Farmer Service Associate

Lima Links is an agriculture technology social enterprise that brings live markets to farmers. Our Farmer Platform serves any Zambian farmer on any basic phone, accessed by dialing *789# Send. We provide live market prices, important information about agricultural products, and connections to markets. Our Farmer Service Team serves these farmers directly, answering all questions they have, explaining how to use our Farmer Platform, and driving all aspects of farmer services. They are undoubtedly one of the most important teams of our organization.

What do Farmer Service Associates actually do?

Because we are a technology company, we are able to provide many services to farmers over the phone. As such, our Farmer Service Associates are based out of our head office in Lusaka, Zambia. Essentially, they will be on the phone with farmers 95% of the time, with ample time spent in the field getting to know farmers and conducting in-person surveys and farmer feedback studies. Their duties will range from providing agronomic advice, answering farmers’ questions, explaining how to use our Farmer Platform, and more. We have learned that farmers are very active late in the evenings and early in the mornings. As such, FARMER SERVICE ASSOCIATES MAY BE SUBJECTED TO OFF-PEAK WORKING HOURS (outside of 08-17H).  This is very important to keep in mind when applying for this role.

JOB DUTIES

The successful candidate will be able to accept ownership for effectively solving farmer issues, complaints and inquiries; keeping farmer satisfaction at the core of every decision and behaviour.

• Manage large amounts of inbound and outbound farmer calls in a timely manner.
• Be able to answer farmer questions on the spot, using answering tips but also able to answer unexpected questions naturally.
• Identify farmers’ needs, clarify information, research every issue and provide solutions and/or alternatives.
• Seize opportunities to explain new products on the platform when possible.
• Build sustainable relationships and engage farmers by taking the extra mile.
• Keep records of all conversations in our call center database in a comprehensible way.
• Stay abreast of industry news, including disease alerts, promotions, and more.
• Continually provide feedback to relevant team members from farmers to inform our products and services.
• Contribute to the design of our farmer products and services through desk and field work.
• Attend company expos and field events as needed.
• Meet personal/team qualitative and quantitative targets.

REQUIREMENTS

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