Herb Gander is the Regional Sales Manager for the Northwest region at Fischer Connectors USA, and this year marks his silver anniversary with our company. A hard worker, family man and great guy all around, everyone has benefited from his drive and dedication both personally and professionally.

Herb was born, raised and educated in Switzerland. Prior to joining Fischer Connectors in February 1998, he pursued a career as an electrician but shortly thereafter transitioned over to regional sales at another connectors company. When Herb was recruited by Fischer, he’d grown to love the industry and knew Fischer Connectors had ‘the’ top quality product in the business, so it was an easy sell to join the company.

Can you tell us about your team, what inspires you and has kept you grounded at Fischer Connectors after all these years?

I work best with a customer-focused team, it’s all about meeting demands and beating the competition. The team is the backbone of every sale, I’m one man so without the continued support of various departments I could not do my job effectively. Throughout my tenure with the company we’ve become much more customer-focused, but my work is never truly done. It’s an ongoing process and it’s hard work – but it’s rewarding, too. I come from a family of hard workers, an important lesson I learned from my father who worked as a laborer his whole life was hard work pays off no matter the situation. I live by the motto “Under-Promise and Over-Deliver.”

What’s the key to success and what makes you different than the average sales person?

Determination and never give up. The only way to be successful is to give it your all. There’s always more to do, your job is never done. There’s so much to learn and so much potential, you just have to tap those opportunities.

The key to success is the customer has to be number one. Teamwork is essential too – everything from interaction with the customers and engineering is key. It’s important to be prepared because like I mentioned earlier, my work is never done. It’s interesting to me the variety of products that we touch with our solutions, our connectors and cable assembly interactions are limitless.

I don’t like to talk about myself (but since you insist) my best quality is being a fairly good listener, not overbearing when I talk to customers – I always try to stay humble. I have a lot of experience in the industry and I have the ability to recognize those opportunities worth pursuing, all while leaving our competitors by the wayside. I’d rather listen more and talk less, I’m a doer – I let my work and the products do most of the talking. Fischer products sell themselves without much help.

What advice would you give your younger self or someone looking to pursue sales?

If you want excitement, human interaction and a rewarding career, then get into sales, and sell an excellent product like Fischer Connectors. We have an excellent product which makes it that much more interesting because the projects you get involved with are innovative, surprising and it’s a never ending discovery with new models, products, opportunities, etc. You have to be very adapting to all the changing elements. Also my advice is finish what you start and give 110% to everything you do, in all situations of your life. Whatever you start, finish it and don’t be mediocre on any level.

How would you describe your career?

I can’t recall a day I’ve ever been bored or ever felt ‘done’, there’s a continuum of great prospects for growth. It’s a big team effort all around and we have some next generation engineers and managers with impactful global ideas, which create more opportunities to look forward to. I wouldn’t get far alone, especially being remote – there’s a whole team behind me that I only physically see once or twice a year, without them nothing would get done. Right now, we have one of the best teams ever since the beginning of Fischer Connectors USA, held together by great leadership. There’s no doubt in my mind, there’s more success in store for the future.

What would you like to accomplish in the next year?

My goal is to tap into new industries and markets we’re currently not in yet, I’d like to develop and foster those opportunities we’re currently not dominating yet. I’d also like to close a couple of deals that have been in the works for years now.

Tell us more about yourself outside of work, how do you spend your free time, and what’s an interesting fact about you?

Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with my family and nature – hiking, fly fishing, etc. We have small family band that plays traditional Swiss folklore music: the Kapelle Gander-Scheiber Band is comprised of our two sons, my father-in-law and myself. We play events in our free time, regularly on the west coast and around Switzerland. It’s a great bonding experience with the family, and a nice way to keep our tradition alive.