PROFILE
Positive change
In the brief time under Vietze’s leadership,
Wacker Neuson South Africa has already
taken great strides. Through driving
customer-centricity and bringing the
teams together, the company can now
proudly boast a double-digit growth rate.
Vietze’s business model approach for
Wacker Neuson South Africa and the
sub-Saharan region, is to switch focus
from direct to indirect sales. “We want
to implement professional partners as
a part of the Wacker Neuson family,
who are fully focused on selling the
Wacker Neuson product portfolio of light
equipment and compact equipment
products,” he says. And this was a major
factor contributing to Vietze’s decision to
expand Wacker Neuson’s dealer network.
Vietze says that South Africa, as well
as sub-Saharan Africa, is far too big to
guarantee professional service via a direct
sales force. Wacker Neuson is already
represented by distribution partners
in Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe,
Mozambique, Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria,
Kenya, and Tanzania. South Africa plays an
integral role as the hub for procurement
and logistics for most African countries.
Nevertheless, the country is currently in a
difficult phase, because the competition
from other African countries is growing.
“But with the expansion of our dealership
network territories, we have the chance
to increase our footprint for better
www.plantonline.co.za
Wacker
overview of the industry before I was
able to take any action. I am not a
single player. I need to surround myself
with good people — whom I’ve found.
Together, we have formed a professional,
fully functional team and as a team, we
continuously strive towards customer-
centricity together with our partners
and dealerships through Wacker Neuson
professionalism.”
Wacker Neuson’s TH627 telehandler is the optimum solution for lifting heights around
six metres, combining agile manoeuvrability with powerful performance.
accessibility for our customer base who
are too far away from our head office
in Johannesburg and our Durban and
Cape Town branches,” explains Vietze.
“Through this positive change, we wish
to continue to grow on our current
double-digit growth and in so doing, allow
our partners to be a part of the Wacker
Neuson success story. The change from
direct sales over to dealerships can be
viewed more as a hybrid model, due to
the fact that my own sales organisation
is still servicing the plant hire industry as
well as the predefined key accounts,” he
explains.
Aspirations
Vietze feels that there is plenty of
scope to enter new market segments
and channels to increase business
opportunities in the country and to
motivate a positive outlook.
“Through change, we definitely
want to keep the market leadership in
SBU 2 (Soil and Asphalt Compaction)
and become the market leader in the
product class of mini excavators, while
maintaining the leadership in wheel
loaders and telehandlers. Our further
aim is to be within the top three of the
premium skid steer suppliers in South
Africa,” enthuses Vietze.
“A focus on after-sales service is one
of our biggest aims in 2019, and we will
strongly encourage development of the
Wacker Neuson service section next by
modifying and moving forward into the
next generation of technology. This will
begin with the introduction of telematics,
which will equip our dealers and partners
with advanced technology such as
HoloLens to help reduce downtime on
site,” says Vietze.
“To further advance on technology, we
want to drive progress in battery-driven
products, and digitalisation is going to
become a clear focus for me and my
team,” says Vietze. “Wacker Neuson will
be introducing a variety of new products
along with innovative technology during
the course of the 2019 business year.
We have a clear vision when it comes to
entering the retail market and increasing
our business activities in that sector,”
concludes Vietze.
APRIL 2019
33