Brian Burger: COMPETING FOR THE CUSTOMER

Skilled in sports ranging from baseball to soccer and basketball, Brian Burger grew up on the field and the court. But it was his work ethic and enthusiasm that caught the eye of coaches and made him a natural choice for team captain.

Brian leveraged those attributes into a successful sales career after graduating from Ohio University. In the decade that followed, he worked in debt consolidation at a major bank before hitting his stride in medical equipment sales. Brian also spent 10 rewarding years helping to grow F.R. Burger & Associates, a manufacturers representatives company founded by his father.

“From childhood to the present, the guidance and support of my parents has been instrumental in my personal and professional growth,” says Brian, who spent three years as owner of F.R. Burger. “I was a very driven entrepreneur who had to work with all aspects of the business. Owning and running a company gave me a new perspective and aided in my development.”

All of that experience allowed him to hit the ground running when he joined IIA in 2021.

“IIA was a good fit,” says Brian. “The services offered by IIA aligned well with my manufacturing experience. I knew IIA was a place where I could immediately make an impact.”

As Northeast Sales Manager for IIA, Brian helps connect customers to IIA specialties, such as non-destructive examinations (NDE), aerial and lift device inspections and certifications, laboratory testing, and engineering solutions.

“I’ve been in sales my whole life, and I truly enjoy the relationship-building it requires. It’s satisfying to build trust and rapport with customers and deliver solutions that create value,” says Brian. “You create friends, too — it’s not just business.“

The challenges of connecting during the COVID crisis made those early victories in his IIA career that much sweeter.

“Less than a year into my job at IIA, I developed a relationship with an electric power contractor through a virtual conference. Virtual is a different kind of communication than most of us were used to, so it meant even more when they reached out and invited me to come and meet with their fleet management team to learn about their obstacles, needs and requirements,” recalls Brian.

He also enjoyed building an internal team to address this customer’s needs.

“I work with a talented team at IIA,” he says. “And it takes all of us to ensure the customer’s needs are met.”

Another career highlight hit close to home, as IIA performed inspections at a fire department near the Burger family’s Cleveland residence.

“I talk to my kids about the work we do at IIA, so it was special to be able to show them how inspections are done on an aerial ladder for a fire department,” recalls Brian. “It’s very rewarding to help emergency response teams who go out and risk their lives every day to keep us safe.”

These days, Brian and his tight-knit family enjoy activities ranging from skiing and golfing to boating and traveling. The keen sense of competition he developed early in life translates to wins for IIA’s customers.

“That sense of teamwork, camaraderie and success I developed within the sports arena definitely carries over to work,” he says. “I’ve got a strong competitive nature. When I take something on, I take it to the end. I let the customer know that I’m here to help in any way and that I’ll always be involved in the process.”