Employee training with a twist: a special visit from the Philippines

"Know your customer!" Following this motto, we invited Sonja Schlenther, and it turned into an inspiring journey.

For over 30 years, Sonja Schlenther has been traveling the world, and for more than a decade, she has been living in the Philippines. In the past, this globetrotter has spoken with us about the challenges of starting her own hotel, dealing with adverse situations, and how to successfully navigate them.

Her story inspired the BDAE team so much that we had to invite her to Hamburg during her last visit to Germany to share her experiences with the entire team. We benefited from this in two ways: Firstly, Sonja shared her philosophy about exploring new paths, resilience, and self-efficacy with us during her travels. Secondly, she also spoke as a long-time BDAE customer. Following the motto "Know your customer," it was truly enlightening to personally hear how one of our customer perceives the BDAE.

Staying calm in stressful situations

The Philippines has become Sonja's chosen home, which has significantly influenced her perspective on things. She gave us an overview of the Philippine healthcare system, going beyond dry numbers and facts. She vividly described what local hospitals look like, how doctors work, and what daily life is like.

In addition, she shared her experiences in building a boutique hotel in the Philippines, including how she had to improvise when fixing a vehicle and how resourceful the local Filipinos became when she faced a major flood. Through these experiences, she learned a lot about dealing with enormous challenges and creative problem-solving under time constraints.

While theory-based training is essential, let's be honest: sessions like this are much more enjoyable and ultimately have a more significant impact. That's why having Sonja with us was so rewarding. Our customers are spread all over the world, making it even more special to meet a customer "live and in person." Plus, having a customer who can share her wealth of experiences as a speaker is truly inspiring. In the same week, the sales team also had the pleasure of hosting experts in the broker business, Ricarda Schönborn and Marcel Rottner, for a visit and "first-hand reports"!