^>OVA - GEARED TO QUALITY
WHAT'S NhwS Issue 6 October 1995
spend a day
3
skilled craftspeople to produce. 'Most of
what we do is handwork,' says Hendrikse.
'Our people are incredibly motivated,
partly because every new order requires
creative input from them. And they are
extremely adaptable.'
It is exactly this kind of adaptibility, cre-
ativity and flexibility Bova is looking for
in its bank. 'We didn't go bank shopping,'
says Van Doorne. We'd had contact with
Rabobank in the past and 1 think what
impressed us was their eagerness to have
us as a cliënt. There was no price differ-
ence between the banks - they matched
each other's offer.' Hendrikse picks up the
story: 'We talked about
it internally for around
three months. At some
point, we reallv had to
take a decision. In the
end, I wrote my choice
on a piece of paper and
Wim put down his on
another and we opened
them together.' Both
notes said: Rabobank.
'We feit the advantage
of Rabobank was the
possibility of direct
contact you have be
cause we can deal di-
5 rectly with Utrecht on
0
a high level in the organ-
ization,' Van Doorne
f reckons. 'Communi-
1 cation lines are both
short and fast. And we
need a bank that thinks with us. We work
in a lot of markets, so we have to deal
with a lot of different currencies. We've
only been clients for a few months, but al-
ready our controller is talking directly to
the dealing room. And we also have direct
contacts with other people in other
divisions.'
Our account manager Jan Willem Slooten
is only called in to sort out very specific
requirements. In fact, so far, Rabobank
has delivered everything they said they
would.'
But Bova will continue to evaluate the re-
lationship on a regular basis. 'It's a part
nership,' says Hendrikse. 'You're not just
looking for someone who gives you
money at a certain rate. We want a long
term relationship. We have something
similar with our own customers - they
come back to us time and time again.
Every so often, we have to check that
everyone is still fresh, motivated, in
their approach to our clients. So I think
we'11 be doing the same with Rabobank.
And we hope they'11 be doing the same
with us.'
There are perhaps few companies which understand the concept of cliënt
service as well as Bova. As creators of custom-built luxury touring cars for
customers all over Europe, every product that rolls out of their plant is unique.
Bova's approach to its clients is flexible,
innovative and proactive - it has to be if
the company is to survive in this very
competitive market. And it wants the
same approach from its bank. One of our
very newest corporate
clients, Bova's manage
ment says the choice for
Rabobank was mainly a
gut feeling.The builders
•f the distinctive luxury
utura range of touring
cars have managed to
secure a very comfort-
able corner of this niche
market in Europe.
Bova has a five percent
share of what one of
the company's two
managing directors,
Mare Hendrikse,
describes as quite a
stable market.'If you
look at the total Wes
tern European market,'
he says, 'you are talking
about 8,000 coaches
per year. Our home market is very small,
so already around 80 percent of produc
tion goes to export. Some of our main
^«mtpetitors are giants like Mercedes
which dominates the German market.
Or Renault in France. But we have been
able to make considerable inroads into
both markets as well. And I think we
actually have a much better international
BOVA - NIEUWE KLANT
■■I VOOR DE RABOBANK
De Valkenswaardse maker van luxe touring
cars BOVA is klant bij de Rabobank gewor
den. De directie van BOVA heeft gekozen
voor de Rabobank na 15 jaar bij de concur
rentie te hebben gebankiert.'We hadden
het gevoel dat jullie ons zo graag wilden
hebben', zegt directeur Mare Hendrikse. Zijn
collega-directeur Wim van Doorne voegt
daaraan toe, dat de BOVA regelmatig de re
latie zal evalueren: 'We doen dat ook met
fcinze klanten verspreid over heel Europa',
zegt hij. 'En ze evalueren onze service. Dat is
essentieel als je een partnership probeert
op te bouwen, of het nou met een klant is of
met je bank.'
spread than many of the really big
players.'
What Bova has done is look very carefully
at all of Europe's national markets. They
carry out exhaustive research on oppor-
tunities in each and only move in when
they see real potential for expansion. 'The
markets in which we currently operate
France, Germany, Denmark, the Benelux,
Switzerland, Finland and the UK are just
about saturated, although we managed to
doublé our sales in the UK last year,' con-
firms Wim van Doorne, Hendrikse's co-
director. 'So, if we want to grow, and we
definitely want to do that, we will have to
look at new markets.' The company is
currently in the process of setting up a
subsidiary in Italy and is also exploring
the Spanish market. 'No two markets are
the same,' Van Doorne says. 'And no two
customers are the same either. Every coach
we build is custom-made to very precise
customer specifications. So you have to be
very adaptable. The touring cars are also
used for different purposes in different
markets - some will spend the first years
of their life-cycle on long-hauls, others
will be used mainly for shorter trips. It all
depends on which country they are destin-
ed for. So you have to take that into ac
count as well when an order comes in.'
Bova receives around 350 to 400 orders
per year for the luxury touring cars that
take six weeks and the input of over 200
