Stephen Kirkpatrick
Sales Manager Weiss USA
Where do you come from?
I live in Monroe, North Carolina, USA with my wife of nearly twenty year and with my two children.
Why did you come to work at Weiss?
Weiss Chemie was interested in offering the North American market their specialty adhesive and cleaning solutions, in doing so, many companies were approached with the chance and finally after much time and energy Weiss USA was formed to not only be a distributor or dealer, but a part of the Weiss Chemie family, a daughter company, a true partner in the market. This to me was important not to say I only work for Weiss Chemie but, I am part of the family. I wanted to provide the same quality product to the USA fenestration market that VW or BMW has provide for many years… German quality and German power!
Have you been developed and promoted in time at Weiss?
Yes, of course during my time with Weiss has been a huge development professional, learning about adhesives, chemistry, and a complete new industry; this for me has been very interesting.
What is your range of duty?
As the sales manager at Weiss USA my first and foremost responsibility is to increase market awareness and business volume with new and existing customers, by way of training of sales representatives in the USA and through our distributors in the Canadian market.
The USA market has been slow to develop but with maintaining the Weiss USA presence and product offering we are growing stronger and stronger each year.Within my duties, I am also responsible for inventory management and handling the customer orders.
Since
with Weiss
Is there a difference between the culture of working in USA and Germany?
There are always cultural differences between countries; however many of the same things in the mind and heart of Weiss family employees and our customers are always the same; to provide the best possible quality products, training, service, and respect possible to our customers. I believe that this value is what makes all of us at Weiss the same… one mind and one heart.
What is your daily motivation?
My motivation on a daily basis comes from the trust of Mr. Grimm and Weiss Chemie to grow our market and awareness through Weiss USA and the understanding that every employee is standing behind me in our business, not in person but in spirit.
What do you like at Weiss?
The pride and desire to provide the upmost and best with everything we do, I truly find the family feel and respect level refreshing, this is not something you see often in the business world today.