Five questions for: Klaus Ritzki
Learning from a real industry veteran: on the occasion of his 70th birthday, we asked our Senior Sales Consultant Klaus Ritzki some questions about his career at MESSERSCHMITT Systems and his experiences in sales. In this interview, he talks about his varied day-to-day work, his most exciting projects, and what makes the company unique from his point of view.
1. How would you describe your career at MESESRSCHMITT Systems?
“I started in the ‘hotel locking systems’ industry in 1992 with a small Swedish medium-sized company that is now part of a global group. Due to changes in the company’s direction, I started looking for a new challenge with a German manufacturer. That’s how I started my career at MESSERSCHMITT Systems as a technician in sales in 2007. I progressed through technical sales support to key account manager and finally to sales manager, culminating in my current position as senior sales consultant.
Since we are constantly developing new solutions for our customers in line with a startup mentality, our colleagues around the world also need to be comprehensively informed and trained – a task that both excites and challenges me. This also includes working closely with all areas in our plant, which keeps me close to production and technology and thus true to my roots.”
2. What has been your greatest challenge or most exciting assignment to date?
“On the one hand, the change from technician to sales was a personal challenge, but on the other hand, it brought me great advantages with many orders, as I was able to advise and support our customers with sound know-how. Over the years, there have always been exciting projects such as the Place d’Armes Hotel in Luxembourg, the Adina in Munich, or the Maritim Hotel in Amsterdam. And last but not least, supporting the development of sales in Saudi Arabia has been one of my most enjoyable tasks.”
3. What advice would you give to customers who are just starting to implement access control and room control technology?
“I would recommend the following: it is important to consider technical solutions from the perspective of both hotel management and guests. In our experience, holistic consideration of both perspectives allows for more comprehensive and effective implementation. The full performance of our systems is achieved through the symbiosis between hotel management system (PMS), access control, and room control. The result is a convenient guest experience all round while optimizing operations. It makes sense to not only look at the individual components, but to also keep an eye on the big picture in order to integrate the systems seamlessly into the operating environment.”
4. How does MESSERSCHMITT Systems contribute to sustainability in the area of sales? What role does sustainability play for customers?
“The aspect of sustainability is deeply rooted in our business approach. MESSERSCHMITT solutions are designed to optimize and reduce energy consumption, which not only makes operations more efficient, but is also good for the environment. Good examples include our environmentally friendly keycards made of wood or energy-saving presence detection of guests in our room management systems. In the near future, we plan to integrate further energy-saving options to reduce the environmental footprint of our products even more. From experience, I can say that our customers are also increasingly recognizing the value of responsible energy management and they appreciate products that help them strengthen their own environmental commitment. At MESSERSCHMITT Systems, we are proud to accompany them on this journey and actively participate in shaping a more sustainable future.”
5. How would you describe MESSERSCHMITT Systems in one sentence?
“As a medium-sized company, we focus strongly on the development and production of individual, customized solutions that are specifically tailored to the unique needs and challenges of each individual customer.”