Danish MLM expertise in Thailand

After 12 years of living and working for a big IT company in Paris it was about time for Bo Kristensen to move on. Half a year ago, the 38 year old Dane moved to Bangkok which he first discovered while visiting the country as a tourist.
      “I came here in 2002 as a back-packer together with a friend and unexpectedly realized that there is indeed a world outside Europe. We travelled around the country for three months and during this time I happened to meet some French expatriates who seemed to have a nice and interesting life here. Then I started looking for job opportunities – and here I am.”
      ‘Here’ is in the BB Building on Asoke, where he has joined two Germans who have set up their companies, SoftControl and WebControl out of the same office on the 19th floor in the building. In fact, this was the first company he talked to regarding a job in Thailand.
      “The chemistry was right, so why look any further?” he asks.
      Bo Kristensen’s title is Business Development Manager, and currently he is developing new business together with United Consulting Group, which is a Danish owned company in Thailand established by Michael Sarfelt in January this year. The company was originally founded in Denmark by his father Allan Sarfelt but is now run by his two sons. While Michael Sarfelt’s older brother Jan is in charge of the company back in Denmark, Michael is busy setting up the company in Thailand.
      “We are specialized in Multi Level Marketing via the Internet,” Bo Kristensen explains.
      “The products are body and beauty products including nutrition, health care and weight control products. We obtain the active permission of our customers to contact them regarding these products via our website on the internet. They find this website by clicking on our banners placed on some of the most popular websites in Thailand.”
      The sales force is organized in multi level teams.
      “We are already 48 people in the organisation. I expect this number to grow to 120 people by December. They are all employed on a strictly commission based salary related to their own sales volume and to the performance of their own teams,” Bo Kristensen explains.
      “The beauty of these products is, that they are basically insensitive to the general business climate,” he adds.
      Bo Kristensen’s special expertise lies in establishing the web based “permission centre” where the customers give their consent to be contacted and indicates their interest. This information is then maintained in the CRM (Customer Relations Management) System, which is one of the cornerstones in what WebControl offers other businesses in Thailand.
      “It’s an in-house developed system which WebControl modifies for each client to fit their specific needs. My job in WebControl is mainly to create awareness of what our CRM solution can do for a company regardless of which market they are operating in,” Bo Kristensen explains.
      “In a sense it is good old fashioned customer care. In the old days, the grocery store owner would remember that Mrs. Smith bought a new face cream and when he meets her three weeks later he will say “I see the cream is really good for your skin, Mrs. Smith!” And then sell her a new jar.”
      WebControl was established in 1997 by Svend Nelson, who – despite his Scandinavian sounding name is a German. Apart from its CRM solution, WebControl also offers to implement its own content management system for maintaining websites including an e-commerce solution. Prominent clients include DaimlerChrysler, the German-Thai Chamber of Commerce, Bayer, UN ESCAP and the Accor hotel group.