The various marketing and sales teams of WIKA USA gathered earlier this summer to discuss best business practices, plan for future growth, and reconnect with one another during the first national sales meeting in several years.
WIKA USA hadn’t experienced anything like this since 2018. This summer, everyone from the sales and marketing teams got together at Gas South District, just a few minutes from the Lawrenceville (Georgia) campus. The stated purpose was to talk business, but after several years of postponements due to leadership changes and then Covid, the meeting felt like a long-overdue family reunion.
During the welcome reception, the atmosphere was festive as people gathered in person to catch up and deepen relationships. The theme of the 2022 event said it all: Reconnect. Renew. Reimagine.
Looking at the Past, Planning for the Future
The national sales meeting kicked off in earnest the following day. After Bill Edinger, vice-president for process instrumentation, welcomed the attendees, CEO Todd Gardner and CFO Timothy Hazelrig inspired and challenged everyone with a State of the Union address and the company’s vision for future growth.
Two executives from WIKA’s headquarters flew in from Germany for the event. Christian Elbert, marketing strategist for process instrumentation, and Jerome Stocker, director of sales and marketing, updated the US side on the latest developments at the corporate level.
Throughout the three-day meeting, the sales and marketing teams heard and learned from speakers and success stories, discussed strategy to position WIKA USA for even greater heights, and had a lot of fun over meals and between sessions. Whether as a large group or in sales team breakout sessions, the employees were energized by the company’s direction and strategic plan.
Kudos to Award Winners
One of the highlights of the meeting was the sales awards – a time to recognize excellence, applaud hard work, and celebrate the accomplishments of 10 exceptional employees:
- Fidel Lopez, Todd Miller, and Anthony Carrao were recognized separately for very large orders.
- Michael Sherenian received the Outstanding Growth award for increasing one account by more than 20-fold.
- Doug Botimer received the honor of Best New Application, which recognizes both significant volume and the potential for even more.
- Ed Horan was the Above and Beyond winner for his excellent support in sales tools, analysis, partner agreements, contracts, and more.
- Jessica Woodside developed and promoted account-based marketing, and for that she received the Most Innovative Approach award.
- Alina Green, who joined WIKA USA in early 2021, was recognized as Rookie of the Year for her outstanding work in the Chemical market, strong year-over-year sales growth, and all-around collaborative spirit.
- Armand Lagroon and Ryan Broach were recognized for outstanding sales support – Armand for excellence in support of distributors in Lawrenceville, and Ryan for excellence in support of Houston-based sales and end users in ETM (electronic temperature measurement).
An often-heard refrain at the beginning of the week was that “It’s great to be back.” By the end of the meeting, the consensus was the hope of seeing everyone again next year – if not sooner.