Chance lends a helping hand

By chance, I met Francesco Muzio at a course, and although we didn't really want to talk about our work, I told Francesco about my postal vehicle with all its advantages, with which I was unfortunately not yet successful in sales. Again by chance, Francesco was friends with Dominique Freymond, a board member at Swiss Post. By chance, Francesco's 50th birthday was coming up, and he had invited Dominique. Without further ado and with helping in mind, he also invited me with my new vehicle. At the farewell after Francesco's birthday party, I briefly had the opportunity to show Dominique the DXP. He was interested, especially since I told him about the positive feedback from Patrik Steiger. He said goodbye by saying that he wanted to ask the people in charge internally how far my vehicle had been tested and how the suitability tests had turned out. He sent a short e-mail about this to the CEO of Swiss Post, who asked back internally with my address in the CC! I was flabbergasted. t didn't take long for the Swiss Post vehicle managers to reply. They wrote a detailed e-mail to the CEO and explained in great detail what was wrong with the vehicle I had developed. My e-mail address was also in the CC. What luck! In the meantime, we had further developed the vehicle and had eliminated all the points that were being criticized by the post office. So I replied by e-mail to the CEO of Swiss Post, including CC to the project manager of the evaluation, that I was convinced that the DXP we had developed performed significantly better in all the tests listed than the motorbikes currently in use. In addition, it was much safer for the drivers, more efficient and, in terms of ecology, more economical than all the vehicles in use at the time.
The CEO wrote only one very short sentence back to all of us - obviously slightly annoyed: Do your tests carefully!

And I was already invited to the address of Mobility Solutions. At the time, that was the subsidiary that was responsible for the purchasing of all vehicles. For safety's sake, I took my vehicle with me and Francesco to back me up.
I was greeted frostily. Several Mobility Solution employees stood around me in a semicircle. They said that was a bit strong. You can't just write to their CEO. What could I possibly think of? They had tested my vehicle, it had failed and that was all there was to it.
I remained calm and listened with interest. I had learned that with my dog. When I wanted to scold him because, for example, he had chased a cat again, he was very interested in my gestures and emotions. My dog also listened quietly until I was through with my reprimands and then asked me to play, wagging his tail happily. My dog always managed to win me over with this trick.
So I listened until they had said everything they wanted to say and then pointed out my DXP. I had it here now and they should take it for a test drive. One after the other sat down on it and they admitted that the power delivery was good, the manoeuvrability excellent and that my vehicle could carry much more load than their scooters. To cut a long story short: the DXP would be put into practical use again.
A few test drives were made, all with positive feedback. I already thought I could negotiate the sale of the first series, when another test was imposed on us in Grindelwald. The buyer on the Post's side was also slightly irritated. "Why Grindelwald?" I wanted to know. They had had very bad experiences with the people there. They are never satisfied. If the people of Grindelwald accept the DXP, it will be accepted everywhere in Switzerland. Together with Francesco, I delivered a test vehicle to Grindelwald. At first sight, the postmen folded their arms. It would never work with our vehicle. Not on their mountain roads. They eyed my low shoes critically - I was obviously a specimen of the "Zurich city dweller" species, who had to be treated with caution. I conceded that my DXP might well fail them. In Zurich we had a lake, but no mountains. We had come here especially to drive the most difficult delivery route with them and our vehicle and to test whether we were up to the challenge. The Grindelwalders thawed out. One of them sat on the DXP. The rest of us had the old petrol scooters shoved under our bums and together we rode up into the mountain world. This ride was unique. That's what I always wished for as a child when I had to go hiking with my parents: it was unforgettable to jet over the mountain paths on the rattling mopeds without a safety helmet. We had a dreamlike view and yes: it was very challenging. The longer the ride lasted, the more positive the Grindelwalders were. The DXP mastered all the mountain paths effortlessly, could start and brake on gravel and turn around in the tightest of spaces. They were impressed. We stopped at a place where the path turned left and vertically in front of us was a steep slope that went down several hundred metres. One of the postmen said: Yes, so far our vehicle had managed quite well, but it was no good. It was much too heavy. "Too heavy? What do you mean?" Could I imagine what would happen if this road was icy in winter? "No...?" They come from above, can't brake in time and have to jump off the scooter. The bike regularly falls down this slope and they have to carry it back up. The DXP is much too heavy for that. I looked at their faces, puzzled: were the postmen playing a joke on us? Their expression remained serious: they really meant what they said. I looked down the slope, then at them, and replied: "By my word, you'll never have to carry the DXP up here. I have fitted three different braking systems for it, two of them automatic, and in addition the trailer is braked as well." They were surprised. Now they had to make sure I wasn't joking. Obviously, our understanding was not that simple. We drove back and left saying that we would get in touch again in a few weeks.
After the day, Francesco and I decided to have a quick drink in the village restaurant before heading back home. Our postmen were already sitting at the regulars' table. When they saw us, they waved us over to their table. I felt honoured: as a citizen of Zurich, I was allowed to sit at the regulars' table in Grindelwald. After sharing a beer, I asked them directly: I'd heard they were considered difficult. Can they imagine why? Yes, of course: they told me a story about how they were very happy with their small Fiat Pandas as emergency vehicles, but how they were snatched away from them and replaced by larger off-road vehicles that did not fit through the narrow village streets. They had already complained many times in Bern, but were simply not being listened to. For the first time in a long time, we were the first to drive the delivery route with them and ask them exactly what they needed.
The Grindelwalders were delighted. They used two DXP over the whole winter and the riders felt much safer than with the old scooter. By now they felt they could only do their job if they got our vehicles to use. Everything went well until that day when we had to pick up the two vehicles because the test had been successfully completed. The Grindelwalders did not want to hand over the DXP. We tried to explain that we as a company had provided the vehicles and that we wanted to use them for other purposes. They only replied: "That's not possible, the winter is not over yet. We had a real problem. We had to take our DXP back with us. With red heads and slamming the door, the postmen left the scene.

A short time later, the first order for 20 DXP arrived. One condition had to be fulfilled: The first vehicles had to be delivered to Grindelwald, and they had to be in service before the next winter. Obviously, our friends from the mountains had also put a lot of pressure on the head office in Bern.
There was still a snag: The expert at the road traffic office in Winterthur had kindly allowed us to register a few vehicles. So we were able to test them well. We were still a long way from a type-approval test. The registration regulations did not even approve trailers with an overrun brake pulled by light motor vehicles. How were we going to solve this?

I learned from that:

• Step by step, we move forward.
• The Bernese Highland is fantastically beautiful.
• Once one task is solved, the next one follows.