After 16 Years, It’s Time to Say Thank You – and Goodbye

A key point of contact – for customers and colleagues

For many years, Ms Dillen was a key point of contact for our customers in inside sales and administration, and at the same time an important link within our company.
At Weilandt, there is often more to a repair than the technical restoration of a device.
Repair orders have to be coordinated, questions clarified, appointments arranged and, where needed, replacement or swap devices organised. Larger device fleets bring further requirements – such as device pools, additional devices for special deployments or the coordination of different service processes.
Much of this happens almost invisibly for the customer, in the background.
And that is exactly where she made sure everything worked.
With her experience, her independent way of working and her sense for what mattered most at any given moment, you could always rely on one thing: with her, things were in good hands.

For us, good succession starts long before the last working day

Sixteen years of experience cannot be handed over in a few weeks. That is why we at Weilandt started planning Bettina Dillen’s succession around a year and a half before her planned departure.
Her successor, Mr Alain Ebrahimi, has been part of our team since June 2026. This deliberately gave him enough time to get to know our customers, workflows and service processes and to grow into his new role step by step.
Our aim was never to hand over as many tasks as possible as quickly as possible. Responsibility was to be taken on gradually, wherever the necessary experience and confidence were already in place.
Ms Dillen actively supported this process, passed on her knowledge and at the same time gave her successor, Mr Ebrahimi, the space to work increasingly independently and take on responsibility of his own.
As a result, her own role changed over the last few months: the central point of contact increasingly became the experienced adviser in the background.
For us, that was exactly the right moment to see: the handover works, responsibility has been taken on – and Ms Dillen can let go with a good feeling.

Passing on knowledge before it is lost

For us, this kind of succession planning is not an end in itself.
When a long-standing employee leaves the company, it is not just about filling a vacant position. It is about preserving experience, customer knowledge and processes that have grown over many years.
At the same time, an early, well-planned handover means that tasks don’t suddenly have to be redistributed among the remaining colleagues. Responsibilities stay clear, workloads remain manageable, and a new employee gets the time they need to truly grow into their role.
This creates security – for the new colleague, for the existing team and ultimately for our customers as well.

For us, continuity is part of service quality

In our business in particular, this continuity matters.
Our customers rely on repairs being handled reliably, devices being available, replacement and swap processes working smoothly, and having contacts who understand their requirements.
That takes technical expertise in our workshop – but just as much people in the background who organise, coordinate and take responsibility.
Service quality is therefore not created at a single desk. It is created by a well-coordinated team working together.
And for us, part of that responsibility is preparing for staff changes early enough that this teamwork is preserved.

And yet, a farewell is still a farewell

However well a succession is prepared, there is one thing that cannot be handed over: the person.
To us, Bettina Dillen was far more than a colleague in inside sales and administration. For many years she was a familiar part of Weilandt – and, in many ways, the heart and soul of our team.
Dear Bettina, we are very sorry to see you go.
Thank you for 16 years of dedication, reliability and trust. Thank you for all the big and small things you took care of. And a very special thank you for making it a priority, right up to the end of your time with us, to pass on your knowledge and support Alain Ebrahimi on his way into his new role.
The fact that over the last few months you were able to say more and more often, “This runs fine without me,” is probably the best result a successful handover can have.
Now it’s time for you to let go – even though we would, of course, have loved to keep you with us a little longer.
We wholeheartedly wish you good health, many wonderful experiences and, above all, plenty of time for the people and things that matter to you in your well-deserved retirement.

All the best – and thank you for 16 years together at Weilandt!