He claims to know every one of his company's customers personally. Foreign language fluency is a must, and some companies demand that managers master three. And many managers have impressive technical credentials. On a visit to a customer in Singapore, Gunter Sieker, director of Lenze, a maker of miniature gearboxes, found that the local staff had been unable to repair one particular machine. Sieker rolled up his sleeves and spent two hours fixing it.
Personal contact is crucial.
He set up a table in a drugstore and began brewing tea with filtered water. I spoke to the ladies who went by and sold my filters. In three days I knew what worked. Nor do managers relax when they get back home. If this sounds entrepreneurial, it is.