‘Personal contact is in Italy key to success’
Who are your customers?
“I sell plants to wholesalers, florists and garden centres. At the moment, we’re selling a lot of cyclamen, hebe, calluna and other autumn plants. Throughout the year, phalaenopsis is the most important for us, followed by products such as kalanchoe, begonia and cyclamen. For the Italian market, the plants always have to be a little larger than for Germany for example. A larger pot size, longer stems and larger flowers. Are they willing to pay for that, too? In northern Italy they are, but in the South not really.”
Are Italians keen to try new products?
“The florists are, but the wholesalers not so much. It takes a while sometimes to find good new products, but luckily there are plenty of growers in the Netherlands who launch something new on a regular basis. And who invest in their employees. That’s also important.”
Is it an advantage that you are Italian yourself?
“If you want to do business with Italians, you definitely have to be able to speak the language. But being Italian yourself helps even more. You have to understand the culture. When I’m dealing with a German customer, I’m done in five minutes, but with Italian customers I usually spend at least fifteen minutes on the phone.”
Why is that?
“We have to talk about family, the weather and football before we can talk business. In Italy, ninety percent of your sales success is determined by personal contact. That’s why Italians don’t really order through the web shop, they prefer the telephone.”
How do you see the future of the trade with Italy?
“You never know In Italy, every year is different. But when I visit my friends and family in Italy, I do see plants in their homes more often. It used to be like that with older people, but these days more and more young people do it too. Italians love plants and that is a good basis for the trade, also in the future.”
Company: Fleurametz, Honselersdijk
Function: Salesman Italy and Germany
Main markets: Europe and North America
Purchases: own import, auctions, directly from growers
Number of employees: 1,300
