Piet Schueler: “Getting Pager Services ready for the exiting times to come”
Pager Services’ commercial director, Piet Schueler, radiates calm, authority and trust. He’s clearly comfortable in his role, sitting here at this table. We soon come to understand why. He has been one of the family at this company for years and had both the knowledge and experience to take the next step. What’s more, those qualities are inherent in this man. He’s someone who doesn’t rush anything, but does everything deliberate and with vision. Piet is a man of solid founding, sturdy building and detailed finishing.
Piet has been around the block when it comes to commerce. He studied commercial economics and business economics consecutively. The way he did that, is very telling about the kind of man Piet is. He finished both, pretty tough studies in his evening hours. That takes a lot of perseverance. He is modest about it himself. “At the moment it was the most logical way to go about it”.
Looking back, it does sound pretty heavy going, but at the time it didn’t feel that way.” His career shows the same pattern. At his latest employer, Tyco Fire & Security, he slowly and surely moved his way up through the organisation. He started at the commercial back office and ended as the person responsible for the whole contract portfolio of this large international company.
Tyco is a dealer for the Pager Services products and that is exactly how Piet – years ago now – met managing director André van den Elzen.
“It was the start of a long and solid relationship. We are both no-nonsense people, so we hit it off right away. In fact, we hit it off so well, that we moved on to a new phase in our relationship some months back.”
“Combining a unique corporate culture with optimal management”
Piet in short
Name:
Piet Schueler
Age:
55 years
Family situation:
Married, 2 sons, 24 and 22 years
Job title:
Commercial director
Past career:
Tyco Fire & Security, Service Sales Manager
How do you see your role within Pager Services?
“Up till now, Pager Services has modestly stayed in the background, but that time is past now. We are busy developing innovative products and we want to tell the world all about it. These innovations will enter the marketplace towards the end of 2019. Until then, I will be conducting the professionalisation process, which will ensure everything in this company will run smoothly by that time. To achieve that, I’m analysing all corporate procedures to see where improvements can be made. Positioning is another key point of focus. I want to reconnect our inner world – how Pager Services as a company works – to the outer world – what we can expect in the marketplace and what the marketplace expects from us.”
How would you describe yourself as a manager?
“My way of working is fairly similar to André’s. I’m a great admirer of what he has achieved here and want to build on this. That means investing in the internal organisation to make sure that everyone keeps having the same goals. I think I’m the right person for this. People know what to make of me. I communicate directly and make things happen.”
What is your greatest ambition, business wise?
“Making sure that Pager Services is and remains the evident partner in her niche on the market. We have a brilliant product in hands and my task is to ensure that everyone will know about it and use it.”
And in your personal life, if we may ask?
“Of course you may ask. But the answer is probably not as exciting as you would hope. The thing is, I am a very happy man. I enjoy life thoroughly, my family, the exuberant lifestyle here in this beautiful part of the Netherlands. If you would have asked me a year back, I’d probably have said that I would like to work a bit closer to home. I was born in Helmond and still live close to my childhood home. At Tyco I spent a lot of time travelling and I could do with a little less time in traffic. However, that wish has already become true, because I work here now.”
What is the best advise you could give your sons?
“That’s an easy question. Make sure you build yourself a solid foundation that suits you. Then take some time to look around you, before you move into a certain direction. And most of all, enjoy the road to wherever you’re going.”
That’s an answer which really suits how we have gotten to know you: stable and thorough. Is that why you fit into the Pager Services’ team so well?
“I think so. Pager Services is stability throughout. That applies to the product, the company and to me as a person. It especially rings true, when you consider the direction we are developing into. We have listened to the marketplace, which enables us to move beyond our competitors. What’s more, we are achieving this in a manner that we can rally behind. We strongly believe in corporate social responsibility and sustainability. Sustainability is actually a must when it comes to our product. A pager has to be extremely durable and easily repairable. Our goal is to maximise its economic lifespan. As such, it is a completely different story from the reigning ideology in the mobile phone sector, where one goes to great lengths to have you buy a new device every couple of years. That’s another reason why I see a bright future ahead for both pager and Pager Services.”
We strongly believe in corporate social responsibility and sustainability.
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