{"id":4241,"date":"2026-04-20T09:39:57","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T07:39:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pactuell.com\/en\/?p=4241"},"modified":"2026-04-20T09:39:57","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T07:39:57","slug":"our-service-determines-how-customers-experience-our-brand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pactuell.com\/en\/our-service-determines-how-customers-experience-our-brand\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cOur service deter\u00admines how customers expe\u00adri\u00adence our brand\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Thomas, what are your duties and respon\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adties as Vice Pres\u00adi\u00addent of Customer Support & Services at Uhlmann?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Basi\u00adcally, my role centers on one thing: our customers\u2014and ensuring that they are happy with us. I oversee the entire global service divi\u00adsion, which covers every\u00adthing that happens once our machines are installed at the customer\u2019s site: from providing spare parts, upgrades, format parts and service tech\u00adni\u00adcians, right through to customer support and training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my book, customer service is more than just responding when things go wrong. We want to support our customers and help them succeed with our solu\u00adtions. And that\u2019s why we are constantly opti\u00admizing our services\u2013for example, through new digital offer\u00adings or by employing tech\u00adnolo\u00adgies such as remote services and arti\u00adfi\u00adcial intel\u00adli\u00adgence. At the same time, our people play a pivotal role: their skills and commit\u00adment ulti\u00admately make the differ\u00adence. In short, our goal is to create service that trans\u00adlates into genuine added value for our customers. We aim to provide solutions\u2014not just format parts, service calls, or new machines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We aim to provide solutions\u2014not just format parts, service calls, or new machines.<\/p>\nThomas Sailer, Vice Pres\u00adi\u00addent Customer Support & Services<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

How would you assess the role of Customer Support & Services divi\u00adsion at Uhlmann?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For me, every inter\u00adac\u00adtion with a customer is an expe\u00adri\u00adence, and every touch\u00adpoint is an oppor\u00adtu\u00adnity we must seize to delight and inspire the customer. Because these inter\u00adac\u00adtions deter\u00admine whether we are perceived as a reli\u00adable, compe\u00adtent, and collab\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtive partner. Service is partic\u00adu\u00adlarly crit\u00adical, as it often consti\u00adtutes the most frequent and personal inter\u00adac\u00adtion with the customer. Espe\u00adcially when some\u00adthing goes wrong or a new chal\u00adlenge arises, we are called in to assist\u2014and we can make or break the customer\u2019s day. That\u2019s why I see service as some\u00adthing that goes far beyond support or commis\u00adsioning; it\u2019s a key driver of customer satis\u00adfac\u00adtion, and it requires a company-wide commit\u00adment to customer centricity. Every service expe\u00adri\u00adence reshapes how our brand is perceived, day by day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is good customer service to you?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For me, good customer service is essen\u00adtially about being reli\u00adable and \u201cwowing\u201d customers by creating real added value. Deliv\u00adering on our promises\u2014be it response times or our service commitments\u2014is crucial. And you also need solid exper\u00adtise and empathy when engaging with customers. But it\u2019s also essen\u00adtial to be proac\u00adtive: it\u2019s not just about resolving urgent issues, but about truly under\u00adstanding the appli\u00adca\u00adtion and working with the customer to develop solu\u00adtions. At the end of the day, it\u2019s about building long-term part\u00adner\u00adships that benefit both parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that you\u2019ve spent a few months at the company, what has your expe\u00adri\u00adence at Uhlmann been like so far?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

My first few months at Uhlmann were very intense\u2014but in a good way. I was given a very warm welcome right from the start, and many colleagues took the time to answer my ques\u00adtions. I was partic\u00adu\u00adlarly impressed by the teams\u2019 outstanding tech\u00adnical exper\u00adtise and how strongly they iden\u00adtify with the company. You can really feel that many people here are truly committed to Uhlmann\u2014I think that\u2019s great! And I think it\u2019s safe to say that I\u2019ve become an \u2018Uhlmanner\u2019 myself. This sense of belonging is impor\u00adtant to me as it means I can repre\u00adsent the brand and our prod\u00aducts cred\u00adibly to customers. I was also impressed by Uhlmann\u2019s clear strategic vision, for example as regards our GO FOR 30 strategy and how strongly employees iden\u00adtify with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I\u2019ve become an \u2018Uhlmanner\u2018 myself. This sense of belonging is impor\u00adtant to me as it means I can repre\u00adsent the brand and our prod\u00aducts cred\u00adibly to customers.<\/p>\nThomas Sailer, Vice Pres\u00adi\u00addent Customer Support & Services<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

What issues are you focusing on at present in Customer Support & Services?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A key strategic priority for me is to make our service even more customer-centric. This also means changing our mindset\u2014breaking away from tradi\u00adtional patterns and asking ourselves how we can enable customers to improve and thereby create added value. It\u2019s about thinking more in terms of solu\u00adtions, engaging with customers in new ways, and better inte\u00adgrating our existing services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, I see consid\u00ader\u00adable poten\u00adtial in areas such as inter\u00adna\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adiza\u00adtion, stan\u00addard\u00adiza\u00adtion, and digi\u00adtal\u00adiza\u00adtion. Our goal must be to deliver a consis\u00adtent customer expe\u00adri\u00adence world\u00adwide while being closer to the markets. So the overall objec\u00adtive is to further opti\u00admize our customer service\u2014both in terms of collab\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtion and customer centricity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How is the service divi\u00adsion changing as a result of digi\u00adtal\u00adiza\u00adtion and new tech\u00adnolo\u00adgies?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Digi\u00adtal\u00adiza\u00adtion and new tech\u00adnolo\u00adgies like AI can make us faster and more effi\u00adcient. For example, they speed up our response to requests, make knowl\u00adedge more acces\u00adsible, and manage service calls more effec\u00adtively. Because that is what our customers expect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Never\u00adthe\u00adless, one thing is very clear to me: people will remain an essen\u00adtial factor in service. While AI can provide support, it cannot replace personal contact or empathy. Customer service is a collab\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtion between tech\u00adnology and people but building a rela\u00adtion\u00adship with the customer and under\u00adstanding their needs\u2014that\u2019s some\u00adthing only our employees can do. So, AI doesn\u2019t replace people, but it does replace igno\u00adrance, and service can be more human with AI than without people. Perhaps without AI, the human touch might soon even become unaf\u00adford\u00adable\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why our goal is to deploy AI in a way that eases the work\u00adload of our service special\u00adists and frees up time for what really counts: direct engage\u00adment and a collab\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtive rela\u00adtion\u00adship with customers. Tech\u00adnology handles the cold routine\u2014so people can provide the human warmth in service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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People will remain an essen\u00adtial factor in service. While AI can provide support, it cannot replace personal contact or empathy.<\/p>\nThomas Sailer, Vice Pres\u00adi\u00addent Customer Support & Services<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

What is impor\u00adtant to you when working with your team, as well as when collab\u00ado\u00adrating with other depart\u00adments?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For me, the most impor\u00adtant factor in effec\u00adtive team\u00adwork is asking the right ques\u00adtions rather than assigning blame. It\u2019s not about who got some\u00adthing wrong, but about how we fix the issue and what we can learn from it. It also requires shared goals, trans\u00adparency, and a solid mutual under\u00adstanding. Service never happens in isolation\u2014we work closely with multiple func\u00adtions, from devel\u00adop\u00adment and sales to produc\u00adtion. What really matters is that everyone keeps the customer\u2019s best inter\u00adests in mind. When we achieve that, every\u00adthing else becomes much easier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another key point, in my view, is empowerment\u2014clear roles, trust, and ensuring that deci\u00adsions are made where the exper\u00adtise lies. And in the end, we should always ask ourselves: How easy are we making things for the customer? How much effort does it take to work with us? That\u2019s exactly what we should work on together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And finally, a personal ques\u00adtion: What do you do when you\u2019re not sitting behind your desk at Uhlmann?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Family is very impor\u00adtant to me. My wife and I are cele\u00adbrating our twen\u00adtieth anniver\u00adsary this year, and we work very well as a team. Our three wonderful chil\u00addren, aged seven, 13, and 16, keep us on our toes with their different needs and inter\u00adests. There\u2019s always some\u00adthing going on, and my family is a great source of energy for me. On week\u00adends, I enjoy simply playing Lego or Play\u00admobil with my youngest daughter, going skiing or visiting the stables with my older daughter. You\u2019ll usually find me on the soccer pitch with my son\u2014and if there\u2019s still some time left, I like to exer\u00adcise, play soccer myself, or go jogging to clear my head. In addi\u00adtion, I volun\u00adteer with the service asso\u00adci\u00ada\u00adtion KVD and at our local sports club. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I find the time, I also like to unwind a bit\u2014sometimes with a game on the PlaySta\u00adtion. In fact, there\u2019s a good chance I\u2019ll play a round with my son later tonight.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Thomas Sailer prefers to spend his free time with his family.<\/p><\/div>\n

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He can also be found on the local club\u2019s soccer field.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Or while skiing in the moun\u00adtains\u2026<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u2026 and he\u2019s happy to bring his chil\u00addren along as well.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thomas Sailer has been Vice Pres\u00adi\u00addent of Customer Support & Services at Uhlmann since September 2025. A good time for a chat about his role, current topics, and how he spends his time outside the office. [\u2026]<\/p>\n

Read More\u2026 from \u201cOur service deter\u00admines how customers expe\u00adri\u00adence our brand\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":4250,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pactuell"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pactuell.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pactuell.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pactuell.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pactuell.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pactuell.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4241"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/pactuell.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4252,"href":"https:\/\/pactuell.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4241\/revisions\/4252"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pactuell.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pactuell.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pactuell.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pactuell.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}