More and more growers and buyers are requesting a CheckUp. In this three-part series, we ask users about their experiences. In this second part, we spoke to Randy Schreuders, sales representative at Blom KENTIA Palmen in Aalsmeer. We asked Randy about his experiences with the CheckUp by way of five questions.
Can you tell us something about your company?
"I work as a sales assistant at Blom KENTIA Palmen, a palm nursery run by the Aalsmeer-based brothers Paul and Christian Blom. It’s a true family business. We import seeds that we germinate and grow into palms in our five-hectare nursery. We have twelve permanent staff and, depending on how busy it is, we hire extra help. We supply palms in eight different pot sizes, our biggest palms being over two metres tall."
How do you trade?
"We ship our KENTIA palms all over the world, from Italy to the United Arab Emirates. We constantly check to see where demand lies, and which pot sizes are particularly popular. We then adjust our production accordingly. We mainly do direct trade - I think approximately 95% - we do the remainder via the auction. I manage our supply in Floriday, which is where orders come in. In addition to our regular supply, we work a lot with customer-specific trade items and customer-specific supply that we can effectively manage with price groups. In addition to Floriday, we use a software package from Olsthoorn for the fulfillment of goods which are linked to Floriday. Since we mainly do direct trade, we work a lot with fixed lines, buyers with whom we have worked for years. Simultaneously, new customers are increasingly finding us via 'My shop' in Floriday and are placing direct orders".
So what prompted you to request a CheckUp?
"I have been in the industry for less than two years, so Floriday was new to me. In addition, Floriday was still not much used within our company and we received almost no orders through this platform. It was therefore a good time to get started. I enjoy setting things up better, optimising them and participating in test phases. For instance, I am now an early-access user for Floriday for adjusted delivery times during holidays. When I saw a post about the CheckUp on Linkedin, I thought it might be a good idea for someone to have a look with me. It can sometimes be easier to show something directly by example."
How did you feel about the CheckUp?
"I signed up for a CheckUp and a week later Dionne came by. She first introduced me to the developments of Floriday. I explained how we currently operate and the problems I was facing. For example, I wanted to know how to properly process transport costs for smaller orders, which was something that wasn't working very well yet. Dionne showed me the possibilities and I made changes based on that, and now things are running smoothly. The adjustments we discussed save us a great deal of extra work in applying for corrections. Today, everything is in order and I hardly need to do anything anymore. "Seemingly minor things can just save me a lot of work".
What message do you have for other users?
"There are bound to be many users who share my perspective; everything works anyhow and I’m not getting any complaints from our buyers, so there's no need to let someone take a look at how we use Floriday. However, a Floriday expert sometimes has a different perspective and can show you all the possibilities. I also believe that it can be beneficial not only to the users themselves, but also to the development of Floriday. Every nursery has its own way of working, and by discussing this with each other, we can further improve Floriday. My advice would be: make an appointment and show how you work, because I think everyone has something to learn, so just do it!"