”I am a team player – to build success we need each other. We win business together, we gain experiences in business together.”

A highlight by one of the longtime Fortaco team member, celebrating his anniversary today. Peter Green, Sales Director at Fortaco Group, has spent the last 20 years of his career in partnership with Fortaco. Born and raised in Sweden in a city called Anderstorp he was surrounded by industrial, family owned companies the great part of his early life, spending his summer holidays working for them. Today, he is a very much respected, supportive, and reliable partner among his colleagues and Fortaco.

Time to turn minus to plus

Peter has a wide experience and background in sourcing and sales. His journey started in 2002, when the company was called Omeo Mekaniska Verkstad. Two acquisitions, and one decade later, the company reached its current form as Fortaco. Those years have been full of professional transformation in different departments, experiencing the great expansion and growth of the company, and also meeting his colleagues, with whom he still has a chance to work today.

Was his goal always to work as a sales professional? Not actually. After studying production technology in a university for two years, Peter was heading straight to sourcing, and found himself working as a purchaser twenty years ago. Those years were very beneficial, allowing him to gain wide experience in different departments. ”Rules are the same in sourcing and sales – you must build trust, connect to people, and communicate. Compared to sourcing, sales is just about turning minus to plus”, he smiles.

Due to changes of a production location in 2009, there opened a chance to switch into the area of sales, where Peter has successfully worked over the decade now. He is known as a colleague, always supportive and reliable, while delivering continuously great achievements in his area of expertise.

Meet the wolf

Peter has been working remotely from Sweden for a long time now. The past two years have introduced also to the wider audience the way of working remotely, but for Peter this independent, self-managed way of doing business has been very natural and effective. ”You could say, I am a lonely wolf running in the forest”, he laughs. Such a great image, but not too far from the reality actually. Wolves, being characterized as independent, loyal, and good at communicating, might fit well in the ways of describing Peter.

Obviously, some challenges have been presented because of rapidly changing situations during the past years. Despite of being independent, it has not been a walk in the park, as Peter has not met his colleagues nor customers face to face for two years now. Still, he has been able to introduce new customers and new business to Fortaco unit during the pandemic and spread positive energy to people working with him.

”Peter has a professional, customer driven attitude, and he takes responsibility of his customer cases and drives them smart and confident way until they are successfully closed”, says Erik Gustafsson, Sales Director at Wroclaw factory. Erik has been working with Peter since 2007. ”I find it very valuable to share thoughts and have discussions with Peter, both in good and tough times. He is a role model as a Fortaco persona and following Fortaco’s values.”

Adapt and enjoy

What challenges have taught to Peter are related to staying flexible and keeping eyes on price. Major transformations usually happen when we least expect them, guiding us to adapt to the new ways of problem solving and growth. ”There can be different roads to the same goal, and sometimes the road is not clear, you have to adapt to the situation and environment”, he points out.

Successful sales is about building trust, and in this case the energy of people working in it cannot be underestimated. For Peter, the situation is a beneficial as he really enjoys his work, meeting and contacting people, one way or another. If there were one advice he would like to say to his younger self, that would be the reminder of enjoying the work, as it is the way to keep energy and trust flowing.

Quality, professional colleagues, and a great strategy are the factors that also keep Peter motivated and engaged in his work. Clear, precise targets are something he values greatly and those make his work easier. ”The company and my time in this industry segment are interesting, and so is the Fortaco story – I believe in it and that makes it easy to sell”.

Meeting the current and future requirements

Customers are definitely close to Peter’s heart, and he has a proven way of ensuring their satisfaction: their demands, needs, and expectations must always be met, and if possible, exceeded. One of the most memorable and successful moment was when a client positively highlighted the end result. ”We delivered a cabin exceeding their expectations, the budget was kept, and delivery time as promised. This had not happened with any of their partners before”, Peter tells. ”Fortaco’s units are very committed about their production and what they are selling, and usually customers are very impressed about professionalism and quality.”

Peter is excited about the new investments, and the latest product specialization program, which enables to focus on different product segments. ”I think that is absolutely the right way to move forward, it will really distinguish us in the market.” With a specialized production line, the team is able to implement the same product for another customer on the same production line. He sees the ongoing development to have the best knowledge, competence, and manufacturing setup for different product groups, being very valuable for the future.

In the end, the future will remain a mystery, but it could entertain to ponder different options, goals, or plans for the next two decades. Peter has a quite laidback attitude about this, things will unfold as they should. ”Of course, drinking pina colada on a beach would be nice at that point!”

We thank Peter for his great commitment and growth over the years at Fortaco and wish him another successful 20 years with the work, people, and goals he finds valuable!