LIUGONG AND SERPEMA: A SUCCESFUL PARTNERSHIP IN THE HEART OF BRAZIL
Heavy machinery multinational places Brazilian Midwest at the core of its strategy
In the past years, LiuGong Latin America has implemented in the Brazilian market an ambitious plan to expand its regional dealers network. That number has grown in quantity and quality, based on partnerships with traditional companies in each Brazilian state.
Serpema, a company that has represented the LiuGong brand since March 2020, is one of those dealers. They are responsible for equipment and part sales, as well as for after-sales service to LiuGong customers in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. Serpema’s portfolio offers all the LiuGong equipment available in Brazil: Wheel Loaders, Excavators, Mini-excavadors, Motor Grader and Road Roller.
LiuGong counts on Serpema to take its brand to the Brazilian Midwest, a region where agribusiness has a strong presence. Following this view, the Chinese multinational plans to intensify its marketing actions in the region as of the upcoming years. In order to do so, the idea is to rely on the experience of companies such as Serpema, i.e., players that already have a consolidated brand and are a reference for the local public.
“We are pretty sure that we have made the right choice about this partnership with Serpema. This player has been working since 1995. We are talking almost 30 years of experience in dealing with highly demanding customers. In this context, we believe Serpema is the best name to represent LiuGong in Mato Grosso do Sul”, states Igor de Lião – National Sales and Product Manager.
Over the years, Serpema has been able to get closer to its audience and has been taught an important lesson by the market: it is not just about selling machinery, it is about delivering solutions that will meet the customer’s needs. Cláudio Soler, Director of Serpema, clarifies this different approach: “For us, it is very easy to be a dealer, because we are already used to provide support, to solve our customers’ problems: we do field work, fix issues, reform machines and sell spare parts. A big issue I see in the market nowadays is about after-sales. We are very fortunate in this aspect. Serpema is locally acknowledged for providing the best after-sales service. Our moto is ‘strong support’.”
A success story
Serpema is a Portuguese acronym for serviços (services), peças (parts) and máquinas (machines). The brand was founded in 2002, with the aim of supporting Soam, another traditional company in Mato Grosso do Sul. Soam’s story began much earlier, in 1995.
At the beginning, the two companies shared responsibilities: Serpema dealt with maintenance, while Soam took care of parts. However, in 2007 that scenario started to change for better. Serpema became the exclusive dealer of a heavy machinery manufacturer.
Throughout time, Serpema Group has collected success indicators. For example, it accounts for 65% market share in Mato Grosso do Sul’s heavy equipment area. This fact has strengthened the names of both organizations.
“Between 2010 and 2012, 6.5 out of 10 excavators sold in the state were ours. That was an astronomic market share. We then applied ourselves to do an even better job in customer service, and, by doing so, most of our next sales were based on recommendations”, remembers Cláudio Soler, Director of Serpema.
