Life @ Westburg: Martijn Rotteveel

"It became much more about relationships and actually thinking along with the customer."

Martijn Rotteveel did not expect to end up in business development.

He studied cell biology at Utrecht University and spent much of his time there doing fundamental research. For years, the plan was to pursue a PhD and continue in academia.

That changed towards the end of his master's degree.

Martijn helped write a grant application for a research project that could have become his PhD project. The funding did not come through, and the process itself made him reconsider the career he had planned. Writing the application showed him what an academic career would look like day to day. "That's not going to be it for me," he says.

He finished his degree without a clear idea of what should come next. He briefly considered studying law, then started looking at opportunities outside academia.

That eventually brought him to Westburg.

His view of commercial work changed once he started speaking with customers.

"It became much more about relationships and actually thinking along with the customer," he says.

Martijn joined Westburg as a sales specialist for cell and protein biology. At the time, his work focused on a relatively small equipment portfolio. He describes those early sales conversations as quite transactional. A customer needed a piece of equipment, and the discussion centered on finding a suitable option and supplying it.

His role gradually moved towards account management. That brought him closer to customers and gave him a wider view of the work happening in their laboratories.

Supplier relationships followed. Today, as Manager Business & Development, Martijn works with customers, Westburg colleagues and the manufacturers behind the portfolio. He also helps decide where the portfolio should develop.

Customer conversations feed directly into those decisions.

"Most of our product innovation is customer-led," Martijn says. "We very often get specific questions from customers, or we see there is an increased demand from customers in relation to certain products."

Those requests help show where laboratory needs are changing. Westburg can then consider how those developments fit with its portfolio direction.

Martijn has learned to look beyond the initial product request during these conversations.

A customer may already have a particular item in mind. Understanding the work around that item often provides more useful information. Martijn wants to know what someone is trying to accomplish and where difficulties show up in everyday work.

"It's really about trying to understand what the customer is trying to solve," he says. "It's about trying to understand the day-to-day reality and pain that the customer is experiencing."

That takes time, which is one reason Martijn still values visiting laboratories in person.

Emails and online meetings can cover a project's technical requirements. A visit gives him additional context. He sees the laboratory and how people work there. He also gets a better sense of the organization behind the workflow.

"What you get when you walk into a lab or into a customer's office, and what you can never get over Teams or over a phone call, is the culture of a place," he says.

Martijn applies the same principle to Westburg's manufacturers. He gives the example of spending twelve hours in a car to meet a supplier in France. Being there changes the conversation compared with one held remotely.

His current role gives him a view from both ends of the distribution relationship.

Customers have experiments and workflows they need to run. Manufacturers have products and technical expertise. Westburg works between them and can bring information from one side to the other.

That becomes especially relevant when a standard product doesn't quite match how a customer works.

Martijn sees room for closer cooperation in those situations.

A company running high-throughput cell culture, for example, may have requirements around a product or its packaging that come directly from an established workflow. Westburg can discuss those requirements with the manufacturer and explore possible adjustments. Martijn stresses that this type of project also requires active customer involvement.

Some laboratories need a standard product and an efficient way to obtain it. More involved projects start when the existing options leave a gap.

For Martijn, the workflow provides the starting point for those projects. The customer explains how the work is carried out and where the limitations appear. Westburg can then examine the available options with its suppliers.

His background in cell biology still helps him in those conversations, even though his job has moved far from full-time laboratory work.

"Whenever I'm in the lab, and I get to touch a pipette, I'm still quite happy," he says.

Martijn now looks at the same laboratory from a different position than he once did. As a scientist, he saw the experiment. As a business developer, he considers which products, suppliers, and forms of support could help the people running it.

His preferred starting point remains the same.

"Innovation doesn't begin with making a product. Innovation begins with understanding the need of the customer."