Discussing ensuring carefree traceability with Abdellatif Attaghzaoui
MINERVA IS A 100% SERVICE COMPANY
This is the 19th article in a series about members of the Minerva team and how they think about Minerva’s core values and contribute to the customer promise: "ensuring carefree traceability".
Abdellatif Attaghzaoui started in November 2021 as a sales engineer. About time to hear him out his background, current role at Minerva and experience from Minerva so far.
Honest business and transparent communication
Can you tell me something about your background? What did you do before you started at Minerva?
I studied at the Hague University of Applied Sciences Commercial Economics. I started in 2010 at Firma Ruys, where I worked for 6 years as an internal and external account manager. The company no longer exists, because its core business consisted of supplying postage meters. During the time that I was at Ruys, the market switched rapidly to digital invoicing, making our products redundant.
Then I started working at the publisher SDU, as an account manager. In my last job I worked at Keyence Corporation from 2018 as a sales engineer. I then also moved to Arnhem with my wife. Keyence is actively involved in automation. I also did first line troubleshooting for customers on site with help from the technical colleagues. I worked long days and noticed that the work-life balance was not optimal, partly because I have 4 young children. Therefore I was open for a new challenge.
I came into contact with a recruiter who pointed me to Minerva. In the first conversation, I immediately had a good click with Siebe and Henk. Values such as doing business in an honest way and transparent communication matched well with my person. That, together with the future perspective and the possibility for a good work-life balance, was the deciding factor in choosing Minerva.
I stand for clearly informing customers
What can you tell us about your role as a sales engineer field service in the Minerva team?
In this role I have a lot of contact with customers, both face-to-face and by telephone. I make quotations, look for technical solutions to customer issues and plan instruments. My focus is mainly on New Business also through cold and lukewarm calls. I do this on the basis of cities with a lot of activity, such as Arnhem, Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Eindhoven. I am also working on mastering the calibration profession.
What part of your job do you enjoy the most?
What I enjoy most is visiting customers, getting to know customers face-to-face, understanding what drives them and why they make certain choices. This way works best for me to find out if Minerva has a service that can help them.
At Minerva we work from the customer promise "ensuring carefee traceability". In your opinion, what does Minerva’s promise mean?
Customers have a number of clear needs that the Minerva promise responds to. Number 1 need is that customers want to know where they stand with regard to the lead time. That's because most customers often miss their instruments and are unable to bet. This is often also due to the pressure they feel because the processes of customers come to a standstill. That is why that period should be as short as possible and a short lead time is so important. Number 2 need is service, number 3 is price.
What is your contribution to Minerva’s customer promise?
An important contribution I make is to explain the calibration process at Minerva to customers. As one of the faces of Minerva, I want to provide customers with the right information about their issues. If you do that right, you will receive “the business” as a thank you. Rather, it is about answering and giving confidence to questions such as “how are you going to help me?” “How long is the turnaround time?” and “what about transport?”.
What is your personal promise to Minerva’s customers?
I stand for clearly informing customers, I think it is important to listen to them and to take them seriously. By listening carefully I also understand the needs of customers better and I can give better advice.
Stronger relationships will be created in the long term
Minerva’s core values are integrity, innovative, skilled, involved and service oriented. Could you give an example of each?
When I look at myself, integrity means being as clear as possible to customers. That means there are no surprises afterwards. If you make a mistake, it is important to solve it in a respectful way for the customer. The customer should not be the victims of our mistakes.
For example, I sold a customer a calibration service for a calibrator a while back. Upon arrival it turned out that there were many more options on the calibrator and that therefore the calibration cost more. The customer was not happy with that. I presented the problem to Siebe and together came up with the solution that the customer did not have to pay more than stated in the quotation. The customer was very happy with that and indicated that he would come back for the new annual calibration.
Minerva is innovative in calibration services where processes are continuously improved. Moreover, Minerva has developed its own products. The sales process is also being innovated because Minerva's field service role is new. I expect that more new and stronger relationships will be created in the long term through relationship management.
Minerva is a 100% service company
I see skilled in various departments within Minerva. In sales, we keep asking questions, almost to the point of irritating, in order to understand what the customer wants. The lab has the skills to understand which procedures are required for optimal calibration. At the MT I also see skilled in the way the gentlemen lead. Carel excels in technical skills. Siebe excels in technology and sales and knows his customers extremely well. Henk can organize very well, which is nice for the overall management of Minerva. He navigates skillfully between sales and technology.
Minerva is very involved with customers in the sales department. When a customer wants something, we often ask why he needs it. We advise Minerva customers with our knowledge that we have built up over decades. Solicited or unsolicited.
It goes without saying that it is super service-oriented that we put customers first. Whether it concerns logistics, entry checks, repairs, calibration or sales. We continuously inform customers about the status of their calibration or repair. Customers are informed via service notices and via the Minerva portal. Minerva thinks along with you and is a 100% service company.
June 29, 2022