Service brings success

EBV took off in Great Britain with a clever advertising idea. "Customers had never heard anything about EBV," explains John Langford, who was the general sales manager in 1996 and who built the UK and Irish subsidiary. With zero brand recognition and no image – bad conditions for entering a market – EBV sent packages to potential top customers around the country. Once opened, a helium filled balloon popped out, attached to it a greetings card and the EBV telephone number. "The telephone didn't stop ringing," recounts Langford. "The promotion worked." EBV set up three UK offices at the start and it took just six months to set up the entire organisation. "Leasing an office in England is just as risky, expensive and time consuming as buying a house," said Langford with a groan, remembering the legal red tape and collapsing of contracts. Langford's EBV career started with a job interview in Munich on a cold January afternoon in 1996. The meeting took place at a four star hotel in the city where, just before the appointed time, a man dressed in a well worn trenchcoat and rolled up trousers (to protect them against the oil from the bicycle chain) dismounted from his bicycle in front of the revolving door. "Herr Langford, I presume?'' There was no Porsche or Mercedes, no Boss suit. "Erich Fischer was a charming, unassuming but dynamic character. His charisma was obvious right from the start," explains Langford. Business began at a furious pace. At launch, the UK line card included such blue chip franchise s as TI, Motorola, National Semiconductor, Temic and Fujitsu. Quickly, the UK company added AMD and Harris. In the first six months, the offices generated sales of €3.3million. In 1997, business for Langford and his team, now 32 strong, took off and generated €22.5m in sales in the company's first full year of business. This grew to €42m in 1998. "The service mentality made EBV unique," says Langford of the company's success, "and that remains the case." Today, EBV has a market share of almost 20% in the UK and Ireland, where it ranks number two in the distribution network with more than 60 employees. Even any resistance to the principle of centralised warehousing in Germany was quickly overcome in the first months. Inventory levels, delivery time, quality and reliability gained the respect of the customers. "And British and Irish customers have extremely high expectations," says Langford. One example related to the date of manufacture. Nowadays, the data code is a standard feature, but at the time it was a novelty for the industry. EBV was the first distributor to operate a properly running First in, first out system. Care and attention to detail are the top priority. Sensitive components are bedded in green packaging to protect against jolting, for example, and the boards and magnetic tapes are packaged so they do not become electrostatically charged. "The head office has always given us fantastic support," explains Langford. "For example, we persuaded our warehouse to despatch even on the traditional (and many) German public holidays." Today, 96% of deliveries are completed Europe wide within 24 hours.