This month we are celebrating a special anniversary at BEKO TECHNOLOGIES: Our colleague Rainer Stützel from Marketing has been part of our team for an incredible 30 years! During this time, he has not only witnessed the development of our company, but has also played a key role in shaping it. To mark the occasion, his colleague Christina Büttner asked Rainer a few questions to find out more about his experiences, memories and his view of the future. Enjoy reading!
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Rainer Stützel celebrates 30 years at BEKO TECHNOLOGIES
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- Rainer, congratulations - you've been with BEKO TECHNOLOGIES for 30 years now. Can you tell us when and how you started here?
Late one afternoon in the spring of 1994, I read the job advertisement for BEKO KONDENSATTECHNIK, as our company was then called, put together my application documents and handed them in to my future colleague Jörg at reception on a weekday at around 6 pm. Two interviews followed, then Managing Director Berthold Koch called me and I had the job of the new Marketing position, to which the Head of Product Management was also attached. It sounds like a lot, but back then we only had 3 condensate technology product lines and two "exotics". No comparison to our portfolio today.
- How has marketing changed at BEKO TECHNOLOGIES and in general over the last 30 years? What have been the biggest developments and trends that you have witnessed?
Marketing has a lot to do with personalities, and these are essentially unchanged. What has changed massively, however, is the behavior of target groups. Today, this is called the customer journey. In the past, the focus was mainly on achieving customer contact. Perhaps the older ones among us still remember the reply postcards in the print media.
Thanks to the internet and social media, the points of contact with a company are more diverse nowadays and it is much easier to obtain information without initial contact. Potential customers are now much more prepared when making initial contact. This in turn has a strong impact on marketing, sales and their tools. I see a well-built and well-managed website as the primary source of information today; it has definitely replaced the brochure of the past and offers many more opportunities to obtain customer data.
Our communication technology is constantly changing at an ever-increasing pace. Operating globally is much easier today than it was 20 years ago. This brings great opportunities, but also risks. At the same time, I believe that BEKO TECHNOLOGIES is still well rooted in what is "sensibly feasible". We don't jump on every bandwagon just because someone promises us higher-further-faster. As a family business, we were and are well grounded here.
- What has motivated you to stay with BEKO TECHNOLOGIES for so long? Are there certain moments or successes that you are particularly proud of?
When I started at BEKO KONDENSATTECHNIK, I had to convince the technically oriented sales and other engineers that the umpteenth stainless steel screw did not necessarily have anything to do with customer benefits. That wasn't easy when you have a product like the first electronically controlled condensate drain BEKOMAT, for which there was no alternative on the market at the time. It was always important to me to fill our products with values other than just technology and I was proud of everyone involved when we were able to successfully implement this.
One of my "hobbies" has always been our trade fair appearances. Providing a trade fair team with a good and motivating "playing field" for 5 days of constant stress, giving the whole thing a good story and keeping an eye on the budget at the same time was always a lot of fun for me.
- Do you have a favorite story or a particularly memorable experience that you had during your time at BEKO TECHNOLOGIES?
There are a lot of stories, some of which I better not tell (grin). Let me take up the subject of trade fairs: In the mid-nineties, we were at the ACHEMA in Frankfurt with BEKO KONDENSATTECHNIK. At that time, my hair was a bit more luxuriant than it is today and I had my long hair in a plait. On one day at the fair, I was standing with Berthold Koch when an older, very conservatively dressed guest approached us at a brisk pace. Without giving me a glance, he spoke directly to Berthold Koch and pointed out to him that, as a BEKO TECHNOLOGIES employee, I was wearing long hair (which probably displeased him). Berthold Koch replied, without hesitation, that I was his marketing man, a creative person, and that I was allowed to look like that - end of discussion.
- How do you manage to find a good balance between work and private life? Do you have any tips or routines that help you do this?
There is no one-size-fits-all solution, because everyone is different. When it's trade fair time, especially in the months leading up to it, there's not much I can do with balance. My partner always looks forward to the first day of the fair because I'm no longer "spinning my wheels".
Apart from that, I find a lot of balance through my hobbies, sometimes even at a nerd level. I go to a lot of concerts, like to have my ears blown away and also make music myself, playing electric bass. At 63, rocking out on stage for 3 hours with my band on some weekends brings a lot of positive energy and "recharges the batteries" (www.thebadkeys.de).
- Rainer, thank you for the great conversation and your fascinating insights. Here's to many more successful years at BEKO TECHNOLOGIES! All the best!
