As an apprentice, I was assigned to wrap pallets in the warehouse of a large IT company “to gain work experience.” After I had made an enormously stupid mistake (only partly on purpose …), I went to the next department. Controlling. My first personal major professional disaster. How can you do that all your life? Presumably, controllers think the same about distribution and sales.
There I was told I was “too communicative.” The head of Controlling probably only wrote the word “sales talent” in my departmental reference in order to get rid of me quickly as a chatterbox. After all, as a number cruncher, he certainly couldn’t judge whether someone was a first-class sales consultant or sales representative. I, on the other hand, rather believed that those working there were already dead – just not fallen over yet.

From then on, I was put into sales. The clear message was: identify the market, develop new locations and sell! There I worked my way up to “Sales Manager Key Accounts” with a sales volume of €800 million per year.

After ten years in the same company, I was eager to change industries. I then sold construction machinery – a great job, a great company. But that I then had to bake very small rolls again, I had a hard time dealing with that. A lot of things had to be approved first, I had to submit to so many rules – couldn’t “breathe“.

So? Set up my own business. As a sales trainer.

I had to have gone crazy! What the heck: I made up my mind and quit.

I started with full enthusiasm into the acquisition and ended up in bitter disillusionment. Rejections, delays, eternally long decision-making processes. How could I? From a well-paid salaried position with a company car and a big company behind you into the piranha pool of sales training as a “one man show”? My cash buffer was shrinking visibly. The nights became restless. I felt terrible and was dissatisfied.

Then FINALLY the first big order worked out. Together with my wife, I looked at my screen in the basement of our house (that was where my “office” was at the time) and saw the first signed training contract with a five-figure sum. This feeling of relief was indescribable. That was over 12 years ago now.

I compete to trigger in people the will to change the communication world of B2B sales, to amaze customers and to be the No. 1 in the market in terms of sales. Raising the pulse, looking into shining eyes, creating positive excitement, sparking more joy and fire in sales – that makes my audience’s hearts beat faster and thus mine as well.

Thanks for reading this far!

Yours, Stephan Kober