Synergy in Sales: Meet Marko and learn about Mohammad.

We recently welcomed Marko Petrovic , our new Technical Sales Development Executive, to the Geotechnics team. Marko has extensive business and technical experience and shares our values of delivering successful outcomes for our industry and people. After living in Serbia, he moved to New Zealand, where he had many opportunities to learn about TV, security, and hydraulic systems before settling within the civil engineering industry, specifically in materials testing equipment. Marko has remained in this industry for the longest period, learning extensively about various devices, ranging from field handheld gear to sophisticated research and development lab systems. He says, “an interesting industry environment and a lovely community make it rather difficult to think of leaving.”

I asked Marko what his new role means for the business. He says, “even though my role on paper is essentially selling things that poke, prod, stretch, or squeeze stuff, I’m a huge believer in a holistic approach to client relationship building and expanding awareness and deeper understanding of their needs and challenges.” Marko enjoys making new acquaintances and strengthening existing relationships, firstly by listening and understanding, then by being a proactive partner and support.

Marko has a keen eye for trends in this industry. He says, “the materials testing industry has been making leaps and bounds as of late, in terms of the scope of tests being done and establishing clear correlations to the construction process in the field.” Performance-based testing is currently a popular phrase in the industry, essentially defining that a test ought to simulate what happens to a road when it’s subjected to repeated heavy axle loads, or how resilient a fibre-reinforced concrete tunnel is to the potential risk of a crack. Marko says, “I think Geotechnics is in an excellent position to understand and support this transitional testing period due to the unique synergy between testing laboratories, sales and calibration teams, as well as having significant resources in the pool of designer/engineer knowledge and experience available at hand”.

Marko says he is looking forward to “being part of a great team and the opportunity to rely on other professionals and be relied on.” He says, “my first impressions are positive; there seems to be an obvious, strong sense of leadership direction and a healthy team culture.” Marko's role will focus on identifying and pursuing opportunities to expand Geotechnics and better the industry through technical solutions and products. His role will revolve around understanding the technical aspects of what Geotechnics has to offer, as well as the needs of our clients. Alongside our Technical Sales Executive, Mohammad Mottaghi , the pair make quite the technical duo.

Mohammad has a vast skill set including sales, calibration, management, design/manufacturing of sophisticated test equipment (like PAV, RTFOT, Triaxial, and Servo Load frames), programming, and more. As Mohammad is fairly new to the team and to New Zealand, he says, “It takes time for people to get to know me and trust me the way my clients did in Iran. Marko has been active in this field for the past 6 years, so he will explore parts of the market that were not revealed.” To sum up Mohammad’s recent career activity, he is working alongside AUT to bring them cyclic triaxial capabilities, assisting the MCC with ongoing projects to add new items to their scope, and has managed technical challenges on a variety of sophisticated test equipment for multiple central and R&D laboratories among our client base, whilst also visiting clients from the North and South Island. With both Marko’s experience and Mohammad’s variety of skills, customers can expect to be well looked after.

I asked Marko what his long-term goals are, he says “I’m quite happy with what I do, so I guess just getting better at it and further perfecting my craft, learning new test methods, staying up to date with the equipment and nurturing relationships with the people involved in our industry”. Marko also mentioned he is learning how to play guitar.

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