Why Structure Beats Sales When Europeans Enter the US…

About this episode

In this episode of Transatlantic Titans, Thomas Rechtien and Manny Schoenhuber get into what actually separates the European companies that scale in America from the ones that quietly go home after three years. Thomas argues that most owners fix the wrong thing first. They arrive, they hire salespeople, they push for revenue, and they never build the structure underneath it. ____________________ 00:00 Meet Thomas Rechtien 01:00 From banking apprenticeship to twenty years in steel 02:00 Why the US: the push and the pull 04:00 Chicago to Houston and the scale of America 05:00 Turning around a struggling US operation 06:00 Running the show as president and CEO 09:00 Why a local presence changes everything for US customers 11:00 The Salzgitter brand as a door opener 12:00 Selling on quality when you cannot win on price 13:00 Lead times, buffer stock, and closing the service gap 15:00 How local should you be? The spectrum explained 18:00 Leaving Salzgitter and building his own practice 19:00 His grandfather's carpentry shop: an expensive job, not a system 20:00 The operating system: decision rights and the functional seat chart 23:00 Who he works with: Mittelstand companies from five to fifty million 24:00 Buying a US company instead of building from scratch 27:00 Coaching judgment instead of checklists 28:00 The mistakes: service culture and product-market mismatch 31:00 Consolidation, private equity, and the compressed speed of business 34:00 Legal pitfalls: employee handbooks, contracts, company setup 36:00 The take it or leave it myth with big OEMs 39:00 Success story: a Chicago steel service center doubles revenue 41:00 What still holds European companies back 42:00 The Core Four 48:00 Rapid Fire: This or That 49:00 Culture shock, distance, and doing business in person 52:00 Dale Carnegie and favorite US cities 53:00 How to connect with Thomas 55:00 Final takeaway ____________________ 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗦 🌐 Website: https://www.rechtienconsult.com/🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-rechtien/ 𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗘 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗬 🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MannySchoenhuber 🌐 Website: https://mannyschoenhuber.com/ 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mannyschoenhuber/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mannyschoenhuber/ 📧 Email: manny@masteringmarketentry.com 📖 Get the #1 Best-Selling Book: https://www.amazon.com/Mastering-Market-Entry-Europeans-America/dp/1544545533 👍 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘 - if you enjoy this content 🔔 𝗦𝗨𝗕𝗦𝗖𝗥𝗜𝗕𝗘 - for more strategies on how Europeans make it BIG in America ⚠️ Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional legal or financial advice. Please consult with a qualified professional regarding your specific business situation.