Sharon and Jessica are two girls with widely different personalities. Jessica is a typical girl from northeastern China. She is the one in a crowd who laughs the loudest and says “you’re killing me”. Sharon is a delicate Suzhou girl. She’s pretty, smart, likes to learn, is practical, and hardworking. They took part in a difficult case on this trip to Germany.
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Germany is continuously overcast and rainy, and very cold in November. This time we attended an ultrasound course organized by DEGUM (the Medical Ultrasound Treatment Association of Germany). The site of the course was located at the hospital affiliated to the University of Ulm. This hospital that was first built in 1982 is one of the largest scale university affiliated hospitals in Germany’s Baden Wurttemberg. Here we encountered the most dramatic moments in this trip to Germany.
The classroom of the hospital is outfitted with machines from various manufacturers. Our machine was placed in the most inconspicuous corner. There weren’t even any beds next to it! The doctors taking part in the course arrived one after another. I felt anxious, and quickly found the person in charge of training, Wolfgang Kratzer, the Course Supervisor of DEGUM, and the Chief Physician of Ultrasound at the hospital affiliated to the University of Ulm.
This German doctor who was nearly sixty years old said: “I’ve never heard of your Chinese ultrasound brand, and also have no interest in Chinese ultrasound equipment. Take your equipment and go.” His tone was gentle, but the words he used were very resolute.
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My heart raced once I heard him say this, but I still patiently explained to him that: although VINNO had only been in the German market for two years, it had already installed hundreds of machines. We do not have a utilitarian attitude when we sell machines, but hope that ever more German doctors can recognize this ultrasound brand from China.
He was indifferent. In the end he didn’t even respond to us. The two of us reluctantly stood for a bit in front of the machine. The space in the classroom was narrow. Some people began pushing and shoving us, trying to get us to go somewhere else. In a strange country in front of a group of strangers we were ignored as if we were nothing but air.
This feeling of being discriminated was like a needle poking me. I said to Jessica: “Since they’re attitude is so resolute, let’s get out of here.” Jessica said: “Why don’t we try again?” I began preparing to pack up the machine: “They don’t accept us. It’s meaningless to stay here.”
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A blast of stubborn energy rise up inside of me at the moment I was preparing to leave: “Why should we leave? We’ve come so far to tell them how good we are. I want to try again, so let’s try again!” I found Wolfgang Kratzer one more time. He stared at me with his blue eyes, let out a forced smile, and casually stated: “Now do you know that it is not easy to get into the German market?”
I don’t know where my courage came from: “It is because I know it is hard to get into the German market that I am fully prepared, and dare to stand here; it’s only because I believe our machine is excellent that I persist in the way that I do. What we want is only a single chance. I hope that we are be able to come again tomorrow.”
He looked at me, thought for a minute, and said: “If you want to come, then come back.” At that moment I felt like crying.
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The next day the weather in Germany was still overcast and rainy. We drove quickly on the highway, and envisaged how we would encourage each other in all of the situations we encountered today: “Girl, we are not afraid....” We arrived at the hospital very early. Not long afterwards Wolfgang Kratzer approached us with a smile. His assistant pushed a bed toward us, led us to a classroom, and prepared a bed. His attitude greatly changed from the indifferent one the day before.
Wolfgang Kratzer let out an expression of approval after he used our demonstration case: “The image quality is quite good.” He proactively inquired about particulars of the company, and even amicably invited us to eat lunch together. We took a picture together with him to mark the occasion. He lifted up his thumb and said: “VINNO deserves respect.” Those doctors whose faces were indifferent and disparaging the day before also changed their attitudes.
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At that moment I wholeheartedly felt proud for VINNO. In this country that is known for its strictness we received the respect and praise of professionals by virtue of the outstanding performance of our product. Jessica and I hugged each other when the training ended: “We conquered ourselves, comrade-in-arms!”
We received an email from Wolfgang Kratzer on our return trip. He wrote: It was a great pleasure for me to meet you and your colleague at our course in Ulm. I've got to say the perseverance of you and the performance of your products really impressed me, and I'm happy
to recommend VINNO as another Chinesebrand in addition to Mindray. I wish you success on the Medica.
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