Swissness in Sales Service

Harmonising diversity

Whether watches, chocolate, the hospitality industry or the railway: Swiss products and services enjoy an excellent reputation worldwide. They stand for precision, reliability and the highest quality. These Swiss values paired with absolute customer orientation are also practised at Schaerer - from product development to customer service. We took this as an opportunity to let our employees have their say in the series "What's so Swiss about Schaerer?". For episode four, we interviewed Tanja Annaheim, Head of Sales Service Coordination and Demand Planning since 1 September. The Swiss woman with Thai roots on her mother's side loves getting to know different cultures and meeting people from all over the world - both professionally and privately. Her travels and her job with international clients have sharpened her awareness of Swiss values, and Tanja Annaheim is characterised by two qualities in particular: punctuality and reliability.

What do you and your department do at Schaerer? What are you responsible for, what are your tasks?

Previously, I worked in the Export Sales Support department, looking after our partners from Asia, Oceania and our subsidiary in Japan from order processing to invoicing, including dispatch. It was an exciting and equally challenging task that required absolute customer and process orientation as well as empathy with regard to the different cultural backgrounds of our partners. In my new role as Head of Sales Service, Coordination and Demand Planning, I lead a team of five employees - together we are responsible for coordinating all export enquiries and processes.

Schaerer around the globe

We also ensure that the orders for our global customer projects can be realised in line with the forecasts of the national companies. In the USA, for example, our customers include large chain shops, including well-known convenience shops and petrol station chains. Such large orders sometimes involve hundreds of coffee machines, which are also equipped according to individual customer requirements. Precise demand planning is therefore essential for the production and punctual delivery of the machines - especially as we deliver from Switzerland to 40 countries around the globe.

Let's move on to the topic of "Swissness": what would you define as "typically Swiss"?

I would describe it like this: We Swiss feel immensely committed to our work or task - both privately and professionally. This goes hand in hand with two character traits that I personally consider to be typically Swiss: Punctuality and reliability. However, this is also where the biggest differences usually crystallise when working with customers and partners from other countries. Particularly in southern European countries or in the USA, there is a kind of admiration for the Swiss sense of duty on the one hand. On the other hand, I sometimes have the feeling that this very trait can overwhelm my counterparts. For successful international collaboration - whether internal or external - it is therefore all the more important to harmonise the different cultural backgrounds and values.

Are these two values also reflected in your daily work at Schaerer?

Absolutely! With our coffee machines, we supply our customers with high-quality products, from the technical features to the design. Reliability plays a major role here, both in the technology, which must reliably prepare coffee specialities of the highest quality, and in the services that ensure the smooth operation of the machines. For example, we also supply spare parts from Switzerland to over 40 countries, which is where "punctuality" comes into play.

The time zones always in view

We also continuously optimise our processes so that we can give our customers the very best. And if delays do occur, for example due to disrupted supply chains during the pandemic, we communicate this at an early stage. My personal requirement is: at the end of my working day, I need to have delivered all the information to my contacts around the world in all time zones so that they can start their working day well informed and prepared.

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