Regional Office Austria
"Griaß di“ as they say in dialect for "Hello there" in Austria when welcoming our patients and customers in the neighbouring European country since 2003. That was when the regional office was established in Vienna, or to be more precise in Wiener Neudorf. 19 years on, the branch employs a staff of exactly 19 persons. Coincidence or on purpose? And by the way, over half the staff have been with the company for more than 10 years.
The field force is split into three areas (West, South, East) and different greetings are commonplace depending on where you are. This is something that branch manager Andreas Lettner pointed out to us in the interview: working together in the different regions of the Alpine country immediately becomes much easier when you can speak the local dialect and are aware and take into account the special characteristics of the region. And these include the special weather conditions prevailing in Austria.
As a rule, and particularly in winter, one should keep an eye on the weather forecast, especially if you intend to cross a mountain pass to reach a patient. Fortunately, the field force cars are all equipped with four-wheel drive and snow chains in the boot are standard issue. But so far no appointments had to be postponed due to black ice or snow. Conclusion: scheduling works, no matter what the season is.
Particular to Austria, some patients are cared for by an ENT physician or by colleagues from Fahl Germany across borders. None of which poses a problem. "We get along very well with the jovial Rhineland mentality from the headquarters in Cologne and are pretty much on the same wavelength," says Andreas Lettner, briefly summarising the cooperation between Austria and Cologne or the colleagues in the field from Team South. And this we can happily confirm!
And customer satisfaction also reflects the so-called Austrian cheerful approach. During the corona pandemic, permanent intensive contact was deliberately maintained with the different patient groups. This now pays dividends. Nevertheless, Andreas is already looking forward to the next meetings in a real life situation. A face-to-face exchange is definitely more gratifying. In this sense when saying goodbye, it is "Pfiat Gott" in Austria and "Maach et joot" in Cologne, or as they say in English "Take care".
