Completely New Perspectives

You have been in this industry for 25 years. What is the appeal of this sector for you? Why stay so long?

It's simply exciting and always technically interesting. At some point regulations relating to underlays were introduced, which sparked innovations. In the past, you could, roughly speaking, sell beer mats as underlays. But then standards and norms were set by associations — EPLF for laminate and MMFA for multi-layer modular coverings. This made discussions with customers more factual and technically demanding. Ultimately the sector became more varied and more international, and you dealt with very different cultures and people.

How has the market changed in your view over that time?

In fact it had been in continuous decline, because there were no innovations in the underlay sector over the past ten years. In the end, only price issues are discussed. That's also the reason I returned to the industry at all. With Powerlay I see very different opportunities and entirely new prospects for the company. The fact that I have the opportunity to join a company that really has no limits in terms of what its product can do is extremely exciting for me. 

Are you actually a bit excited, even though you have worked in this area for so long?

Yes, indeed. For me it had been finished — I didn't expect to come back. You also forget certain things that you now have to read up on again. But I still have a good rapport with many former colleagues and contacts.

What are you most looking forward to as you re-enter this business?

Reuniting with old acquaintances with whom I did really good business in the past. I know I will quickly be back in the sales structures and that together we will very likely achieve the successes we once had.

Powerlay's approach is to make the customer's decision at the POS as simple as possible. Wouldn't an online configurator have been a good solution as well?

It's only a question of which product is right for the end customer. For that you don't need a configurator. The customer only needs to answer one question: underfloor heating — yes or no — and they are at the right product. After that it mainly comes down to the budget. We don't want to put the technical side at the center. The end customer doesn't understand the technical selection criteria…