The Dutch agriculture technology firm Ocron has hired a star salesman from a different industry. When the CEO takes him on a sales visit to prospects in Saudi Arabia, the CEO starts to doubt the new hire’s effectiveness. He wonders whether selling agricultural products are any different than regular sales and whether the new hire is a right choice.
Based on field research; 10 pages.
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Agri-business is one of the driving forces of the Dutch economy. Due to environmental challenges, it has evolved into an extremely innovative sector. The ambition to grow food with fewer resources has resulted in the Ocron Crop Management system: a combination of intelligent sensors, the Internet, and GPS. Although the system requires an investment by farmers, it almost guarantees a return as high as ten times this investment for certain farmers. Selling a system like this requires, in addition to excellent sales skills, an understanding of the farmers’ business culture, a certain level and appreciation of technology, and an empathic attitude towards farmers as partners using specific customer relationship management techniques. The history of Ocron is in line with the typical evolution of a company, which moves from the start-up phase to the growth phase. Huisman is increasingly dealing with a large variety of business issues, each of them requiring more time, money and other resources. Effective management practices and possibly a new business plan are required. Huisman needs to learn how to plan, train, and delegate. After the sales visit to prospects in Saudi Arabia, Huisman starts developing doubts about the effectiveness of his sales manager Bons – a typical and successful salesman in traditional sense who has little product knowledge. He wonders whether selling agricultural products are any different than regular sales and whether hiring Bons was a right choice.
