Mona Erchinger and Patrick Mariotte
A breath of fresh air
As Heads of Country, Mona Erchinger (Germany) and Patrick Mariotte (France) are tasked with gearing the organizational structure and processes in their countries toward Customer Centricity. They are familiar with the worries people have about change and explain how they accompany it, experience it themselves and what they pay attention to.
Patrick Mariotte and Mona Erchinger are driving Customer Centricity in France and Germany and consider communication with their teams to be key.
From intern to Head of KWS Germany in six years: Mona Erchinger climbed the career ladder thanks to expertise, self-confidence – and the courage to take on responsible tasks. Mona joined Corporate Marketing in Einbeck as an intern in 2018. She then worked until 2020 in the newly established Global Marketing and Communications department, where she was responsible for market analyses and marketing KPIs across all crops. The Customer Centricity project was launched at the time, and market and business case analyses were needed to support it. Mona didn’t think twice and put her hand up. “My boss had trust in me to do it, and so from the get-go I was able to support this highly strategic project on which all of us are now working together.”
Further posts as Manager Business Development for Corn and Sunflower and as Head of Region North, Central & Southeast Europe in the Sugarbeet Segment ultimately led to her taking over as Head of KWS Germany four years later – with the strategic focus of rolling out Customer Centricity in Germany. In hindsight, Mona says: “I can only recommend to everyone to believe in their abilities, step out of their comfort zone, voice their interest and express their views.”
Patrick and Mona are also involved in agriculture in their private lives.
Résumé after almost three decades
When Patrick Mariotte talks about how he became Head of France, he can’t help but smile. He was asked to submit a résumé to apply for the post. He understood perfectly that the recruitment had to be fair among the different candidate and he had to go through the process defined. But, as an old hand at KWS, what should he write about himself? For 18 years, he had initially been in charge of sugarbeet as Area Sales Manager in Northern France before serving as Director General of KWS France for 10 years – one of three companies in the country alongside KWS Mais France and KWS Momont. So the next step seemed a logical progression but also a big challenge: ensuring as Head of France for all three companies that Customer Centricity can be successfully rolled out by 2026.
And yet Patrick also knows what that means: change. And for him, too – after all, he specialized in sugarbeet at KWS for almost three decades, before which he had worked directly in the sugar industry. “I’ve been on training courses for corn, sunflowers and our other crops since July and I still have a lot to learn.” But he’s highly motivated: “What we’re doing is an important step for KWS’ future.”
That is all the more important in France because the industry will undergo major changes in the next 10 years. The Head of France knows that around 50 percent of all farmers will retire. The other farms will grow strongly and will be dependent on financing and investment from outside the industry. “That’s bound to have an impact on how farmers reach out to suppliers like KWS in the future.” More than one contact person in a company? That won’t work any longer.
All Heads of Country regularly exchange ideas and experiences in order to learn and benefit from each other’s ideas and experiences.
Because Mona and Patrick agree that Customer Centricity makes sense and is necessary. “We’ll become the year-round partner to our customers, offering a one-stop shop for solutions for the entire crop rotation,” explains Mona. That means quite a change, especially for the team – no doubt about that. However, that is already the case with the current corn and oilseed rape team, and “it’s feasible to become an expert in all crops. We see that from other trading companies, cooperatives and consultants in the market: They talk about a large portfolio of seed, pesticide and fertilizer. Why shouldn’t we be able to do the same with seed?” Patrick adds that in France they had already been working with sugarbeet and corn across crops up to 1992. Now, the teams from Sales, Marketing, Product Management, Customer Service and Logistics were evolving from being specialists to generalists again. “You’re stronger when you can talk to customers about all types of crops, rather than just one,” is his conviction.
It’s clear to those in charge that this change can’t come about overnight. “No one has to become an expert on all types of crops within a year,” says Mona. But the framework is in place – depending on the level of implementation, through regular training, weekly vegetation checks and a new online platform. Podcast episodes on a specific topic, such as diseases, the portfolio or fertilizer, are also planned in Germany because field service staffers can listen to the episodes while driving. “Knowledge transfer is organized by Product Management, and Sales passes on knowledge to the market and to customers – crop by crop,” explains Patrick. “The first visits to coops, dealers, sugar industry or farms are made together, depending on their size, and continue for a certain period of time if necessary.”
Communication as the key
With contextualizing statements like these, the two Heads of Country want to guide people through the change process. “I try to exemplify the vision of Customer Centricity, to inspire the teams with my motivation and energy, and to make it clear to them that KWS will be even better and more future-proof afterwards,” says Mona.
In a team of more than 180 people, she also believes that communication is important. “It’s not easy because the team is based in different locations.” However, Mona’s goal is to foster dialog and, in particular, communication and proximity between teams and departments – and much more frequently.
Patrick endorses that: “Communication is key.” That’s why he traveled the length and breadth of France in the fall and winter to meet most of his 60-strong team in person. Patrick even sees the switchover as an opportunity for the three companies in France to merge into one as part of Customer Centricity. And in the next step in France, the aim will be to define communication between the four pillars (Sales, Product Management, Marketing, and Customer Care and Logistics), as well as within the pillars.
“I try to inspire with my motivation.”
Mona Erchinger
Important dialogue between the Heads of Country
Because all countries face the same challenges, the Heads of Country regularly talk with each other. “Every country has its own specifics and is at different stages of the transition to Customer Centricity,” says Mona. “Sharing ideas and experience is therefore very useful.” Patrick adds: “Also to ensure we don’t make the same mistake twice.”
Speaking of experience: Patrick, who has been with KWS for almost 30 years, believes it’s “very important for us to have a range of younger and older employees among the country managers – after all, as a company, we also have to address a new generation of customers.” Mona has dual expertise in this regard anyway – because she grew up on a farm, as did Patrick, who had taken over the family farm for two years after his father retired way back in the past. Mona still helps out on her family’s farm – “It’s the best way to wind down from work,” she says. “It is not absolutely necessary for you yourself to have experience in farming – you can learn everything. But I feel it’s a great advantage if you can understand our customers’ perspective.” |
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