1. WHAT’S YOUR WORKDAY LIKE?
First thing in the morning I go through my emails at home. When I get to the office, we start with a team meeting to make sure everyone is aware of what is going on. Over the rest of the day, we focus on the most important part of the job: the customer. I get home late – after eight yesterday, but it was worth it because, in the end, the customer bought the car.
2. WHAT’S THE STORY BEHIND YOUR BECOMING A ŠKODA DEALER?
In 1987, I rounded off my apprenticeship by passing my finals to be certified as a master mechanic. That paved the way to my first garage, “Welker and Wagner”, which I set up with a friend. Being my own boss was like a breath of fresh air, and it wasn’t long before we had our first contractual partner. Ultimately, in 1993, we became ŠKODA dealers. Today, we sell more than 600 cars a year, we employ 30 people, and we have 6,500 m² of display area.
3.- 4. WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT YOUR WORK? ANYTHING YOU ARE AVERSE TO IN YOUR WORK?
The customers, the technology, the cars. I’m pretty sure my blood runs green, not red.
The processes in place can complicate matters sometimes. To take a recent example, a customer ticked off several options in the online configurator that he wanted, but that I can’t order for him in our system. In the end, it is me who shoulders the responsibility and I am the one who has to apologise to the customer, even though it’s not my fault.
5. DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR FIRST OUTING IN YOUR VERY FIRST CAR?
We didn’t get very far. I parked it in the garage so I could build the centre console I needed to install a cassette player. Music was important, you know?