The SVG Westfalen-Lippe kicked off its year with an event at Bilster Berg. The event included a vehicle of the future that was steered around the track using a joystick …

So why does a company go to BILSTER BERG to get its team in the mood for the upcoming business year? For Dirk Jöstingmeier, Managing Director of the Road Transport Association (SVG) Westphalia-Lippe, there were two main reasons: “As a Westphalian-Lippe company, we always look for an interesting location in the region. Secondly, the SVG sales team is extremely car-savvy. Hardly surprising, when services such as truck insurance, toll billing and fuel cards are part of the company’s portfolio and many customers are owners of classic cars or racing cars.

Parallels to motorsport

The theme of the event was tailored to the high-speed customers: “Cross the finish line with power”. For one entire day, SVG had rented the Bilster Berg for this purpose. The 60 or so sales representatives, including employees of R+V and Kravag Insurance, were able to keep an eye on the start and finish line from their conference room on the Ostschleifenterasse. An effect that was definitely intended, says Managing Director Jöstingmeier: “We see many parallels to motorsport for our sales. Firstly, we work in a goal-oriented way: We have set ourselves goals that we want to achieve.” For another, he says, motorsport is always a team effort. “A racing team can only achieve its goals with good mechanics. We, too, can only be successful with a strong in-house team,” says Jöstingmeier. Finally, there is another parallel: “We want to cross the finish line first – before the competition.”

A slow snail on the fast track

In order to achieve these goals, one must not shy away from new sources of energy and technologies, says Jöstingmeier. Self-driving cars, for example, are one of the megatrends in mobility. To show the team what autonomous driving means, Jan Dirk Dallmer, member of the board at Kravag Insurance, brought a self-driving bus to BILSTER BERG. The team took it for a lap around the racetrack in the afternoon. “The bus was probably the slowest vehicle that has ever driven on the Bilster Berg,” Jöstingmeier jokes. “I think the top speed was 30 km/h.” The bus, which normally operates in Wiesbaden, did not move completely autonomously: “For that, we would have had to programme it especially for the Bilster Berg, which would have taken two days. It was controlled by joystick, “it doesn’t have a steering wheel”.

Nonetheless, the bus ride through Mausefalle, Mutkurve and the like was the highlight of the sales meeting. Which is why the Managing Director of SVG Westfalen-Lippe can also imagine a return to BILSTER BERG at some point. “We are always looking for exclusive locations for our events. After all, there is nothing more boring than business hotels.”

 

Author: Michael Aust (Zimmermann Editorial)
Photos: SVG