In 2014, the Orange group launched a national training program to help its technical and sales teams evolve. The goal was to encourage a change in perspective in terms of management in order to implement transverse interactions and simplify its customer experience. This service management certification offered by Grenoble Ecole de Management helped reinforced employees’ ability to take initiative, be creative and act positively within the group.
The challenge behind this training program was to create, share and implement a new vision of the company’s service culture and customer experience. Ludovic Maréchal, an Orange sales director in charge of 120 employees and eight stores in the Essonne and Val de Marne regions, is one of the first Orange managers to have led a team through the service manager certification in 2014.
“Ever since this program was implemented, the collaboration between technical and sales teams has definitely improved. Their relationships are more fluid. This collaborative training helped develop their ability to take the initiative. As a result, our Orange experts increased their autonomy and agility by focusing on transversal collaborations.”
Simplifying for success
“Managers must learn to simplify the lives of their team members. You have to create an environment for success. This initiative was the opportunity to implement management based on proximity and collaboration. The manager provides reference points and recognition for employees. It’s about giving meaning and motivating employee engagement in company projects.” adds Ludovic. In addition, the certification was an opportunity for participants to develop their leadership abilities.
Creating a clear vision
The goal of this certification was to create a clear operational project to improve the customer experience by simplifying processes and overcoming any confusion. Céline Laboureur manages a team of three managers in Avignon. Her team followed the certification in 2015.
“One of the strong points of the certification was the enjoyment created by connecting teams that had never worked together in the past. When you get people who have never worked together to collaborate, that’s already a great success. Another key advantage was developing new skills built around the theme of agility. This project is about testing new processes and innovating through collaboration. And I can say today that it’s a success.”
No more saying “no”
One of the small revolutions that took place during this initiative was that the technical and sales teams in Esson and Val de Marne decided that they would no longer tell customers they had no solution for a problem. “Every day, customers come with technical problems related to their phone or internet. And our sales teams don’t always know the answers to these questions. Yet the teams have now decided for themselves that they would no longer say: ‘sorry, we can’t help’.” explains Ludovic. The idea led to the creation of an expert group on Plazza, Orange’s corporate social network. The expert group is in direct contact with the sales team, which optimizes the way customer issues are addressed all the while reducing the effort for the customer.
The sales team simply posts its customers’ questions and thereby ensures a quick response from the technical team. At the same time, the customer is called back and reassured about the process undertaken to provide him or her with a solution. It is a tool that has increased interaction between teams. This helps ensure an efficient answer to customer problems and thereby improves the customer experience.
