Kevin Bergemann

Sales & distribution employee

Constantly in contact with different people all over the world – everyday life of a salesman.

With regard to my past school years, it becomes clear to me again and again that during the 13 years up to the school-leaving exams I had few problems with openly approaching new people. Communication and making new contacts has always been a pleasure for me. In addition, I have always been technically interested. Ultimately, these qualities led me to thyssenkrupp rothe erde, where I completed my training as an industrial clerk. Even during the most varied assignments in training and the various plant tours, it quickly became clear to me that I feel most at home in sales & distribution, because every day I have the opportunity to work together with customers and colleagues on solving problems. In addition to my daily work, I am currently completing an evening course of study at the University of Applied Sciences for Economics and Management (referred to in Germany as the FOM) in Dortmund in the "Business Administration" bachelor's program. The great thing about it is that this training is financially supported by thyssenkrupp rothe erde.

My challenges

The job in sales & distribution is more challenging than you might think. It is the interface between the customer, engineering, logistics and accounting. Here it is always important to maintain an overview and to mediate between the individual departments. In addition, skillfulness and intuition in dealing with customers is also required, without neglecting the view of the competition and the market. In spite of the mainly commercial activity, a solid technical understanding is nevertheless required, as the demands of the customers are constantly increasing.

Currently, my evening course in "Business Administration" is a further challenge. It means that you put your hobbies on the back burner for this period of time and instead of that you focus on the lectures in the evenings and also study for exams on weekends. Nevertheless, I am convinced that this challenge is a good investment for my professional future at thyssenkrupp rothe erde.

My typical working day

At the bottom line, there is no typical working day, even though many things are basically the same. In addition to the usual work, such as the preparation of quotations and tracking or the creation of orders, there are almost daily tasks that you have to deal with again and again and find a solution. For example, if there is a bottleneck in the customer's production which needs to be resolved, or if the customer has problems with our product and customer satisfaction is at stake. It is also particularly interesting when our products are sold in countries in which there are special government regulations that have to be observed. In addition to working in the office, sales & distribution staff are regularly on site at the customer's premises, as many topics can be discussed in a personal meeting much better than by telephone or e-mail. In addition, this gives you the opportunity to see for yourself how our slewing bearings and rings are used in the customer's final product. In this case, local can mean anywhere in the world because we sell our products to almost every country in the world. Due to this fact, in my case most of the communication takes place in English. So it's rarely boring.

Another part of my typical working day is the support and training of commercial trainees in sales & distribution. Since I myself still know the other side of the business as a trainee, I can put myself well into the situation and it is fun for me to pass on the knowledge I have learned as a training officer.

Our slogan is "engineering. tomorrow. together." Together means for me …

… cohesion and collegiality throughout the company, both during the day-to-day work and at annual events such as the B2Run, the Dragon Boat Race or the Christmas Market get-together.

Confirmation and experience things that aren't commonplace.

I personally owe a lot to thyssenkrupp rothe erde and am glad that I got the opportunity to become part of it. Even during my training I received excellent support and the opportunity to develop myself further, be it through seminars, in-house training or simply through regular feedback. After completing my training, I even had the opportunity to visit our subsidiary in the UK for a week. In addition to our factory, I visited other companies' sites, there was sufficient time available for a city tour and a varied entertainment program was provided. This trip is an integral part of our BalAk program ("Best trainees get to know foreign companies"), in which the trainees with very good qualifications receive an extra reward.

Also in my professional life I have always been highly appreciated, for example I was given the opportunity to take part in the WindEnergy show in Hamburg working on the stand, to develop myself further in seminars and of course the opportunity to complete an evening course supported by thyssenkrupp rothe erde.