LIQUI MOLY Managing Director Ernst Prost on the demands of the coming upswing

Ladies and gentlemen,

Welcome to a new calendar week after a long weekend. I am wishing you a relaxing work week 🙂

A common saying in boxing which, by the way, has been proven wrong several times, is: “They never come back”. – Should not matter to us because WE never went away… No layoffs, no short-time work, no “duty by the book” mentality, no driving down, no answering machine as the sole contact for a customers, no standing still, no being lazy under the Corona cover, no flinching, no giving up, no surrendering, no whining and no sitting still!! Who does not rest, does not rust… That’s right. Meaningful work protects against apathy and phlegm. Even more true! The gods put the sweat before success and that’s what we do…

I’m looking forward to Christmas like a little child when the business is brought back up. After the shutdown and locking up comes the phase of catching up. For me the question is not when this will be, but whether we are well prepared for it. Do we have enough products in stock? Does our systems fit the changed structures in this world? Are we prepared for the onslaught I expect? Are we still fit and agile? I don’t want to give up the lead that we have fought so hard to gain over our competitors, because we might have become a bit drowsy and lulled in or even become afraid of our own courage.

I can’t understand it when some people think that nothing is possible anymore. There are currently many negative examples of sleeper train crisis management in all kinds of industries. Although the crisis is taking place in some companies, it is only during normal office hours from Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 4:00pm. Closing time and weekends remain the measure of all things and almost sacred for some people, even now. Yes, ladies and gentlemen with a regular end of work and relaxing weekends from Friday midday onward we will definitely note be able to get this crisis under control… Neither the role of victim nor whining at the highest level suits us well. We are fighters – and we are workers, thinkers and doers. I would like US to be an example of optimism, confidence, fighting spirit, but also of excellent preparation within the framework of our crisis management for the time after, I’m telling you: Never has there be a more favorable time for us to capture additional market share than now.

You may remember: Because twelve years ago we proceeded in exactly the same way during the last crisis as we do today and we did become the market leader in Germany. None of our competitors has ever been able to catch up on the lead we gained in the midst of the financial crisis. With our experience and this blueprint, we are now also approaching as many countries as possible. Please do not reduce capacity, but rather increase it. Keep on producing and building up stocks! We communicate tirelessly with the whole world, while at the same time we are improving our service offers for workshops, dealers and drivers. After all, it’s not only advertising that we are currently doing excessively. Our entire range of services with which we serve our customers is becoming even more comprehensive, precise and customer oriented. Not only more products, but more and more suitable products plus service hotlines, training offers, information packages and of course support programs for our partners and business friends – all this will help us to get off the starting blocks at high speed before our competitors even start.

Please continue to stay closely connected to our customers in the typical Liqui Moly relationship: Professional businesslike and at the same time helpful as people, and do not forget: You don’t fight crises with short-time work, but only with more work!

Thank you very much for this!Yours,

Ernst Prost Managing Director