The Baden-Württemberg-based company CIC Weissach specialises in the development and sale of pneumatic components, with a particular focus on customer-specific special solutions. In this interview, Klaus Czerwonka, Managing Director of CIC Weissach, explains what the wlw presence means for CIC Weissach and that sustainability is unfortunately an overused term that many entrepreneurs take for granted.
Mr. Klaus Czerwonka, Managing Director of CIC - Weissach
Mr. Czerwonka, what does your company specialise in?
Our core business is the development and sale of pneumatic components with a focus on customised special solutions. CIC Weissach also offers the procurement and production organisation of mechanically manufactured components according to customer drawings as a system supplier, service provider, project management partner and consultant for supply chain, supplier management, production and quality management.
What challenges do you expect to face in the future? Or: What developments can be expected in your industry?
In general, I’m quite optimistic when looking ahead. What we will have to deal with realistically due to global economic developments will be issues such as freed-up capacities and lower demand, in addition to increasing competition.
Are you now investing more in online marketing and therefore also in Visable due to coronavirus?
Let's not talk about corona anymore! We have been investing more for some time now, simply because it is necessary in the overall context and is proving to be effective for us.
And are you shifting the marketing budget for this, e.g. from the trade fair budget?
No, we don't shift! I know that some companies divide up their budgets differently and, for example, take money from trade fairs and events to increase their online marketing. We don't do that at the moment. Strategically, it simply makes sense to increase our visibility in the B2B sector on wlw sustainably and in the long term, and we need to allocate the appropriate budget for this.
What role does the internet play in the distribution of your products and why did you decide in favour of Visable and the B2B platform wlw?
The Internet is playing an increasingly important role for us and our business. There is currently no faster and more up-to-date exchange across the globe. And with wlw, we are just as visible in the B2B sector as we want to be. That's why we're sticking with it even after 20 years, because our experience has been and continues to be consistently positive.
How long have you been using our wlw platform?
We have been active on the wlw platform for over 20 years and are still there because it has increased our visibility and keeps us present.
How long did it take you to receive the first enquiries?
That is indeed an interesting question, but I can't really keep track of it - 20 years is a long period of time in which many details are lost. The important thing is that we have been able to steadily increase the volume and quality of our enquiries.
We achieve this with additional products from wlw, such as Adwords campaigns.
Are you satisfied with our performance and to what extent have your expectations been met?
For sure. The expectations we have regarding our presence on wlw have largely been met. If I could wish for anything, it would be to solve the costs and dependency on Google differently for Adwords and keywords.
Which marketing activities are you currently involved in and which marketing activities have become less important for you in recent months?
We have noticed that cold calling and direct approaches are working less and less well and are currently focusing our resources to optimise our website.
How important is the topic of sustainability in your company?
Unfortunately, this word has become a completely overused slogan. We and many other companies, especially SMEs and family businesses, have practically always lived sustainability. Anything else is neither economically nor ecologically viable for a company in the long term. And that's why I would be delighted if sustainable behaviour became normal again and we all did our bit as a matter of course
Mr. Czerwonka, thank you very much for the interview and good luck for the future!
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