Hein Schouten – Sales Director – SHOTS

By on February 14, 2020

NL – Hein Schouten, popular Sales Manager with SHOTS, based in the Netherlands, was recently promoted to Global Sales Director. Synergy spoke with Hein about his exciting new role.

Congratulations on your new role! You are still quite young and have achieved a lot to date. How long have you been with SHOTS and what was it like for you when you first started?
Thank you very much! Indeed, I am still young but, as they say, age is just a number, isn’t it? I started at SHOTS 9 years ago so by now I know the company inside out. This was actually my first full time job and I am still here to tell the story.

SHOTS has changed quite dramatically over the last nine years. At the head office, when I started my job, just nine people were working there. Now we are already at more than fifty people in the Netherlands alone. In that period we also opened SHOTS America, SHOTS Canada, SHOTS UK and SHOTS China, so we changed from a well known Dutch company into a multinational. I am very proud that I have been part of that growth and what we have accomplished as a team.

How have you seen the company evolve in that time?
We really try to stay ahead of trends and think outside the box, this process has accelerated things over time, by hiring more and more amazing people. Also we have learned and are still learning by listening to our customers from all around the globe. Gradually we are getting to know more and more about different cultures and countries and how to deal with them.

What do you think have been some of the key positive attributes that you have learnt whilst working with SHOTS in the adult retail arena?
I am a young and positive person, I am super hungry for success and I really believe in SHOTS and the people behind SHOTS. I have worked very hard to get where I am now and I still work very hard every day. Each day I want to be a little bit better than the one before. My enthusiasm and energy is important to me. Together with the expertise gathered over the years, it is my goal to connect everyone and get the best out of them. Also I would like to develop the vision that we have and turn it into an even bigger success and prepare SHOTS for the next 20 years.

The new role, what does it entail and how do you see its implementation?
I will be responsible for everything concerning sales for SHOTS worldwide, except the Americas. This means I will manage the team, set new visions and plans, work out strategies and grow the SHOTS brand worldwide.

Are there any specific regions that you have a particular interest in to develop?
We intend to go large over the next 5 years, every country, every store, every corner and every website. We want to be “everywhere” because as they say, the world is our oyster. We will expand our sales team even more, in order to serve all our customers worldwide with the superior SHOTS service they deserve.

What can we expect to see from SHOTS in 2020 especially now that you are the new Global Sales Director?
We have established ourselves in many segments of the adult toy market and now we are going to take these segments to the next level. We will increase the demand for our products and brands even more by intense marketing and sales. We will make the assortment more complete to enable us to be more of a one-stop-shop. We are growing the sales teams worldwide and adding more layers, and specifically increasing the quality of each of those layers.

How much are you travelling already and will the new role be even more travel and how will you manage your family work/life balance?
Travelling is part of who I am and what I do nevertheless, I also love being home with family and friends. With our first child arriving in March, life will definitely change, but, I know that SHOTS will give me the possibility to enjoy it as much as possible. Working for a multinational, means travel, and I love that. My wife is also very supportive and understands this is all part of the job. Actually she quite enjoys her alone time when I’m away as I am very energetic, sometimes she even asks me when I’m leaving again so she can have some peace. Hahaha.
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