Not many people know this, but I was born at a farm in The Netherlands with a dream for many years to be a farmer myself. I have always had a deep passion to explore the most optimal mix of running an economical healthy business with a particular focus in sustainability.
I began my career as sales representative visiting farmers around the Benelux region. Which turned out to be a very rewarding experience as people in business is what drives me every day. With a no-nonsense mentality I pride myself on practicality. My guiding principle is, if the customer does not feel the “what’s in it for me” we aren’t doing enough for the customer.
Moving my family from the Netherlands to the beautiful area of Leuven in Belgium. Because after a sales career I was offered the opportunity of a marketing job for which the place to be was our headquarter in Brussels. I spent seven years in different areas of marketing disciplines. The main challenge was moving from farmers as customers to veterinarians.
Although the same dynamics and challenges come together within any job in the agribusiness.
In the ‘nineteens the digital era started to influence my own way of working and the business processes. A home-made Sales Force Effectiveness solution was the first endeavor at that time. Tough to achieve user adoption, but more than 25 years ago already on that path with many learning points, a series of mistakes but also growing successes.
I am devoted to a marketing driven organization with direct sales and digitalization of the way of working to deliver overall business value. Truly customer oriented to make his/her life easier, more profitable, and more fun.
A real customer focused mentality should be driving all our activities. Easier said than done. Customers are always right, even when you disagree.
Customer centricity is what matters in the end!