Dear Readers - Stappert Spezial-Stahl Handel GmbH

Expedition – the basis
A good atmosphere brings
success
When the berlin Wall fell over 20 years ago, many companies headed for berlin to make money quickly. but they soon came to re­
cognise that if you want to be successful then you need not only excellent specialist skills but also dedication and a dash of humour.
That is at least the recipe for success of the team in the Stappert sales office in berlin.
The team in Berlin: Ingo Mann, Peggy Schilhabel, Sascha Jürgensen,
Monika Gerth, Michael Bröcker und Mirco Riemer
On 1st of January 1991 the
Stappert sales office Berlin took
up its work under the direction of
Rainer Zimmermann. Initially it
occupied premises on Storkower
Straße in the Prenzlauer Berg
district. In 2000 Michael Bröcker
took over responsibility for the
sales office Berlin, and he still has
a clear recollection of his first impressions:
“Given the ex tremely
weak eco nomic environment the
steel market in the capi tal was
very competitive in those days,
and the feel ings between the
participants were more than
tense.” But the Rhinelander, who
has worked for Stappert since
1986 and moved from Düsseldorf
to the banks of the Spree, did not
want to simply accept that. He
encouraged the dealers and end
consumers to trust in a partnerlike
cooperation, thus helping,
little by little, to relieve the tension
in the atmosphere.
Travelling between
the big city and the
provinces
In addition to the lively steel market
in Berlin itself, the sales team
is also responsible for the entire
Region Northeast, which extends
from Usedom to the Luther city of
Wittenberg, and from Helmstedt
in the west to the Polish border
in the east. For external appointments
the colleagues from Berlin
sometimes need to schedule two
days to cover the large distances,
often without any motorway connections,
and to ensure they can
still use most of the time for customer
contacts. Every minute of
free time is employed consistently
to explore new industrial regions
and to pay spontaneous calls on
potential customers. This type of
acquisition is certainly one of the
most difficult tasks in the life of a
salesperson, but the staff in Berlin
regard it as part of the recipe for
success.
Good atmosphere
brings success
The Berlin sales team also gets on
very well outside work, and the
excellent internal cooperation is
quickly transferred to the relationship
with the customer. Despite
the hectic nature of their daily
busi ness, the team members also
enjoy a laugh and a joke. Once
customers have been acquired,
they generally remain faithful to
the company for many years. With
this mixture of a laid-back attitude
and professionalism Michael
Bröcker and his team have succeeded
in continuously expanding
the success of their office. Whereas
the only customers in the early
years were end consumers, later
the business also included stainless
steel dealers who enable
many small companies based
in the region to be supplied with
Stappert products from the
“… nature of steel”. “Berlin and
the surrounding area are tough,”
reckons Michael Bröcker, “but
there’s always some thing going on
there, and that helps us to reinvent
our selves each day.” And that with
success, as the development to
date shows.
Breathtaking view of the capital – from the sales office on the 13th floor of
the Pyramide Berlin
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