"Personal connection enriches every customer relationship"

Beate Niehoff is responsible for the planning and organization of customer events, webinars and various information events at 2G. In this interview she explains the background of her work and that positive lessons have been learned from the Corona Pandemic.

Beate, you have been with the company since 2017 and are closely involved in event organization on the sales side. What is your job?

The growth of 2G has picked up speed in recent years, which means that our customer base is constantly expanding - both in terms of the types of customers and the number of markets. At the same time, we have a broad customer base that has a strong agricultural history. In addition to the classic sales tasks, I therefore develop events and campaigns together with my colleagues. We want to provide an exchange platform for our many customers, partners and service providers.

In addition to the wide range of customers, 2G has a large portfolio with CHP systems between 20 kW and 4,500 kW electrical output. How is that reflected in your plans?

It is always the top priority to convey the content in a targeted manner. That is why we offer a corresponding number of events - currently around 2 - 3 per month in Germany alone. This is made possible above all by digitization, so that we can address our contacts on specific topics. The farmer who wants to make his biogas plant more flexible has completely different interests than the utility, which is striving for innovative combinations of heat pumps and CHP.

You mention certain technologies. What is your general goal with your events? Should technical knowledge be focused here in the first place?

As a manufacturing company, providing technical knowledge and the concrete advantages of our products is elementary content of our strategy - but this is becoming less and less important in our direct communication. Nobody wants to hear monologues about spark plugs and cylinder heads anymore - it's more about simplifying our products from the customer's point of view. The events in particular - especially the physical ones here in Heek and at the plant locations - are therefore intended to promote exchange with and among our customers. Personal connection enriches every customer relationship.

As everywhere in the world, Corona has certainly done a disservice here?

It almost borders on the irony of fate that our new event center "2geher" in the heart of the 2G campus was completed at the time when the pandemic started in spring 2020. We had planned and built for so long and then the place lay still for months. However, due to the situation – and this certainly does not apply exclusively to 2G – digitization has also paved its way into the organization of events. Where we used to hold a webinar every now and then with great effort, it is now part of day-to-day business. About half of all events today take place digitally.

Let's take a look ahead. What are your goals in terms of events in the future?

One of our key projects in the 2G Group is the partner concept, which, for example, is intended to facilitate market development in new foreign markets. As a result, we are currently working with our partners to develop various concepts and ideas on how we can also transfer event management processes to other countries. We still have a lot to do!

Thank you very much, Beate