Interview with Mr. Verdoliva

Mr. Verdoliva was using Smart Fertilizer Software for years. One day he got a call from his son Salvatore, who is currently doing his PhD in Agronomy in Wales, UK.

Salvatore told his father, he got a job in a software company in London. Mr. Verdoliva told his son, he is a loyal customer of the products developed by this software company in London and the son did not even know about that.

Now, the son is already the Chief Agronomist at Smart Fertilizer Software and interviewing his father about his experience while using the software

Please tell me a bit about yourself, who you are and how you found out about SMART Fertilizer?

Good Morning, my name is Gaetano and I’m 60 years old. My grandfather was a farmer in the town of Sapri (near Naples, Italy). He was one of the biggest landowners of the region and he was growing a wide range of crops mostly for the production of feed for his cattle but also orchards and vegetables. However, my father did not take over on the management of the farm and became a big marble cutter, and similarly, the whole family dislike the farm business and pursued other careers that on the paper were more profitable. I was always fascinated by the agricultural activity and everything related with growing crops but only when I was living in Germany near the border with the Netherlands, I’ve been in contact with Dutch growers. After a few years, I decided to invest my savings and my life basically in protected food production. More precisely, I bought land and greenhouses of the Venlo type and all the equipment to run the business. While working in this field, I realized that soil is too variable and that I needed a more stable method to grow my crops.
I never had a book knowledge but only experience so I for years I relied advisors. Honestly, I never liked them, because was like being handcuffed and forced to buy their products. Therefore, I started to look for something that could help me in doing my fertilization recipe and I found SMART FERTILIZER online. When I saw the demo, I was mesmerized because it was amazing. It helped me with the calculations, and it is based on real data such as water tests and not on advisor’s opinion.
I think SMART helped me to fill the gap of knowledge with science and technology.

What do you do currently?

In the last years, I was selling and building greenhouses with soilless Aeroponic technology, without any kind of soil. Mostly for the production of Herbs, lettuce and various vegetables. However, some clients hired me as a General Manger for their herbs production. So, I am helping them to grow their aromatic Herbs that are being sold mostly to Carrefour ITALIA.

Are you a massive foodie, are you vegan? What crops do you grow? What’s one fruit or vegetable people would be surprised to hear you grow?

I’m not vegan, but of course great respect for vegans. I grow mostly aromatic Herbs such as Basil, Sage, Rosemary, chives, etc. I think that in general, nobody knows how big is the demand for Herbs in Europe. But in order to have a constant production, is essential a soilless technology and a first-class agronomic and managing infrastructure based on real data and not opinions.

Are you quite a large company, what size would you consider yourself to be?

We produce 15,000 punnets of mixed herbs per day on average. We need to guarantee a daily delivery to our large distributors in any case, no matter the weather conditions, logistic problems or whatsoever.

How do you feel about this product? Have you found other products more useful?

I think that SMART is the real pioneer in this. I don’t think there’s something similar in the market at all. To be honest, in terms of accuracy is even more accurate than my previous advisors. I think the only thing that need to be improved is their varieties of their crops. For example, there are several varieties of Basil that has different needs.

What was your motivation to purchase this product, and what membership are you currently on?

My motivation was having an accurate fertilization plan without asking help to anyone.

Have you recommended this product to any of your friends or family? Were you influenced by friends, family or acquaintance, etc.? Did you by this product on someone else’s behalf

I recommended this to my son, he’s a young agronomist in the UK but with a great international experience, and today with a high qualification despite his young age. I was not influenced by anyone because I liked the product since day 1.

Do your friends, family or media influence your behaviour? How did you hear about us?

I don’t think media influenced my choice in the first place. But I was looking on the internet for a new way of fertilizing by myself. Now, among my colleagues, SMART is getting more popularity.

What influenced you to make this purchase? Was it a personal, psychological or social decision?

My need caused my purchase. But also, the included agronomic assistance from SMART made me feel safe.

What would you say to someone who asked about us?

I would say that SMART is very to use for young people because they are comfortable with technology. But also, for older people like me is very user friendly and helped me be more efficient I the use of fertilizers.

What was your reason to purchase this product? was it because it was priced well, convenient, or perhaps you did not have any difficulty with your purchasing process and simply went to buy the product?

As I said, I bought this product because was responding to a personal need that I have. I needed to be able to decide what to apply on my crops without biased opinions. The purchasing process was very simply and smooth.
Furthermore, I would like to highlight that although the prices might look expensive, the software is able to do several things that are very complicated in just a few clicks, things that even my advisors sometimes were not able to do. Therefore, I think SMART has fantastic value for money. So I suggest them to explain more to the public all the capability of this product.

Were you previously unsatisfied with a product purchase before deciding to move on to SMART Fertilizer? Perhaps you were satisfied and wanted to seek a variety of products to use?

No, I think there is not really something like SMART on the market.

If you could change just one thing about our product, what would it be?

I think the software works already well and is a good product. I would simply increase the fertilizer database and also add some new cultivars/varieties to the already existing crops to increase accuracy and the profitability of the farms that are using your software.

How much use do you get out of your product? Would you consider yourself a loyal customer? Are we satisfying your needs?

I consider myself a loyal customer. I used the product often especially to keep track of my previous activity in doing fertilization plans.

What you say that you are a prospecting client or a first-time buyer? Would you move on to another brand or have you?

I am already a loyal customer and I would not change to another brand as I think SMART is the real pioneer.

• Recommends the ideal fertilizer mixture/ blends
• Saves up to 50% on fertilizer costs
• Comprehensive data on hundreds of crop varieties
• Interprets test results for any extraction method