"I provide personalised advice to clients and develop the best solution to meet their needs"

ASCO: Could you tell us a bit about your career so far?
Magnus Holm: I’d be happy to. From 2013 to 2017, I completed a commercial apprenticeship at Maschinenfabrik Rieter AG, a leading global supplier of textile machinery. After my apprenticeship, I went to America for a year, where I attended high school and graduated. I then returned to Rieter and worked in spare parts sales until I moved internally to machinery sales in 2020. Alongside my work, I undertook further training to become a Swiss-certified sales specialist from 2019 to 2021, which I successfully completed. I also completed training as an apprentice trainer in 2019 and supervised several apprentices. From 2021 to 2022, I served in the Swiss Armed Forces, where I was promoted to Senior Sergeant and completed leadership training. I then joined ASCO Kohlensäure AG in October 2023.

ASCO: What are your main responsibilities in sales?
Magnus Holm: As a sales consultant at ASCO, I am the main point of contact for potential clients and existing customers interested in our products and services. I advise customers individually and develop the optimal solution for their needs. My responsibilities also include representing the company externally and raising ASCO’s profile across various industries. I maintain close contact with customers and identify new business opportunities for them, as well as for ASCO. I also play an active role in developing new product innovations by incorporating market feedback and customer requirements.

ASCO: What aspects of this role appealed to you?
Magnus Holm: Fundamentally, I want to take on responsibility as part of a team. That has always been very important to me. I want to apply what I learnt in theory during my training to practical situations and benefit from working in an international environment. I have always valued personal contact with customers, and I am drawn to the opportunity to work in a smaller, internationally active company with short and direct lines of communication. Together with ASCO, we have set long-term goals that will enable both me personally and ASCO to develop and grow. Being part of a company specialising in CO2, which belongs to the largest family-run industrial gas group, the ‘Messer Group’, whilst at the same time embodying ‘Swissness’ values, is of course unique.

ASCO: What are your impressions of ASCO so far?
Magnus Holm: My impression of ASCO so far is very positive. I am impressed by the company’s professionalism, adaptability and fast-paced nature. I appreciate the direct, honest and reliable manner of the staff. Above all, however, I find ASCO’s field of activity very exciting, as it makes a contribution in many important areas and processes, yet remains in the background and is little known. This was new to me at the start too, and I have learnt a great deal.

For example, dry ice is very important for the entire pharmaceutical production and logistics sector, as well as for food logistics and production, many industrial cleaning applications, and also as CO2 for the drinks industry and food cultivation in greenhouses. I share ASCO’s ‘do it, but do it right’ mentality and would like to get involved in this innovative and forward-looking company.

ASCO: What surprised you most in the early days?
Magnus Holm: I experienced many surprises in my early days at ASCO. One of them was the diversity of CO2’s applications; it’s often maligned, but is actually very important for many industrial sectors and for life itself. I’ve learnt that ASCO helps minimise CO2 emissions into the atmosphere by offering CO2 recovery systems. Another surprise is ASCO’s new sales approaches, which I find very exciting. For example, the ‘ASCO Carefree’ concept, where customers can book a carefree package and receive the machines and maintenance as part of a rental agreement. For an international company that is a leader in dry ice and carbon capture technology, I was surprised by the relatively small number of employees. I find the atmosphere at ASCO very friendly and pleasant.