Strengthening farmers’ interests and creating a better income from agriculture for farmers in developing countries. This is what the Agriterra business advisors and professionals from the agricultural sector in the Netherlands do, by advising and training agricultural cooperatives and agricultural organisations in Asia, Africa and South America.
“Thanks to Emma Handson, we have been able to deliver 400 high‑quality and uniform reports each year for the past 20 years.”
Uniform mission reports
Agriterra’s business advisor teams are active in more than 20 countries, guiding and advising cooperatives in achieving their business ambitions and improving their operations. Projects include business plans, training in financial management, developing market strategies and more. A report is made for each project. There are about 400 reports annually. “We want a uniform standard for this, both in terms of the quality of the layout and the processing,” says Cees van Rij, manager at Agriterra.
Many years of cooperation
In order to guarantee, amongst other things, uniformity, Agriterra decided to outsource the work to Emma Handson about 20 years ago. Agriterra’s director, Kees Blokland, knew the former director of Emma Handson well. Cees explains: “The relationship with Emma Handson, then E‑Way Out, goes back many years. We outsourced the layout and processing of the reports at a very early stage. This still works very well.”
Time‑saving
The fact that Emma Handson’s personal assistants prepare the reports saves Agriterra’s advisors a great deal of time. Cees says: “If we were to outsource this internally, I would have to hire one or maybe even more employees. This is difficult as there are considerable peaks in the number of reports that the advisors provide. The quantity is not evenly distributed throughout the year.”
Flexible partnership
This is another reason why Agriterra outsources the work, Cees continues: “With Emma Handson, we have a flexible partnership. If the amount of work really becomes too much, the personal assistants let us know that the delivery of the project might take a bit longer. However, they always manage the workload well and return the report on time. We would be running around if we did this internally because we cannot easily increase capacity.”
Accurate and professional
Cees is enthusiastic about the service: “Emma Handson’s employees do this work often, so they are very good at it and are very accurate. In our case, this work would be ‘just part of the job’, whereas we are really concerned about professionalism. You can then decide to do this work in‑house or not. At Emma Handson, the work is done well: we are very happy with it. And if we have any points for improvement, they are quickly picked up and acted upon.”
Guaranteed quality for Agriterra
The fact that Agriterra is satisfied is also evident in the ongoing cooperation: “In fact, with every report you make a new choice as to whether or not you want to continue with the cooperation,” says Cees. “We even tried to do it ourselves for a while, but we did not like it. We then quickly wanted to go back to Emma Handson. In this way, we are guaranteed that the uniformity and quality of the layout is good.”
PA with a passion for the business
“All of the Emma’s we work with are very practical and very ‘straightforward’,” describes Cees. “This fits in very well with the agricultural sector that Agriterra works in. I think that this is where the connection is. In addition, the contact is pleasant and the employees work with passion for the business. We do this too, so it works well together. In the end, we all work together, so it is nice that there is a good click.”
Reception and telephone service
“It is nice that the personal assistants deliver their work on time and with care,” continues Cees. “And, they are flexible: they provide telephone support and work at the reception desk of our head office in Arnhem on demand. I would definitely recommend Emma Handson: a professional team with great people who work in a customer‑focused and service‑oriented way.”
A personal assistant shares
Jeanne, who has been preparing the reports for ten years, is just as enthusiastic about the collaboration. “I always find it a challenge to create a good report. I enjoy doing the work and the work of the advisor is interesting. For example, I often learn about Asia, Africa and South America. The contact is always very pleasant and positive; everyone at Agriterra is helpful and they are always open to our suggestions.”
Are you also looking for someone to bring uniformity to your reports? Emma Handson can help you with both formatting and language. Our PAs will be happy to help! Contact us via info@emmahandson.nl, (073) 747 00 54 or click here for more information.