SIP talk

Metka Hrovat, Nataša Žlaber

Andrei Cosovici

Sales Director

“After-sales support for both traders and farmers will be key to our success.”

We talked to Andrei Cosovici, who came from Moldova to Slovenia 23 years ago. He was invited to join the SIP team for coordination in the field of cooperation. Today, he is one of the key figures in SIP, who participated in the successful renovation and recognition of the SIP brand.

You are a long time associate of SIP and a connoisseur of the industry. How would you describe your beginnings in SIP? After the arrival of the new owners in 2003, I first worked with SIP as an external consultant for cooperation, and in 2005, I started to open Russian-speaking markets. After 2011, we expanded the SIP horizon even further east: to Kazakhstan, China and Japan. After Agritechnica 2013, I was entrusted with the entire sales area, then after-sales, logistics and marketing.

What motivated you to stay at SIP? In addition to my personal decision, the challenge here was to help SIP develop from an average manufacturer to a world-renowned brand. The position of SIP in the market then and today? 15 years ago, SIP was known as a small farm machine manufacturer. The company presented itself at fairs in the company of Polish producers. Its selling point was the low price. Today, the biggest scythe in the world is SIP’s. And we are the only one with a 3-year warranty.

We are an equal competitor on the market and offer unique technologies and solutions. Today, what is particularly important to us is responsiveness, which is a major difference from the competition.

Market conditions in the past and today? The cards have already been heavily shuffled and the changes in the

market are not over. Over the last ten years, providers have become "full liners". These are mainly tractor groups that have taken over some of our competitors and offer a whole range of agricultural machinery under the same roof.

What is easier and more difficult to sell in the agricultural machinery sector at the transition to the new decade than at the turn of the millennium? The market has become more demanding, so we need quality partners to conquer it. Tractor brands, in addition to products, expect a complete after-sales service and thus force us to introduce new standards and processes. In the area of digitalisation of processes, we manage several projects, from the new client relationship management system (Intrix) to the digitalisation of the complaint resolution process (Halifax), database management (SAP Hana), product information management (PIM) and spare parts catalogue. On the other hand, modern communication channels, easier and more accessible air connections and developed logistics between the continents make business easier. Which, of course, applies to all players and all markets. However, we are currently a little limited by the COVID situation.

What has changed most in sales (in general) and how does SIP follow this trend? During socialism, the SIP had a casual monopoly position, accepting orders and shipping them. After the disintegration of Yugoslavia, strong competition and players with cheaper products came on the market. SIP specialised, raising the quality to a higher level and decided to actively enter the market from the offices. What do you want to achieve in the future? We want to become an equal player to known competitors. This can be achieved through increased responsiveness, we need to offer a better user experience, better education and support, and demonstrations and promotional activities.

What is your strategy for distribution channels? We engage in partnerships with distributors in key markets. We acquire new, quality partners such as SAVE s.p.a. from Italy. In addition to existing distribution channels, we are opening our own sales organisations, such as in England, France and Poland. Large brands have their own representations and thus SIP has taken a step closer to end users.

In June 2018, we started building the market with our own demonstration “from scratch” in France, and today we have 62 dealers, we have generated EUR 3 million in turnover and we have a 100% growth perspective over the next two years. This market is a gazelle for us and is currently the most important export market. In England, we have successfully prepared for Brexit and our subsidiary performs the function of a distributor (imports, customs, warehouses and distributes to the retail network).

What is your personal/business goal and what is the goal for the team you lead?

I want to upgrade the team with new colleagues and acquaintances and enable them to carry out operational functions independently, and I want to devote more time to corporate governance.

SIP International Sales Organisation

SIP HR SIP GB SIP France:

SIP PL SIP DE

2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

“SIP never fails to keep its promises, where deadlines and the availability of spare parts are key. In strategic markets (Germany, England, France, Poland and the USA), we guarantee the delivery of spare parts to a location within 24 hours. We want to spread this practice to other markets as well.”

2021 is intended for SIP Germany, namely the registration of the company, the employment of candidates, and the presentation is planned at Agritechnica 2021. The SIP Poland project is also gathering facilities and expanding its sales network, which currently consists of 7 retailers.

What can be learned and transferred from entering new markets to traditional SIP markets? Since the transfer of knowledge from distributors to traders and from them to farmers is limited, SIP offers the organisation of educational conferences for traders at distributors abroad.

What is the hardest part of entering a new market? Finding the right people, locals, and convincing them to cooperate and believe in the success of the SIP brand.

Will you open up any new markets in the near future? Yes, we want to enter the Finnish market and we will strengthen our presence on our key markets, namely Italy, Canada, the Netherlands, Denmark, Austria and Switzerland.

In 2018, SIP's four-year strategic plan was presented, which you successfully achieved. Were there any changes due to the epidemic? That’s right. Following two years of successful implementation of the strategic plan, we made a correction due to COVID in 2020. The new 2020–2024 plan foresees an aver-

age revenue growth of 12%. We are currently recording more than 20% growth.

Agritechnica represents important milestones in the development of agricultural machinery. SIP also presents the new features of both machines and services at the fair. You already mentioned Agritechnica 2021. So are you planning to participate this time as well? Yes. We have applied to participation at Agritechnica 2021, which is postponed until March 2022 due to the current situation. At Agritechnica, we want to present a series of new products from machinery to technical solutions, and, above all, Agritechnica presents us with the opportunity to create new partnerships.

“During the epidemic, we were not closed for a single day. We successfully overcame all the waves and used the time of the epidemic primarily for new projects. Thus, we implemented the digitalisation of technical training and updated the structure and content of educational programmes, some of which include new video instructions.”