From communication and sales support to contract issues: Many colleagues are involved in Customer Centricity.
Customer Centricity
Behind the scenes
Customer Centricity continues to forge ahead – but who is supporting the implementation of our new organizational structure in the background? A conversation with colleagues from a wide range of areas who are involved in that.
The launch of a new project or different structure is never easy – and we often forget how many colleagues work on Customer Centricity day after day, not only in Sales but also in many other areas of KWS. After months of intensive preparation, Team Germany recently went live with Customer Centricity. Customers in KWS’ largest revenue market will now receive comprehensive information about seed, digital solutions, and crop rotation from one source using a cross-crop approach.
To ensure a smooth launch in each country, Sarah Sahl, Lead Sales Enablement, is supporting the markets in the Customer Centricity rollout – for example, with training plans and materials for the Sales team. “We want our colleagues to feel confident in their work and also to have clear internal sales work processes,” explains Sarah. With the introduction of the new Your Seed Partner Academy platform, her team is working on a special sales platform, where all materials and trainings are available in one place. The training plans are tailored to the local conditions and vegetation and are designed to ensure the Sales team is ideally prepared. “Customer Centricity has intensified collaboration within KWS,” says Sarah. “To roll the platform out, we need to work closely with our local colleagues from Product Management and Sales, to restructure existing materials or convert them into self-learning formats – and always in the local language.”
In Poland, we launched a pilot project with Customer Centricity back in 2020. When Michal Pisanko joined KWS as Business Partner Controlling in December 2020, he was able to start working with the new structure right away. “But a lot has changed in the past years,” he says. “Customer Centricity also required new controlling structures, which I created and implemented.” But Michal’s tasks don’t stop there: He also takes care of budget planning and the year-end reports, while providing local management with important data they need for decision-making. That includes reports, business scenarios and analyses. “I think it’s great being part of the local team,” says Michal. “I’m directly involved in making changes, can chip in, work on new approaches and develop business models – that’s what I enjoy most about my day-to-day work.”
From one country to several – that’s the job of Heleen Liebenberg in her role as Regional Business Support Manager for Western Europe, a new position that became necessary due to the switch to Customer Centricity. Heleen is responsible for facilitating cooperation and communication between Western European markets and various departments in Einbeck. Her focus is particularly on cooperation and alignment between the various Business Units. In addition, she supports the countries in all commercial and cross-crop initiatives and assists the three Heads of Region in working together even more efficiently and identifying actions and projects that need to be tackled. “Since it’s a new role, I had to start by figuring out how I could best support the individual countries,” says Heleen. “I quickly familiarized myself with a broad range of topics – both in Einbeck and the countries – so that I could provide all my colleagues with the best possible support.” However, that’s what she revels in most in her everyday work: “It’s great to be part of an international team focused on collaboration. I’m also excited about all the insights and what it takes to do business successfully – especially in different countries with different requirements and opportunities.”
Yann Guillet demonstrates strong adaptability to diverse requirements, as the organizational structure in France is highly complex (see insideKWS article “Tour de France”). As an HR Business Partner, Yann also supports Morocco. His tasks involve a great deal of interaction with the Heads of Country and Heads of Region in order to expedite the transition to Customer Centricity to best effect and, for example, to quickly implement application processes or contract adjustments. “The biggest change is currently happening in the mindsets of our colleagues,” says Yann. “Many are open-minded and positive about the cross-crop approach.” In order to consolidate Sales in France under one leadership, he needs to do a lot of consultation, since the different organizations in France require particularly clear coordination. However, Yann feels it’s worthwhile: “Through my work, I contribute to keeping KWS fit for the future and help the teams grow with this challenge.”
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