“For Atronic, each customer is a strategic partner”

What does your recent appointment as Sales Director for Latin America represent for you?
It no doubt represents a personal satisfaction after 8 years in the company, but, above all, it is the acceptance of more challenges and responsibilities with our customers and more commitment with my own company. When accepting this new position, I also assume the new challenges it means, being aware that the goals will now be more ambicious and the barriers to overcome will be higher, considering the new global structure defined by our firm.

What new responsibilities do you currently have?
As Director of Sales, I do not only manage and supervise the work of our regional consulting team, but also define the strategic commercial management itself. It will demand not only to be in touch with the conditions of the regional market, to analyze our competence, promote new business models and keep close to our customers, a relationship that is already very close and has been consolidated in time. Besides, it means I have to take on more decisions in order to develop more and better business for our customers’ benefit.

Which is the position and the penetration Atronic currently has in the region?
Atronic has always been a leading brand in the sector. Unlike our competitors, which go up and down in a cyclical way, our firm has maintained a sustained growth that enabled us to belong to the elite. We have more representation in some countries (up to 25% of the market) and countries in which we have less presence, but globally, we are on the top and with a great consistency.

What markets are already consolidated and which have still more growth potential?
Mexico is a market which nowadays attracts all the attention. It is a country with a high PIB of more than 130 million consumers and very few casinos. Growth is something logical and it is expected to be vertiginous. Atronic will be leading this market in the short-term, as it has done in other emerging markets. It does not limit us to have ambicious growth plans in other countries, such as Argentina and Peru, for example. Markets that grow between 5% to 10% are important from every point of view. We have great expectation for Brazil, too. It is a matter of time so in one or another way, the market will open and Atronic will be on the top in this market opportunity.

What important sales and agreements have you signed in Latin America this year?
There have been many, but I would like to name two. The first one, which was an undeniable milestone, was the installation of the first WAP in Chile, a fact that has demonstrated our technological leadership and we are about to install a WAP with a new progressive, which will attract the attention in Chile again. We are very pleased with those results and, besides, with the fact that the product is in the definition line of other important regional operators. The second one has been the worldwide release of OXYGEN and Diversity in SAGSE Buenos Aires. Never before a company with the importance of Atronic made a worldwide release in Latin America, and Atronic decided to do that because it acknowledges the importance on this market and the leading position we have in it. Results exceeded our production capacity, so we have orders in the waiting list to deliver on the first quarter 2011, which brings us satisfaction and confirms the excellent moment and place defined to present our new line of products.

What Atronic product is the one that generates more sales level in Latin America?
Lately, progressive Doggie Cash, mounted on e² cabinet, has exceded all expectations. Magic 5'   has been a product with very high results, too.

Which are the main projects for the region in 2011?
As a first goal, we want to consolidate the success of OXYGEN and Diversity. We will have more game releases and we want to enhance our commercial relationship with our customers, which we consider our strategical partners. Our philosophy is that the success of our products with our customers is our success in the market, so our post sales service has had a great value for our position in the market in the last decade.