The farmer as the centerpiece of company strategies

For years, the development of technologies in agribusiness was focused only on the quality and cost of the product, without taking into account the opinion of those who actually use them. Over time, companies operating in the field began to understand the importance of knowing what makes a difference to the producer and began to focus their efforts on innovations that satisfy their needs. Since then, “Focus on Farmers” has become an important part of these companies’ strategies.

Listening to the customer is essential and is part of a cycle. First, we need to understand what he needs and then develop solutions that meet these needs. After we deliver the product, we need to measure your level of satisfaction and start the cycle again. One of the methods that help companies measure the customer's view of their brand is the Net Promoter Score (NPS), an index created by an American consultancy.

More than measuring customer satisfaction, the index identifies the customer's propensity to recommend the brand to someone else. By listening to consumers, we are able to understand the highs and lows of their experiences, which can help the company to design more assertive action plans. Studies show that the growth of a company or brand's NPS index is strongly related to its future growth.

But how can companies operating in agribusiness use this to their advantage? A good tactic is to use NPS – based on the opinion of the customer, in this case, the farmer – to create a scenario that shows “where we are” and “where we want to check”. With this, it is possible to map the brand's attributes that are already recognized by the producer and identify the points that need to be worked on to reach a level of excellence. Based on this diagnosis, the next step is to create an action plan focused on improving the issues highlighted by the client, without forgetting to use the good things they mentioned.

There is no ready-made recipe and actions may vary according to the profile of each company, but there are some points that we must take into consideration when thinking about the projects and campaigns we create. Firstly, bringing together different areas of the company in planning can make the strategy more effective. For example, the technical team, for technology development, the sales team will support the sales strategy and marketing will guide the best path to make all of this reach the customer in the best possible way.

Another important point is also reaching partners, who, more than distributing the company's products, pass on the brand's messages directly to the farmer. Finally, something essential is to always improve means that provide assistance to the producer in the field, so that he has all his needs met and can improve his results, after all, we cannot forget that the success of a company is only achieved if the customer is also successful.

By Giovana Oliveira, graduated in Administration from the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), with a specialization in Applied Consumer Sciences from the Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing (ESPM) and Brand Positioning Leader for Soy and Crop Protection at Monsanto for America southern.