Meet Dilvar Dresch from Valparaiso
Today, Hapag-Lloyd is a truly global company with close to 13,000 employees. All of us are working together with people from around the world every day, but especially during the times of Covid-19, it might be hard to get to know new colleagues working outside of your Region or business unit. In this series, we meet one colleague every month. This time we met Dilvar Dresch, Sales Director for Region Latin America who talks about his time in the ALPHA program, the importance of self-motivation and his passion for playing guitars.
Tell us about your career and time at Hapag-Lloyd?
I was born in a small town in south of Brazil and grew up between a farm on the weekend and my dad’s business during the week. I later left the city to start the business school and to start a new career path in Porto Alegre, Brazil. I worked for Fitesa Fiberweb, a non-woven manufacture running 24/7 and was dedicated to demand planning and deciding on which products the company should manufacture. That was the big step for me towards international logistics and supply chain.
In 2003, I moved to São Paulo and joined CSAV at their Customer Service Desk. Soon I was getting more involved in Sales, Customer Relationships and Pricing. In 2015 I joined Region Latin America as Sales Director in Valparaiso, Chile and have been in that role since then. In my role as the Sales Director for Region Latin America, me and my team support Hapag-Lloyd’s Areas in RLA with information, processes and integration to achieve the results needed.
What has been you most memorable project so far?
The Compete To Win - project was so far the biggest project I have had the pleasure to join. It was a remarkable task to redesign the company’s Sales activities and introduce the best practices in different countries. CTW kick off was in January 2016 for Latin America and took two years to conclude the implementation in all areas. At the same time, Regional Sales got new roles and responsibilities on the processes.
I was in charge of implementing and supporting Areas on their changes with coaching sessions, portfolio design and time allocation. The results were impressive. For example Sales Executives were given full details of their portfolios and performance through Qlikview Reports and CRM; Sales Steering became active on selecting a better cargo mix and increasing contribution levels; APM calls became a relevant communication and integration channel between Areas and TM, allowing everybody to stay in tune with the objectives.
What makes you proud to work for Hapag-Lloyd?
Hapag-Lloyd has a solid reputation in logistics and at the same time the company is always innovating processes and product to improve the supply chains of its customers. Our technology, committed to logistic excellence and customer orientation make us special in my view. Planning and having a systematic approach to work has always been important for me and Hapag-Lloyd is very good at both of those things.
On top of that, we have different cultures working together and we are open minded to develop something better. We merge many different experiences and get the best outcome from it. Shipping is an extremely dynamic industry and we need to keep out eyes open all the time to not miss opportunities.
Dilvar Dresch, Sales Director for Region Latin America
We have different cultures working together and we are open minded to develop something better. We merge many different experiences and get the best outcome from it. Shipping is an extremely dynamic industry and we need to keep out eyes open all the time to not miss opportunities.
You are part of Hapag-Lloyd’s ALPHA leadership program. Can you tell about your experiences during the program?
I joined ALPHA in mid-2018, after three years of being Sales Director in RLA. At the time I was confident about the skills that brought me to the ALPHA, but I soon realize how much improvement and knowledge you can obtain and learn from our colleagues and other departments. One of the most relevant experiences I have had within the ALPHA program has been communication training, that showed how to engagement, attention and commitment will allow projects and ideas to go further and achieve better results.
Being ALPHA also gives important recognition of our potential and it motivates all of us in the program to keep moving forward and to develop new skills. Within the ALPHA program, I have learned different tools and gained experiences to prepare me for the future.
At the same time, the program reminds us that self-motivation and dedication is extremely relevant to achieving success and getting the most of the experiences we have. I believe that the best things in life and work are not free nor easy. They will demand your dedication, time, study and keep learning. The ALPHA program is a great example of that.
Dilvar Dresch, Sales Director for Region Latin America
Self-motivation and dedication is extremely relevant to achieving success and getting the most of the experiences we have. I believe that the best things in life and work are not free nor easy. They will demand your dedication, time, study and keep learning. The ALPHA program is a great example of that.
Covid-19 has had a big impact on our industry and our business. How is the situation in RLA at the moment?
The COVID-19 affected us on different ways and we have faced distinct approaches on the Latin America countries. Quarantine and curfews started in March and demand for products went down, decreasing imports from other regions and intra-LATAM at the same time we faced productivity issues since workers had also restrictions to go to work or even getting sick. On the other hand, the exchange rate stimulate exports of certain products and we try to get the most of those markets. As a result, we saw good utilization on our ships.
Some countries still has restrictions in place and our sales team is doing a great job keeping close contact with our customers with telephone and video calls. It was an important change on the way we prepare for the negotiations without the face-to-face. We are piloting training sessions focused on develop the skills for the telephone sales, supporting our executives on better tools that already represent a new condition for future portfolio management.
You moved to Valparaiso to take on your role as the Sales Director of Region Latin America. What makes the city special in your view?
Valparaiso is not only one of the most relevant ports in South America West Coast but the second most populated region in Chile. The city is also the home of the headquarters of the Chilean National Congress since 1990 and it is known as an university town, hosting the most significant universities of Chile. The Greater Valparaiso area also includes the beautiful Viña Del Mar, a city known for its beautiful gardens and a casino. Viña is a place where you can enjoy the relaxing of a small town with access to most of big cities amenities and I have good time walking on the beach or mountain biking at the hills that surround the city.
How do you spend your free time in Valparaiso?
I play guitar and I am actually still trying to put together a band in Chile. COVID-19 made practicing impossible for a while. But you might still hear some guitar notes during our meetings, to relax my fingers from the notebook keyboard for a moment. In Chile, I also started mountain biking and I had great time in the trails surrounding Viña del Mar or just enjoying the sun biking at the beach.
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