Service is the new business

Brazil’s difficult economic situation has brought about a whole new set of challenges. Sales curves are becoming unpredictable, favorable external financing from sources such as the Brazilian development bank, BNDES, are gradually drying up. KION’s new financing service for Brazil is plugging the gap. “Customers now negotiate loans with our partner banks as if they were negotiating directly with KION,” explains Kareen Ratton, business development manager at KION Latin America. “The deal is done directly in the factory and under very attractive terms.”

Leroy Merlin didn’t need any loans but José Manuel da Costa, who had been operating STILL forklift and warehouse trucks for years in the São Bernardo dos Campos warehouse, needed to cut costs. During the crisis, the company decided to offer the Linde brand exclusively in all 39 businesses along with STILL.

“It simplifies our administration since we are negotiating uniform rental prices, are making use of the same after-sales services and moving our engineers around between the individual businesses that have no problems and have no need for training,” explained da Costa. Joelson Costa Rodrigues pricks up his ears at this. It would be his ultimate dream to continue looking after his ‘children’ at Leroy Merlin, but in his hometown of Bahia instead of São Paulo.