Meetings with Customers

There is still so much to do. Our sponsors, Messe Nürnberg and other supporting PET firms opened the door for our initial contact with their customers at whose premises the actual meeting for the interview would subsequently take place. The approach when it comes to agreeing dates for meetings is as a rule instigated via the respective regional representatives of the machine manufacturer who kindly give us an introduction to their customers and then organise contact with us. An undertaking which would test my nerves to the limit and still does so. On the way from the headquarters to see the regional manager, then from the regional manager to the customer and finally from the customer back to us there are a remarkable number of variables that raise doubts in one’s mind as well as endless time costs – and all this even when all parties concerned have a commitment to the job. This is probably not least due to the availability of the different people in this complex chain; after all, everyone concerned has their hands full permanently and are not always on site.

Time to think about visas for those involved and to discover, almost by the way, that it is not, for example, possible to enter Armenia directly from Turkey, nor is it possible to enter Azerbaijan from Armenia. So, without further ado, I simply extended the route by one country which we could travel through on our trip and that was Georgia. Research and telephone calls yielded the information that from Turkey onwards, taking official vehicle drivers certificates in the language of the country concerned was to be recommended and could we please ensure that we had these attested by a notary and the district court. I made use of my time to start the ball rolling instead of simply having a fit.

Finally the first feedback from the customers started to come in and I was able to make a start on actually agreeing dates for meetings on the tour. High time too, do I hear you say, especially in view of the fact that the tour starts on October 3. In the meantime I am able to say that everything is going absolutely according to plan. You get more laid back as time goes on. Today, 20.9, the visas still have not arrived and there are some meeting dates that have yet to be finalised. But I still have almost two weeks to go …

At Brau beviale it will be directly by the transition point to the East Entrance adjacent to the PETpoint, that the EdiTour Presentation will take place in Hall 7A. Plenty of room for showing off the Editourmobil and all the bits and bobs we need to take with us.