Only the best

Imagine a region which with regard to the total area is larger than all countries of the European Union taken together. This is the sales region of Agrozentr, a company that Nikolay Ivanishev and his partner founded in 2011 and still manage together.

The two company headquarters, Agrozentr Liski and Agrozentr Zakharovo, and the 20 subsidiaries are located in the most important agricultural regions of Russia – from the fertile black earth regions in Central Russia over the sunny countries in the south to the breadbaskets of Siberia in the Altai region.

Some years later I was offered a job at the local John Deere dealer. I was to support the agricultural engineering salesmen with my practical knowledge. I soon became head of sales. I liked to be in contact with the people. I knew their needs and requirements and I was happy when I was able to help them. This was how the idea of an own company developed. In 2011, together with my partner I founded two agricultural engineering companies: one in Liski near Voronezh right in the middle of the black earth region and the other one in Zakharovo near Moscow. We sold products from AGCO (MF, Fendt and Valtra tractors), JCB (forklift trucks) and Väderstad (tillage equipment and seed drills) These were – and still are – our three most important product groups. And our sales figures still confirm this. Later we added Trimble steering systems, transport technology from Annaburger and Zaffrani crop drying plants.

In 2014 Väderstad concluded a sales partnership with John Deere for Russia and the Ukraine and as we were not a John Deere dealer, we terminated our contract. It was a hard blow for us, for we did not only lose one third of our turnover, we were also afraid of losing our customers. It was our objective to offer them only the best products with regard to quality and innovation. And we wanted to remain true to this image.

At the moment, we are having a program developed that works like in a taxi company: The employee that is free and closest by gets the mission. Thus, we do not only save costs and time with regard to the travel time, we can also react much more quickly. With regard to our large sales areas this really is an asset. We see to it that in the service department formalities are kept at a simple level. Before our technician goes to a customer, he simply has to complete a few lines via his smartphone.
Our specialists who work cross-regionally deal with complicated motor repairs and the steering systems. Our technicians take part in all the trainings offered by our partners depending on their qualification and specialisation. With regard to HORSCH we are very satisfied with the quality as well as with the format of the trainings. They attach great importance to practical trainings.
What I could imagine is some kind of online video database with tutorials about settings and repairs etc. The machines get more and more complex, and our technicians have to take care of several brands. And it is difficult to always remember all the know-how by heart. We also notice that videos more and more replace the traditional text as a source of information. For the young generation of employees this goes without saying.

Attractive employer

We try to create attractive jobs for young people. We are in close contact with the leading technical universities of the country to bind the best students to us already during their studies. The administrative structure in our company is very flat. There are no strict, vertical hierarchies. The whole management of our company, myself included, is available for all employees, and we are always ready to support them with regard to professional as well as private matters.
We provide the young employees with the best prerequisites to develop further – not least due to the possibility to communicate directly with the professionals at our suppliers. In my opinion, another important point is the fair and flexible remuneration of the employees, for our business is seasonal and has its peaks that usually are not in line with a normal rhythm of life. A holiday trip to the sea with the family in summer during the harvest season or a trip in May right in the middle of the sowing season normally is not possible.
In this respect you need a certain sensitivity. I also have a family with three children, and I know how difficult it sometimes is to balance job and family. But I regularly notice that compared to a lot of other companies of our sector the fluctuation in our company is rather low. And I am proud of it. It shows that we are on the right track.“

Topseller – now and in the future

Are there regional differences in such a large sales areas? “Of course there are. But due to the wide product range of HORSCH for machines and equipment the customer will always find die optimum and even an individual solution. The most popular machines are the different models of the Joker disc harrows, the Tiger MT line, the Pronto NT seed drills and the Maestro single grain seed drills. In the past years the customers more and more started to use liquid fertiliser. And I am happy that we managed to convince HORSCH to provide such an equipment. Last year the HORSCH Leeb self-propelled sprayers were the real top-sellers. This year, too, we have already sold all machines that were reserved for the coming season! I think that this sector will continue to grow considerably.”
Which machines will be required in Russia in the future? “With regard to the large fields in Russia, the scarcity of skilled labour and the decreasing rural population, the increasing complexity of the machines and their exclusivity we have to assume that the automation level of the processes will rise to full autonomy. This is why I am very interested in Michael Horsch‘s tests with the field robot. Personally, I am convinced that the future lies in robot technology. I am also interested in the drone technology that is used for crop protection. It would be exciting to offer our customers a spraying drone from HORSCH!” Nikolay Ivanishev says with a smile.