25+ years of experience
From Twente (region in the east of The Netherlands) to Europe: down-to-earth Gijs Blömer takes TYRO’s innovation across borders. As Business Development Manager, Gijs Blömer travels all over Europe for TYRO from Almelo. Or as he calls it himself: as a field salesman. “We work internationally, but we have remained down-to-earth people from Twente.”
You are a leading manufacturer in the Netherlands of industrial remote controls, what should I imagine?
“We make radio remote controls, just like the ones you use for television, but on an industrial level for a variety of industries. You can’t think of anything, and we have a product for it. For example, our remote controls are used to pump Heineken from trucks into the tanks under pubs, Rolls Royce uses our mobile remote-controlled emergency stop to ensure remote safety during the testing of new production methods, and moving scenery can be stopped in the same way at the Royal Opera House in London. We don’t have a specific customer. Certainly not since we were acquired by the American company Cattron in 2022. We used to focus mainly on axle steering of trailers. In fact, TYRO started in 1995 as a collaboration between DAF and several trailer builders. But now we focus on a variety of industries in the mobile sector. Anything that is electrically, hydraulically or pneumatically controlled can be controlled by extension with a wireless control system using our remote controls.”
And what role do you play as Business Development Manager within TYRO?
“That does sound posh doesn’t it? I just always call myself field salesman. That also fits better with the down-to-earth Twente character of TYRO. Previously TYRO only had an inside sales department, which consisted of a highly technical team that organized the sales from Almelo. But after the takeover by our American parent company, I joined to also approach customers on location. The large Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) are almost all abroad. It’s up to me to build a relationship with these and serve them on location.”
So do you now have that highly technical knowledge always at the ready during your international customer visits?
“I have been working at TYRO for six months now and by now I know a lot, but certainly not everything. We also have such a wide range of products, each with their own properties and advantages. Fortunately, I can always fall back on the technical support staff at home in Almelo. I am in constant contact with our engineers and connect them directly to customers. It is part of our natural personal approach to Twente, which our international customers appreciate so much. We have a small team of about 25 people which means that lines of communication are short and none of our customers feel like a number.”
What is it like to sit at the table with major OEMs on behalf of a company originally from Twente?
“It’s particularly fun to be with a different customer every month, in a different country with its own culture, but in the end, it doesn’t really matter who I sit at the table with. Of course I prepare myself for the cultural differences in doing business, because they are already there even with our immediate neighbors, but in the end my work as a salesperson revolves around getting people excited about our product. And about translating customer demand into a product. After all, often, customers do not come to us with a specific technical question. So, we guide them from technical product knowledge in which options are best for their production environment and budget. From that customer advocacy, I get my satisfaction.”
And do you represent interests in more languages than just English?
“The mother tongue of customers is less and less important. So indeed, most communication takes place in English. But I also speak German and am learning French. I can speak English just fine with large French OEMs, but they still prefer to be addressed in their own language. Fortunately, I have a French-speaking colleague to fall back on, but I want to go the extra mile myself to strengthen our customer contact there.”
And Twents, do you still speak that too?
“Definitely! I am a born and raised Tukker. The more I travel, the more appreciation I get for Twente. For the green surroundings, the small scale and the culture that we also uphold at TYRO: modest, no-nonsense and with an eye for our noabers (Twents dialect for Neighbours). We may work internationally, but we have remained a down-to-earth Tukker. That mentality of ‘just act normal, you’ll be crazy enough’ is something I can’t find anywhere else in the world. I used to want to live abroad, but now I have bought a house with my girlfriend in the same street in Borne where I grew up. Twente is and will always be my home. It has everything I need.
Interview published on Twente.com
Text: Jadrike Boels / Photo: TYRO by Cattron