Meet Livia Forte, account manager at Manitowoc Crane Group, São Paulo, Brazil

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Self-motivation and continual innovation: The Key to career development in Crane Industry.

Cranesy: You are so young and pretty, have you always known you wanted to work in the crane sector or as a little girl you wanted to do something else?
Livia Forte: I had never seen a crane before I started to work with them. I never imagined to working in this sector.
I was always thinking I would like to work with people around the world and be in contact with other cultures, I wanted to travel on the job and know other cultures.
Today my job, as an Aftermarket Sales Manager, within a global company like Manitowoc, is exactly what I was dreaming of, only that I never imagined it would be in the crane market, and the work has exceeded my expectations.

C.: How did you join the company? Why Cranes?
L.F.: What is it that I can do to help you? – was the sentence that change my life.
Do you know that moment, in which you know you are doing your work well, but nobody is noting it. Yes there is always someone to observe and evaluate you. I was in a situation like this when Manitowoc was looking for professionals who have the disposition,
to just get the job done. Collect the fruit baby! It was seven years that I was working for an agent, with responsibilities in the import sector when I received the document that would change my destiny.

Manitowoc Company had just arrived in Brazil and was building a time. My contact was directly with post sales, Crane Care, the area in which I work today. Getting close to the customer with good customer treatment was my specialty, and eventually got the attention of Manitowoc. It was something I always sought out, I always want to help and go beyond what is asked of me . . . . And it was in this sort of situation that the phrase or question above changed everything, and I was contracted by Manitowoc. I began as a parts coordinator, then worked with warranty claims for parts and service, and now I work as a manager of the entire post sale life cycle of the crane, supporting our products.

C.: What kind of specialized knowledge is needed for working in this sector?
L.F.: Work in aftermarket sales of cranes, brings a variety of specialties together, engineers, administrators, technicians, sales groups, and my education was based on commercial external sales, well today I don’t work directly with this. It’s necessary to understand the processes of the company, its systems, policies, etc., but in the case of post sales of cranes, the best teachers are the technicians and field service technicians – a classroom session with them is worth a year in the university, at least in this business. Money cannot buy the experience of those that have been in front of the real worked problems in the field, like these guys. They really are the true specialists and in this sector, post service sales, they are who we count and depend on.

C.: Speaking about team work and work with positive people around…
L.F.: Working as a team is the way to go, if you cannot work like a team in the crane business, forget about it. The pressure in our field is nonstop, it is constant. The customer is always with a question or a situation because of the pressure they too face, and an immediate solution is needed. For this reason, the team is there, and if we are not positive and working together, we run the risk of losing control. We can’t have an attitude of my work is this, it goes to here. This is understood within our team. With time and our experience together, we have grown stronger, and are now quite often surpassing the expectations of the customer, this as a result is creating a very good friendly team environment.

C.: Every person goes through some bad moment at least one time in a life. What helps to you in that moment?
L.F.: I pray and believe! In a certain way everything goes to the right way…just pray and BELIEVE.

C.: Success is …?
L.F.: Look back and see where you have arrived, and that it is much farther that you had dreamed, and beyond everything, doing what makes you happy.

C.: Family and career?
L.F.: Family is always in first place. In the moment, my strength has been dedicated to the development of my personal and professional goals, and my family understands and respects the phase of life that I am living. It is important to maintain this equilibrium and relationship with family and goals.

C.: What’s your typical work day like? How much time do you spend in your office?
L.F.: My days consist of visits, listening, understanding, the problems in the field to those people who can better help me give solutions, internally – it is the best after market treatment, listening live to the customer, with more time and days in the field and less time in the office. My work is more pro active than reactive, I arrive to the customer before than the need arrive – this is the objective, avoid the need for them to come to me. The communication internally, within Manitowoc is also a part of my daily routine, and making sure we act to improve the attention and resolution provided to our customers.

C.: 3 Tips for young people who want to work in the Crane sector?
L.F.: My tips to young people are the following.
1 – In the Brazilian crane market, compared to countries more developed, we still are at the beginning of the market, and it is becoming more professional and developed every day.
Anybody who arrives in this business and invests their time in learning the industry will be highly valuable in the sector. For sure there will be many opportunities for young people in the industry.
2 – Be humble, somebody always knows more than you, and principally the customer, Be humble enough to ask for help, and learn thereafter.
3 – Be prepared for extreme situations, Brazil is a country of massive proportions that is still developing and there are many big, large scale works in areas that have been hardly explored, local areas with very little infrastructure,
but there, are our cranes working away in these areas, so the disposition to go out into the unexplored is necessary.

Short questions:
C.: Classic or casual style to wear in the office?
L.F.: Both, it depend of the situation, normally classic in the office and casual visiting customers (including big heavy duty ugly boots).

C.: Tea or coffee?
L.F.: Coffe.

C.: Seaside or mountains holidays?
L.F.: Mountains

C.: Favourite cooking/dishes?
L.F.: Love rice and beans…

C.: Favourite quote?
L.F.: There is no stimulus like that which comes from the consciousness of knowing that others believe in us – Orison Swett Marden.

C.: Your hobbies?
L.F.: I love singing, dancing, travelling.

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