace?

Mrs. Kuznetsova: Of course, being attractive helps me communicate with people and opens doors. But professionalism weighs more and this is the only way to succeed in business.

Sometimes, funny things happen. Last week two German managers from a multinational corporation came to our office to talk about cooperation opportunities. I met them, introduced myself and invited them to sit down. They stood in the door at stared at me: "Are you going to talk about business with us?" they asked. But when we started talking, everything turned out to be OK, and after three hours’ negotiation we worked out a plan of further cooperation.