Sustained success a priority for Nutrien Ag Solutions’ 2024 Branch of the Year
And within the town community that’s where you’ll find our 2024 Branch of the Year, Nutrien Ag Solutions Merredin.
With Bob Alderton managing a team of agronomists and merchandise specialists, the store continues to be a client-first service for producers across the Merredin and Southern Cross region.
We caught up with Bob and his team to hear about individual accountability, a team mentality and the secrets to sustained success.
Can you tell me a bit about your area... what are our key agricultural commodities and client base?
We are predominantly a winter cropping area, focusing on merch and fertiliser at the branch. Our clients grow canola, wheat, barley, oats, lupins and some chickpeas.
We have a good, strong client base across the Merredin and Southern Cross area with family and corporate businesses. Our clients vary from 1,000 to 100,000 hectares but are all valued equally, big or small. We are also spread over a wide area where we could travel up to 165 kilometres one way to see a client. The growing season rainfall also changes significantly throughout our area. This creates different opportunities and challenges that we manage in the branch.
How would you describe the culture at our branch in three words?
Service, approachable, honesty.
Are there any new initiatives, products, or services that you believe have contributed to your success?
I believe our range of finance offerings has helped contribute to our success, it seems to be something that suits most clients and situations now. As well as our commitment to service and the consistent standard of customer service we offer our clients
How does your branch build strong connections with our local community and customers?
Communication, whether that’s in regard to agronomy decision making, merchandise deals, supply and availability of merchandise/fertiliser. Making sure we communicate everything in a timely and proficient manner helps us build strong relationships and ensures we are first to be called up and help to ride the ups and downs of farming.
We also support sporting clubs in the area as well as many school and any community initiatives. I believe our commitment to giving back to the local community holds a place in our customers minds. Our staff are also involved in the sporting clubs locally, whether that be playing the game, umpiring or sitting on the committee.
What’s a ‘small focus’ that’s had a big impact on our branch operations and culture?
Accountability, where everyone understands their roll and is committed to working together to achieve the same goal as a team. Working together with good communication to achieve a common goal has held us in good stead.
Safety is another big focus, ensuring we always minimise any potential dangers and prioritise the safety of ourselves and others.
Weekly stocktakes is also a branch priority to ensure we are consistently monitoring stock loses and control.
If you could give one piece of advice to another branch hoping to lift their performance, what would it be?
Success comes from hard work and cooperation. So do what you say you will do and do it right the first time. Also, it’s important to get all staff involved in decision making to ensure everyone is across all facets of the business.
After taking out ‘Branch of the Year’ in 2024, how have you prioritised sustained performance with your branch?
We are consistently looking for opportunities to grow the business, continue to be vigilant and proactive by following up with clients.
We still have lots of areas to improve on. Working towards sustained success has felt like a natural progression of us consistently wanting to improve as a team.
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