One day, I received an international call from China.
Apparently, the secretary of Siemens China called me.
She asked if the boss would go to Japan three months later and see him. When I listened in detail, a man named Begere from Siemens China wanted to see me.
I accepted his request with interest.
After that, his secretary confirmed the appointment every month.
And a man named Begere appeared at Toshiba headquarters as promised.
He was a tall, bearded man.
He briefly described his career and his hopes.
He explained to me that he worked in the market development department of the German Siemens Medical Division.
According to his background, he created a local sales company in South Africa and then a similar sales company in China. Next year, he was planning to return to Germany and set up a sales company in Libya. But considering his age, he wanted to end his life in South Africa. So he explained to me that he wanted to set up a medical device sales company and handle Toshiba medical devices.
At that time, Toshiba distributors were not very active in South Africa. So I accepted Begere’s offer on the condition that the current agency contract would be terminated.
The following year they set up a company and I entered South Africa. Until then, due to apartheid issues, Toshiba did not allow us to go, but apartheid was also abolished in 1990, giving us the freedom to go to South Africa. Perhaps I was the first to enter South Africa within Toshiba.
Until then, South African distributors seemed to manufacture and sell soaps and medical equipment.
However, the cancellation of the distributor’s contract was not easily accepted.
Originally, this area was doing business via Nissho Iwai (now Sojitz). So, this time, I asked Eda, the manager of Nissho Iwai, for help and negotiated. In the end, we reached an agreement in two days. This was a very good experience for me.
The day after the agreement, we were invited to the president’s home. We took over the inventory of products and parts at a reasonable price.
Meanwhile, Begere and his friend Mike teamed up with a South African millionaire to set up a company.
In fact, I learned a lot from Begere.
When I heard about Siemens’ sales strategy, I was surprised that Siemens’ operations were far superior to those of Toshiba.