A week in the life of… Levent Taskın, president of Danfoss Turkey, Middle East and Africa

Sunday

I come to work with a fresh mind-set and focus on how we can improve the customer experience. Being responsible for 69 countries across Turkey, the Middle East and Africa, it is important that I remain up to date with activities in the region. So I host some virtual and online meetings with the leaders of each country. I have lunch with one of our partners, over which we discuss how we can improve the service they provide to their customers and ensure their sales team are equipped and efficient. After preparing my agenda for the next day, I leave the office for an evening walk on the Palm Jumeirah.

Monday

I start my day with meetings, first with the five key country managers of MENA, then with the regional marketing director. I have lunch with one of our design customers and then visit an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) client with some members of the team. We listen to their existing product development plans and take note of their requirements from us. We then visit their production facility and after completing our observation tour, we show them how our solutions can benefit them. After this, I return to the office to catch-up on my emails, and then meet my family for dinner in JBR to unwind after a long day.

Tuesday

As we specialise in products for the heating, cooling, drives and power solutions sectors, we schedule at least one seminar or training session each week for staff, partners and industry professionals. I usually open these sessions with a speech, and stay with the group to build relationships and strengthen our network. I have lunch with the participants at the session and continue to talk to them about the industry. After lunch, I arrange meetings with contractors or BMS companies – today I manage to combine these meetings with a CEMEEA (Association of Energy Engineers) event. I make sure I go to the gym and work out before having dinner with my family.

Wednesday

Today I wake up early and travel to Kuwait. I visit one of the countries in our region every Wednesday, so I’m regularly in Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia. I visit North Africa, Turkey and South Africa once every couple of months, too. During today’s trip, I visit our local partners and hot spot projects. I have a chance to hear feedback from our end users and their opinions on our products and services, after which we can plan any necessary actions to move business forward. It is so important to motivate team members across our different offices, so I take the Kuwait team out for dinner.

Thursday

After returning to Dubai I hold face-to-face coaching sessions with each of my team members. We discuss their personal development and career plans. I then meet with our customer service centre director for an update on our current and upcoming projects. We ensure that our customer care service is maintained at the same standard in all 69 countries across the region. I have a fun lunch with the CSC team, before analysing our figures and planning the upcoming week. In the evening I travel to Turkey so that I can be in the office for their last day of the week.

Friday

Today starts with a meeting with sales directors from Turkey, Pakistan, Azerbaijan and Iran. These countries are highly challenging in terms of politics and economy, which means we have to be flexible and creative at all times. In these emerging markets, with fragile and competitive environments, we must ensure that our sales and marketing campaigns are proactive and unique. We have a team lunch before our weekly employee meeting. We get an update on all of the financial, operational results and our output and then I answer their questions. We also use this time to celebrate any personal achievements. I do my weekly meetings with the segments in Danfoss HQ through Skype before returning to Dubai at the end of the day.

Saturday

I start my long-awaited day off by preparing breakfast for my family. After breakfast, I have a relaxing day taking care of my aquarium and preparing interesting posts for my LinkedIn account that I can post throughout the week. In the afternoon I spend time at the beach with my family, and then take my family for seafood followed by a trip to the cinema. Spending this time with my family rejuvenates me for the week ahead, and gives me the energy to make a positive impact to my colleagues and customers.