The Client

In a competitive domestic agricultural sector, CSBP must solidify its position within the fertiliser market by offering greater revenue-generating services for farmers.

CSBP, a subsidiary of the Wesfarmers Group, is the largest supplier of fertilisers in Western Australia. CSBP manufactures and exports fertiliser for broadacre farms, mostly wheat, from its headquarters in Western Australia.

The company also provides services to farmers in the form of plant-soil testing, and more advanced services, like precision agriculture—ithe utilisation of algorithmic models and satellite imaging to determine the type, quantity and geographic distribution of fertiliser.

CSBP began manufacturing pasture fertiliser in 1910. Today, CSBP sells a range of fertilisers that have been developed for local climates and specific crops.

The Challenge

CSBP initially asked the EMBA student team to explore how new products could be used to grow the CSBP business. The company wanted to win and retain Western Australian customers while expanding its services into eastern states. However, the EMBA team discovered a much more pressing issue—the arrival of three major competitors.

CSBP had already lost one agricultural distributor to a competitor and was now at risk of losing market share. The EMBA team identified that service offerings could play a role in defending CSBP’s market share in Western Australia, and consequently developed a retention strategy for the Chief Executive Officer.

The Solution

To retain market share and differentiate itself from competitors that had significant global assets, CSBP was advised to re-orient its services to focus on increasing farmer revenues through:

  • Marginal discounts for high volume purchases and long-term contracts
  • Developing a sales acquisition strategy that was customised to each individual farmer and their situation

The EMBA team also suggested that CSBP build strong customer relationships by hiring additional Area Managers to increase solution selling opportunities with customers. Regular customer engagement with farmer-to-farmer knowledge sharing events or an advanced agronomy training program were also recommended in the 11-week consulting process.

I shared the final report with a wider internal audience and the feedback was that the group's conclusions were spot on.

- Charlie Perkins, Chief Executive Officer, CSBP