Personal Trainer
Als Ihr Personal Trainer gibt KEN TAYLOR Ihnen Expertentipps, wie Sie Ihre Kompetenzen im Geschäftsalltag verbessern können. Hier spricht er mit einem Briten, der in den USA die Tochtergesellschaft eines deutschen Gehäuseherstellers leitet.
Ken Taylor on running a German business in the US
Ken Taylor: Sean, you’re British. You work for a German company. You run that German company’s operations in the United States. That’s an interesting cultural and business mix! How did that come about?
Sean Bailey: After graduating from Portsmouth University in the UK, I joined OKW Enclosures Ltd, the British subsidiary of OKW Gehäusesysteme. Four years later, they decided to set up an American subsidiary based on the experience of the UK company. I was asked to go to the States for two years to set up this new enterprise, and over 20 years later, I’m still here!
Taylor: Many foreign start-ups in the US fail. Why do you think you were successful?
Bailey: Of course, you need to have good products. But besides that, we decided to start small and to grow slowly in a costeffective way.
Taylor: That sounds sensible. Many companies make the mistake of investing too heavily before they really know the market.
Bailey: That’s right. And we also realized that to sell in the States, it helps enormously if you do it the American way. We employed Americans to be our face outwards — people who could easily build good business relationships, who could chat about the latest football games or the weather in Pittsburgh compared to California.
Taylor: People who understand their customers’ way of thinking and talking. Bailey: And I had to learn how to do this, too. Now, after 20 years, I find it easier!
Taylor: However American your face outwards is, you still sell German products. How are German products perceived in the US in general?
Bailey: Americans are familiar with German cars. Many of them aspire to drive a BMW or Mercedes. They are seen as
quality products. We can capitalize on this. We can claim the same of our German products.
Taylor: Did you have any negative reaction to the fact that you are a German company?
Bailey: Many of our customers don’t really know that we are a German company. And those who do, see our products as stylish and as being of good quality and — dare I say it? — better than those of our American competitors.
Taylor: You have American staff and a parent company in Germany. Do you see yourself as some kind of cultural gobetween? Bailey: To a limited extent. Our American subsidiary is extremely customer-focused and adaptable. It has to be to survive. Many German companies are more risk-averse. Luckily for me though, our German leadership is very open-minded and flexible. This means we have a very similar outlook.
Taylor: It sometimes helps to be a third party in this situation. I worked for a Swedish company in a project in Vietnam and could help bridge some of the cultural differences as a “neutral”.
Bailey: It’s so important to have an open-minded approach. The world is changing all the time. You can’t afford to stand still. You have to change with it.
Taylor: Change is not easy to manage. If it’s managed in the wrong way, people can become very defensive and demotivated. Bailey: This is a challenge for us at the moment. The internet is changing the way people buy — and the way we have to sell. Our online presence is becoming increasingly important and some people can see this as threatening. They can feel that their skills are becoming redundant.
Taylor: In my opinion, the best way to manage change is through a series of small, simple steps that make the process more manageable.
Bailey: You also need to believe that the changes are necessary. That requires a leadership that is enthusiastic and able to learn from internal and external best practice.
Taylor: OKW is a global organization. No doubt, your global partners can learn a lot from each other.
Bailey: We certainly can. I wear a second hat in the organization — working with business development for the international markets. Part of this role is to help spread best practice throughout the organization, so that OKW can face future challenges effectively. Taylor: That sounds like a very sensible approach. And talking about facing challenges, I’d be interested to hear your advice to any small or medium-sized German company that wants to set up an operation in the US.
Bailey: Be as American as you can. Employ Americans who know the business culture. Adapt to the American market. Small things can make a difference. For example, don’t use marketing materials from Europe. Use US English in your written texts. Use US English spelling rather than British English. Write the date in the American way. If it’s the 10th of June, write 6/10/2019 not 10/6/2019. That’s the 6th of October to an American. Be prepared to accept payment in different forms. Cheques, for example, are still popular in the States, so don’t insist on electronic bank transfers. Don’t use A4 for your documents. Use the American letter size, which is 8 ½ inches wide by 11 inches long. Have prices that do not fluctuate with currency changes. Your customers hate it when the invoice price is different to the order price!
Taylor: You really need to quickly understand the business culture you are working in and to see both the differences and similarities to your own.
Bailey: Having said that, in our business, we deal mainly with engineers. And we’ve found that engineers are engineers all over the world. What they are looking for is a product that solves their practical problems in an effective and elegant way.
Taylor: So, in this case, the similarities are greater than the differences.
“The world is changing. You have to change with it”