Recently appointed Nilfisk Australia/New Zealand managing director Jim Athanas is working on taking the company to the ‘next level’ while also increasing brand awareness. Based at the company’s Blacktown headquarters, he is responsible for both commercial and domestic businesses.
Previously a senior Ecolab executive, Athanas has replaced former Nilfisk managing director Steve Makins, who left the company earlier this year after a five-year stint.
Athanas says he is looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead with Nilfisk.
“It’s all about taking the company to the next level,” he explains. “It’s about accelerating growth and increasing brand awareness in the marketplace.”
Athanas ‘hit the ground running’ and in his first two weeks on the job visiting Nilfisk offices in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and New Zealand.
One of his first tasks was to meet and greet key members of Nilfisk’s high performance team.
“My focus in the short term is to get to know our people and get to know our customers and our service offerings,” Athanas says.
Keen to “unite and motivate” his team members, he believes a competent, motivated, highly trained team is the key to future growth.
Observing that a company’s people and its innovation are keys to success, Athanas notes, “without people we don’t have a business and without innovative products and services we cannot provide solutions to our customers’ needs.”
One of Athanas’ main goals is to maintain and improve Nilfisk’s customer service.
“We have always had a strong focus on our customers … we are very customer driven,” he emphasises.
Priding itself on its vast product range, Nilfisk will continue to roll out new and innovative products to complement its existing range.
“This not only includes our product offering but also our service offering,” states Athanas.
He will also continue to maintain the company’s strong focus on training – both internally and externally.
“Unless people have the right tools to do the job you can’t deliver outstanding service to your customers,” he extols.