“We’re the interface between our customers and production”
Name: Christoph Reinhardt
Job title: Head of Inside Sales
Hobbies: Family life, cooking, mountain biking, swimming
Age: 46
Joined KATZ in: 2021
KATZ is headquartered deep in the Murgtal valley area at the edge of the Black Forest, and that’s where jobs are planned, coordinated, and carried out every day. Somewhere in the middle of all that, Inside Sales is surrounded by telephones ringing, the clickety-clack of typing on keyboards, and a constant but soft choir of voices in the air – it’s where all organizational processes converge. And in the middle of a constant stream of incoming e-mails, spontaneous questions, and daily coordination meetings, the team makes sure that customer requests are always handled quickly and dependably.
Against this backdrop, Head of Inside Sales Christoph Reinhardt is in charge of keeping everything under control. While his team is having direct conversations with our customers, he analyzes and continues to refine processes while also making sure that all structures remain sound and sustainable even as the volume of orders keeps growing. “You know things are well organized when others don’t have to give it a second thought,” he says, and that’s the personal motto that has continuously enabled him to be so successful at what he does.
In this interview, he talks about the importance of clear processes, how much a truly professional team brings to the table, and why good organization often goes unnoticed while remaining abso-lutely critical.
How did you end up working at KATZ?
I originally did an offset printing apprenticeship and worked at a number of print shops for many years. And to tell you the truth, working on the machines was always tons of fun – especially the precision involved and how I got to work with a large variety of materials. Not to mention that shift work came with a number of advantages: I got to enjoy time off during unusual times, which meant that I could do things while everyone was still at the office. However, I realized at one point that I wanted to take my career further, so I went to a print and media technology program.
Once I was done with that I went through various positions in the papermaking and printing industry, and it just so happened that I kept getting closer and closer to sales. In fact, my technical background meant that I often became the interface between production and sales – particularly when it came to complaints or product development. This experience was of course interesting, but it also showed me just how important it was to truly understand both sides, so when I had the chance to join KATZ, one thing was clear: This was exactly the type of job where I’d be able to take all my know-how and make it shine. After all, KATZ combines two worlds: Making material on one hand and then printing on and processing it on the other.
What does your role at KATZ entail? What do you like best about your work?
As the Head of Inside Sales, I’m responsible for ensuring that the processes in our area run smoothly, and that means both when it comes to client-facing work and when teamwork with other departments within the overall company is involved. Accordingly, a large part of my work consists of coordinating communications between interfaces and making sure that information flows where it needs to. This includes analyzing existing processes on a regular basis and making adjustments to them whenever necessary so that we can continue to be efficient and future-proof.
It sounds like a lot, and it is, but we do have an enormous advantage in that we have our whole value chain under a single roof. That means we can directly influence individual steps and processes and respond quickly whenever changes are needed.
In addition to that, I have areas where I regularly touch base with Order Management, especially when it comes to the following questions: How did the order go? Where did we run into challenges? Did we work cost-effectively? And I’m also in touch with the people at Product Development, which means that there’s always something new going on. Every single day is different, and that’s exactly what I love about my role here.
What are the main tasks that Inside Sales takes care of? What does your teamwork with other departments look like?
Inside Sales is there for the whole process – from the moment an order comes in to the moment it is invoiced. When we communicate with our customers, we attach enormous importance to being dependable, clear, transparent, and able to respond quickly to their needs. It probably goes without saying, but our goal is to be an impeccably professional contact that can be reached at all times – both when it comes to processing orders and to responding to inquiries and individual concerns or requests.
At the same time, our team functions as a central interface to countless other departments, including Production, Logistics, Purchasing, Controlling, and Product Development. Our people coordinate communications, relay information, and make sure that everyone who needs data or information gets it at the right time. That’s how we ensure that orders are processed efficiently and transparently – both internally and externally.
Has there been any particular experience or project that really left an impression on you during your time here at KATZ?
Absolutely! My third week at KATZ comes to mind. The flood in the Ahr valley quite literally ripped away all the production capabilities of our subsidiary, Marienthaler. That meant that their output collapsed to zero in a split second, so we had to pick up the slack and take care of 100% more orders at KATZ without advance warning. Obviously integrating Marienthaler into our processes was a huge challenge, and all the more so because we ourselves had just gotten out of a tough slump due to the COVID pandemic: As you well know, beverage coasters are our main product, and the fact that the hospitality industry was hit so hard meant that our sales were as well and that we were, much to our chagrin, forced to let some people go in order to stay afloat.
But despite all that, the team came through. Everyone took responsibility, we adjusted our processes as needed, and the team spirit everyone showed was impressive: Our job was to make sure orders kept getting processed and taken care of properly – and the reason we were able to do it was our extraordinary teamwork. It was quite a way to get started at the company, but it also showed me just how dedicated and efficient the team was.