How Behrend sells Mercedes

By Oh Young-jin

Ask anybody what is the secret of success for Mercedes Benz in Korea and most would first observe that it is not a secret before saying that the German carmaker owes the quality of its products to its status as top automobile maker.

Put that question to Harald Behrend, the 51-year-old CEO of Mercedes-Benz Korea, and the chance is that you will notice a fleeting hint of hesitation before he utters “quality.”

It is not that Behrend would disagree that the product tops the list of factors consumers would take into consideration in choosing what to buy.

He would say that unless the quality of a product is guaranteed, it would be hard to market it. Even if the product is sold once, it can’t be sold on a sustainable basis.

He also believes that any marketing strategies that help sell products of inferior quality are nothing but gimmicks.

Let’s tweak around the quality-guarantees-sale equation and ask whether all good-quality products sell well. The answer to this new question would be “not necessarily.”

And this answer can explain Behrend’s moment of hesitation during the initial stage of our interview with Mercedes’ Seoul chief.

Although I didn’t ask him whether I assumed his reactions correctly, it is not his remarks but his performance that reinforced my assumption.

Last year, his Seoul operations raised sales by 80 percent. For the past four years under his control, sales quadrupled. Of course, 2009 was a tough year that was affected by the tail end of the financial crisis that was started in the United States and engulfed the world so you may think comparing sales that year with the following 2010 would not make for a fair comparison but quadrupling sales in as many years would raise a legitimate question on the universal wisdom that marketing is always subordinate to quality.

One might venture whether Behrend’s predecessors were not competent enough with sales under their terms being made to look quite unimpressive by the current CEO’s performance.

Twice, his organization was cited for its marketing success in the group-wide survey.

With Mercedes outlets being all over the world, it would not be hard to imagine being selected for this type of honor wouldn’t be easy.

For that transient moment, all these thoughts may have crossed his mind but what he said utterly betrayed any expectations that he would spill some beans.

“I don’t expect an 80-percent jump in sales for two years in a row,” the German said. “It was teamwork, not my individual leadership that made us successful.”

He admitted that his expertise lies in marketing, only when he was asked to confirm my background check on him.

But the confirmation proved to be unnecessary as our conversation carried on further.

I put a hypothetical question to him — regarding me as his potential customer, vacillating which vehicle I would buy among Mercedes, BMW and Audi.

“Have you ever tried to sell your products directly to potential customers,” I asked as a teaser before moving to the hypothetical question. “I still do” comes as his answer with one of the biggest smiles I have seen on his face during the interview.

Still, he insisted on not commenting on his competitors.

He buckled only when I told him that his two imaginary salespersons went out to the restroom and were absent from the scene.

He said a few words but it was close to whispers. His whispers were heard clearly. Chiefs of BMW Korea and Audi Korea may not be so upset.

I as an imaginary prospective buyer decided to buy Mercedes.

One other characteristic I detected in Behrend’s sales tactic is breaking down people’s conventional ideas in what is seen to be a Mercedes way.

His salesmanship came into full view when he dropped a line or two during the interview. He didn’t try and stress but give a slight nudge to what was later felt as a punch line.

“Our products start at prices far lower than thought of,” he said. He made this remark in connection with his firm’s effort to widen its customer base to the young generation.

I myself checked the price range after the interview.

A real answer to my original question about Mercedes’ secret of success came at an unexpected juncture when he answered, being asked whether the age of fossil fuels is over.

He said a firm “no” but his firm was prepared all-round for whatever eventualities may be thought of — fuel cells, hydrogen, hybrid, etc.

He said that there’s no knowing for sure what the future has in store — the best way to prepare for that is to get as prepared possible. That can explain part of the reason why Behrend’s company has prospered for 100 years. “We want to be the best company for another 100 years,” he said.