What does the field service actually do? When Natalie was still a project engineer in 2021, she would have answered, not entirely seriously: “The sales force? They're the ones who call me five minutes before their customer appointment and tell me to quickly send this or that.” Winfried, who has worked for ebm‑papst for over 35 years, confirms the same: “I sometimes run over my colleagues too.”

Since Winfried was temporarily absent, Natalie switched sides and stepped in: In October 2020, she took over responsibility for customers in Saarland, Rhineland-Palatinate and part of North Rhine-Westphalia as Area Sales Engineer. As Natalie was only supposed to take over on a temporary basis, the industrial engineer skipped the six-month introduction phase and got to know the versatility of field sales on the job. Whether it's calling back a potential new customer, chatting to regular customers or selecting a fan for a new project – Natalie quickly came to realize one thing: For the field service team, the focus is on people. That's why Winfried puts the ability to listen first and he knows: “Only when I understand what requirements and needs a customer has can I respond to them. They can only be successful if they have the right solution - and ebm‑papst can only be successful if our customers are successful."

Natalie particularly appreciates the personal contact with customers and the opportunity to solve problems and find answers.

According to Winfried, honesty is fundamental to the customer relationship - this includes being upfront about things you don't know. He and Natalie agree: “In field service, you can't and don't need to know everything about every one of the 20,000+ products - but you do need to know who does know or where to find the information.

Besides listening, the sales representatives also need to keep their eyes open. The field service has the great opportunity to actively help shape products by recognizing potential markets. This is not possible without broad technical know-how.