Kirsty is a Technical Sales Manager (TSM), a role that sees her managing the Waikato's Technical Sales Representatives (TSRs). The Waikato region stretches from Pukekohe to Tokoroa; Kirsty manages eight TSRs across South Waikato, as well as one technical agriculture specialist and one senior TSR.
"I meet each of my team members individually monthly as a base, plus for meetings and trainings. I love being able to get out on farm with my TSRs, but I do find it hard to fit this in as much as I'd like to. I'd like to try and get out more this coming year. Most of the time I am catching up with them in the store instead, but we love to be in the paddock, identifying weeds and bugs, checking crop health, or advising on a range of other areas of farming."
Kirsty started her TSR career with Farm Source 16 years ago, when it was still called RD1. After seven and a half years she became a regional key account manager, where she stayed for two and a half years before moving into her current role.
"Having walked in the same shoes as my team is hugely valuable," she says. "I understand their challenges and can support them technically. I also farmed for many years, so I understand farmers."
- Kirsty Skinner, Waikato Technical Sales Manager
Like Kirsty, many of her team members have a strong rural connection - many come from farming families, are sharemilking or studied agriculture at university. She says the best thing about them is their wide range of backgrounds and experience.
"Each of them brings so much to the team as a whole, and they support each other in so many ways. I love seeing them make a difference on farm. Our TSRs are such a valuable source of knowledge and as a technical team we love seeing success on-farm following our influence."
She and her team have a busy couple of months ahead. "We'll be flat out in September and October advising farmers on a range of topics, predominantly spring cropping," Kirsty says. "We're focused on ensuring our farmers grow the right crop for their farming system, and we love partnering with them to ensure the best yield and quality possible."
This sees the team looking at many things before recommending a crop, including farm system, stocking rate, milk production, current pasture health and need for regrassing, soil type, land gradient and contour, current feed regime and nutritional breakdown of current diet. They then tailor a cropping plan that is going to fit for the farmer and the situation.
"Farms are not made with cookie-cutters and our teams make sure their recommendations fit the farmers' varying needs," Kirsty says. While the TSRs have many years' combined practical (on-farm) experience, they strive to stay up to date with research, development and trends. The TSRs are trained before each seasonal campaign to ensure they're best placed to offer sound advice to farmers.
"A year ago we developed a new retail training and development programme called Kura Hokohoko (kura = school/academy, hokohoko = to buy or sell)," Kirsty says. "We know the world of farming and retail is changing, and that in Farm Source we need to grow expertise and strong partnerships to be successful. Our kura has three pillars - retail and sales skills, technical capability and retail leadership. It gives us the framework to help our people develop and grow their careers in Farm Source regardless of which channel they sell through. We've had great success with the programme; so far 16,202 modules have been completed, with an average success rating of 85%."
Farm Source is also excited to announce a partnership with ServiceIQ, a government-funded training partner, which means programme participants can now get formal NZQA qualifications upon completion.
"Our TSRs are working predominantly through the technical stream, which ensures our entire team has a strong technical understanding, regardless of their time in role," Kirsty says. "This is an ongoing focus for me. I love working in the technical field but I've also found I love seeing my team grow and develop. This role is perfect as I get to do both."
To anyone interested in becoming a TSM, Kirsty has this to say: "Go for it. The great thing about working for Farm Source is that there are so many different opportunities depending on where your passion lies."
For more information about working for Farm Source visit store.nzfarmsource.co.nz/careers/working-with-us.