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VINCENT VAN DEN BERG, WAVE KITCHEN PRODUCTS

Vincent van den Berg is co-owner and commercial manager of Wave Kitchen Products. This company has been a leader in luxury range hoods since 1995. From whom did Vincent learn the tricks of the trade and who was his wheelbarrow?Text: Larissa Schaule Jullens
Image: Manola van Leeuwe

What was your very first job?

"I was 15 years old when I decided I wanted to earn my own money. My first real side job was washing dishes. I had all kinds of side jobs, as long as I could work. Between the ages of 15 and 20, I was richer, so to speak, than I am now. I got my first real job when I was 23. I worked as an account manager for a company that sold chip cards and chip card systems. I got here through a friend of mine. The Jaarbeurs was a customer of mine at the time. I felt pretty cool that time, mainly because of the responsibility I was given. I was allowed to go out a lot to visit customers. I did this without any sales training and I managed quite well. I had a positive mentality and I thought: let's go for it, step on it and sell it. I ended up working for this company for 1.5 years."

How did you end up in your current job?

"In 1995 my father started this business and a few months later my mother joined. In the summer of 2003 - that's sixteen years ago - my father asked if I wanted to work in the company as well. My parents worked in the company for nineteen years. At some point we decided together to part ways professionally. I wanted to move on and they had already passed 65. Meanwhile, my wife Kim had also joined the business to continue the business with me if my parents quit. Jerry Severins had been working with us as an account manager since 2008, and I knew he had ambitions to run a business. In 2014, he had the opportunity to take over 50% of my parents' shares and has been my associate ever since. I own the other 50%. Together with Kim and Jerry, we make up the MT. Now - anno 2020 - I am commercial manager of Wave Kitchen Products and am ultimately responsible for sales in the commercial area. My primary focus is exports."

In that, who was your wheelbarrow?

"Obviously, my father has been my wheelbarrow. That has sometimes worked to my disadvantage, but overall it has helped me. As the son of coming into a company - where everyone already knows each other well - you really have to prove yourself. I really did know enemies at the time. Fortunately, my father was very much appreciated in the market and somehow that radiated to me. My father hasn't had anything to do with the company for seven years, but even now people still talk very positively about him."

What is your greatest passion in your profession?

"Last night I drove around The Hague to visit people who had problems with their extractor. What I like most about my job is the reception when I visit people's homes. They are always busy with nice things, namely their house. I have so much knowledge mainly about extractor hoods, but also about other peripheral issues such as interior design. The most fun is to think with these people and give good advice. I have a backpack full of experience, so I can join them in their world. Developing fun things together is what I like to do."

What has been the biggest learning moment in your career?

"There is one learning moment that has always stayed with me. That's because it helped me a lot both professionally and privately. I do better in business than in private, by the way. One of the first appointments I made during my first job was at a comprehensive school. My job was to make sure students could pay with a pass at the vending machines. Anyway, I arrived on location and I started talking to an employee of the school who was in charge of that device. I start talking after 15 minutes he says to me, "I hate vendors like you so much." That's not a compliment, so I burst out laughing. I asked what he meant by his remark. Then he said the wise words, "You tell me so much that I have no interest in." He was right. The most important lesson for a salesperson - at all as a human being: you have to know what's going on on the other side before you can sell anything. It means: asking questions, asking questions and asking questions again. Being really interested in the other person. It's no use trying to sell a red car if someone wants a green one. This remark comes back to my mind so often. This really helped me."

What advice would you give your 18-year-old self?

"Actually, I would like to be the same in it as I was then. Back then I was sometimes stubborn and arrogant and I still am. But that did get me where I am today. My father once said about me: you have to let him go and he has to figure it out for himself first. Then if he doesn't get it, he will. But you have to let him go first."

Have you been a wheelbarrow for anyone?

"If I'm very honest, I wouldn't know for whom. I hope to become a wheelbarrow for my children, but I don't expect them to work in our company later. Working with your parents I have experienced as a privilege, but it also requires a lot of energy and also tensions arise. They are your parents and you are not equal to each other. With my children I don't feel like that, so in that area I won't be a wheelbarrow for them."