‘Really focusing on the customer, that’s the point’

Referent_Cofely_vandenBoornCofely is the European leader in sustainable technology for energy and the environment. In 2010 Cofely Netherlands had some 7,000 employees and achieved a turnover of over EUR 1 billion. Cofely is part of GDF SUEZ, which belongs to the twenty largest companies in the world. Frans van den Boorn, Cofely Netherlands Director of Sales & Marketing, emphasises the importance of customer focus.

‘What do clients really want from us?’

“Cofely is part of the construction sector, a fairly traditional industry that is mostly driven by large contracts on which we reacted responsively in the past. We wanted to curb this, from reactive to proactive behaviour. What do clients really want from us? What keeps them awake at night? Which smart solutions should we build for them? And how do our internal and external processes connect to this? To this end we carried out a customer survey.”

“Because Cofely is composed of different companies, each with different views and opinions, the first challenge was to create support for the findings in the customer survey. Eisenfelt played an important role in this.”

Transformation

“Eisenfelt has coached the commercial management of Cofely for an entire year. During several workshops the commercial processes were mapped. We also looked into account management. Within our Company this is quite often performed by technical colleagues who, because of a heavy workload, take account management ‘on top of’ the rest. We addressed this aspect first. Based on the outcomes of the workshops we have redesigned our commercial organisation with an internal staff and a field staff. Account managers were liberated from administrative tasks so they could spend more time with the customer.”

Result

“Through these and other measures, we have increased our commercial strength. Eisenfelt has been great in coaching us in this. We have developed a comprehensive approach which was gradually implemented. This requires a cultural change for which the commitment of top management was necessary. In this: outside eyes compel.”

“Our account planning is now also much better organised. We focus on listening to the wishes of the customer. Customers increasingly want to be treated as a customer; this just requires a different attitude and behaviour.”

Personal approach

“This business is all about people. Hence a personal touch is very important for me. Eisenfelt kept listening well throughout, ’they practise what they preach’.” “Sometimes you see agencies imposing their own methods, but each company is different. Eisenfelt has, by listening carefully to us, developed an approach that fitted us like a glove. As a customer, I really felt this was added value.”