Exclusive interview with Pull Position

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29-06-2009 | Pull Position is an independent agency for Dutch entrepreneurs active in the horticulture industry. Its activities include, the set-up and implementation of marketing and sales strategies, the design and execution of marketing plans and the provision of active intermediary services for the product.

Bernadette Kapteijn
She is co-founder of Pull Position and is mainly involved in marketing activities. Anthura interviewed her about the important issues in the current market.

What does passion mean to you?
Achieving one’s aim with full dedication and enthusiasm. Creating beautiful things which make people happy. Our motto speaks for itself: ‘With your products and our passion we seduce the customer together’.

Why would Pull Position like to ‘seduce’ the customer?
It is a challenge, because customers are very resourceful. There is so much choice, so one has to catch and reinforce their attention until the moment of purchase.

Why do you believe in a pull strategy?
Instead of a 'pushing' manufacturer (grower), the customer is “pulling” the product.
An example of a pull strategy is an action aimed at increasing preference for a certain product. In the ideal situation this leads to customers asking retailers for the product, inducing them to buy the product from the grower. Together with the other links in the horticulture chain, we are working for our joint customer: the consumer. By gaining more insight into the needs and wishes of the consumer, we also know which product has to be produced and how to offer it to its best advantage at a certain point in time.

How does Pull Position anticipate market developments?
We are always looking how the product scores with customers. If we think from the customer’s point of view and we are able to convince every link in the chain that we must collaborate on this together, there will always be a market for these beautiful products. We do not ignore the final customers (the consumers). We also liaise with consumers to find out what they would like to buy.

How do you look back on 2008?
2008 was a year with increasing energy and labour costs, disappointing sales figures in countries like the US and the United Kingdom, a strong euro and the credit crisis. Many people have already expressed their opinion on this concurrence of negative effects, which have also affected the horticulture industry. However, we have every faith that this economic recession will be overcome. The strong companies will take up an even stronger position.

Which economic developments should growers take into account?
In the coming months we can only wait for banks to become less reluctant to grant loans and investors to lose their fear of investing again. It is positive for the ornamental plant cultivation sector to keep investing, because when you stand still other players will get more opportunities.

What is your opinion on market developments for 2009-2010?
Cooperation with suppliers, growers and trade is playing an increasingly important role in Europe. The number of smaller players is decreasing and there are more and more big players doing business with each other. The breeder will take on a more important role in the chain by offering his customers support in addition to breeding varieties. We do not mean that the breeder will start selling the end product, but that bigger parties will collaborate more. This way, alliances between breeders and trade can be generated.

Will we see Pull Position applying a push strategy in the future?
We might push at times. There is nothing wrong with that; in a push strategy the company tries to boost sales by making the offer more easily available. Certainly when the market is failing, we will try to push now and then. As long as you keep in mind where you want to go and what the final goal is. We consider the Pull strategy for the longer term.

You take care of the marketing of many growers. Is there anything that stands out?
Growers often forget that they are dealing with different target groups/links and that there are other wishes and needs. I advise them to have even more conversations with their buyers; actually visit them and strengthen the mutual relationship.

You feel challenged by growers’ demands. Could you give us an example of a typically challenging demand from a grower?
- "I want everybody to know about my company and sell all my products within one year”.
- Anthurium and Phalaenopsis growers who want to distinguish themselves from each other, though they sell exact the same product.

You want to seduce the consumer, but what about the other links in the chain? We want to seduce them too, but in another way - by collaborating with them and helping them. Without each other it will not work.

If my sales are good as a grower, what else can Pull Position offer me?
Sales are a random indicator. You can have excellent sales today and be out of favour with your buyers/customers tomorrow, with surplus production as a consequence. Therefore, at Pull Position, we first pay attention to the company’s long-term strategy. “Why do you produce something, for whom are you producing it and what do you want to achieve?” Once the grower has established this, we can get going. We work on the basis of demand and we gear all our marketing activities towards this. One of our activities is sales support, but in addition to this you also have to work on your image, brand recognition, the appearance of packaging, attendance of trade fairs and sending out the right message. Pull Position offers an overall package.

What do active sales intermediary services involve?
Acting as an intermediary for a sale is very broad. We start by giving good advice about the client’s portfolio. Asking them: ‘Are your present customers the right target group for the product you deliver as a grower?’

Does the perfect match exist?
We help with maintaining the database of customers as well as finding new ones. We provide active customer intermediary services. The focus should be on long-term relationships and fixed lines. In addition, we will be focusing more and more on the final customer, in cooperation with traders. Together with the exporters we also use marketing tools.

How rigid is the division of roles at Pull Position?
Not rigid at all; we work intensively together in order to obtain the best result for the client on the basis of the three disciplines. Without a strategy you don’t have a clear sales focus and without any marketing you can’t get a flexible, targeted sale. So we particularly complement each other, we strengthen each other. Sometimes all three of us visit clients to gain a better insight. Yet, for the most part we go alone to the trader or grower. This means that we have to keep each other well-informed about developments, otherwise this will go at the expense of efficiency and results. And we all get our own coffee!

What does Pull Position expect from the 2009-2013 period?
The market will be more demanding and more transparent for everyone in 2013. The customer wants to be able to order products instantly, preferably within 24 hours, according to all his wishes and specifications. Mass producers will want to take over the trade. Collaboration will become more important; companies that want to keep everything to themselves will be put out of action by the transparency in the market.

You are particularly known as the spirited young marketing lady of Pull Position. Instead of blond, you are a brunette now; is this a new start or did you have enough of the image of a blond marketing lady?
Aha, then I should have changed it a year ago, because then it would have been a double new start! Sometimes I too follow trends, and I wanted something different again. I haven’t lost any of the liveliness with this new colour hair. The horticulture industry is a man’s world and as a woman you have to be able to stick up for yourself! Certainly in the field of marketing, as for many growers it is still unknown territory. Knowledge and power of persuasion are absolutely necessary.

Frank van Mil
Together with Bernadette Kapteijn and John Olsthoorn you make up Pull Position. Why this trio?
Last year we decided to start our own company. Such a big decision is always exciting, even if it is a market that you know well. It was very important to me to ensure that the company was versatile in the market. For this purpose you need additional qualities. When you know two leading professionals, who also happen to complement your own discipline, you simply must take up this challenge.

If you compare the grower of the seventies with the modern, contemporary grower, what strikes you?
The present-day grower is no longer a grower in the traditional sense of the word. He is an entrepreneur who not only earns his money by cultivating plants and flowers, but especially by selling consumer products. In addition to the complexity of today’s legal and social demands and the consequences of size for a company, a grower has to deal with rapid developments in sales. Examples of this are the use of e-commerce, market transparency and a powerful concentration of demand by the increasing power of retailers. Therefore, the contemporary entrepreneur will surround himself with a few good partners who take up these challenges together with him.

How can a grower distinguish himself in other ways at a time when price plays an important role?
Price only plays an important part in the final stage of a conversation. This applies to cars, houses and also the plants you buy. A product whose price is immediately asked is apparently not interesting for the buyer, or the potential buyer has already compared the products with each other. Therefore we are looking for arguments which make the products interesting. These could range from an exclusive variety, colour, mix or packaging up to an entirely new consumer concept. We should agree on the fact that the packaging, a pricker or even a cover is not paid by the customer. When you have something beautiful, then the product is an overall concept. As a consumer you wouldn’t ask in a perfumery what the perfume would cost if they removed it from the box, would you? 

John Olsthoorn
Could you describe your role at Pull Position?
At Pull Position I play the role of contact person for the trade and the grower with respect to the sale. By means of the chosen marketing and sales strategy, I approach the trade methodically. I link the trade to the grower in order to generate orders through a fixed line or actionwise. In addition to this, I am the eyes and ears in the trade to keep Pull Position up to date. Because of our dynamic sector you have to be able to adapt the chosen strategies, if necessary.

What do you think of the Anthurium and Phalaenopsis products?
I like both products. They are beautiful to look at and beautiful to work with. My feeling is that both products manage to retain their exclusive character in spite of being widely available. It is important, though, that the quality of both products is maintained. Otherwise they will lose their exclusive character and become a mass-market product with small margins. 

You know the trade, but does the trade know you?
The trade in flowers and plants is dynamic and has grown a lot in recent years. I have managed to develop a large network in the trade over the years. By doing so, it is easier to be and stay well informed. The trade knows me and is generally also well informed about our products, because I approach the trade in an active and targeted way. This method of working is important because the trade moves quickly and efficiently and the pressure of work is huge. People who are proactive get attention and are known by the trade.