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Management Report / Vorwerk Kobold / 17
A considerable increase was recorded by the sales company Vorwerk Folletto in Italy, the strongest Kobold
sales organisation worldwide. Turnover increased by 8.3 percent to 429.6 million euros. Vorwerk Folletto
thereby continued the positive development of past years and demonstrated most spectacularly that
growth can also be achieved in saturated markets. The first foreign direct sales subsidiary of the Vorwerk
Group – founded in 1938 – thereby managed to maintain its position as market leader in Italy during the
year under review.
In Germany, the second largest Kobold sales country, the sales system was completely restructured in the
year under review. As a consequence of this restructuring phase and the new sales processes associated
with it, turnover fell by 9.3 percent to 181.8 million euros. The new sales system is entirely aligned to
growth. In the new system, an adviser is responsible for customers in a firmly agreed area and is therefore
a direct contact person. The product and service quality are critical factors for many customers in making
a purchasing decision. Vorwerk Kobold Germany is attaching emphasis to linking high quality products with
personal, expert consultation. The advisers agree appointments with customers and are quickly on location
with their expertise whenever needed. This system is not only attractive for customers, but also for advisers:
good career opportunities, a free allocation of time spent on the job and room for individual creativity
guarantee a solid base for workplace self-determination. The product range is being extended step by step,
so Vorwerk Kobold Germany can once again look forward to growing sales volumes in the coming years.
Exports and even some of the smaller Kobold countries in terms of sales volume contributed to the positive
development of the overall division. Spain for example – following the high loss in business as a result of
the financial and economic crisis in 2009 – managed to grow by 21.7 percent in the year under review and
achieved a turnover of 16.4 million euros. The measures that were initiated there at an early stage to
improve the motivation of the Spanish advisers and cautious modifications to the sales system have had
a sustained positive impact.
Whereas the Chinese sales organisation – measured in euros – closed at approximately the same level as
previous year (turnover 2010: 32.1 million euros), Vorwerk Austria was able to record a slight improvement
in sales volume of 2.5 percent to 23.9 million euros. The sales organisation in the Czech Republic also
closed the year under review with a small increase (2.6 percent to 14.6 million euros turnover) as did
Vorwerk France (2.2 percent to 8.3 million euros turnover). Business grew significantly with distributors,
i.e. independent sales partners in those countries where Vorwerk does not have a sales organisation of its
own. The increase here was as high as 25.9 percent with a total sales volume of 4.9 million euros.
The strategic measures and changes adopted in recent years, particularly in the German Kobold sales
organisation, have created essential preconditions for the long-term development of the division. In the
coming years this focus will continue in terms of strengthening and further development of the existing
sales companies.