Lead generation programme brings Proximus 4% more sales.
As a market leader, how can you boost your sales results in a market that is virtually saturated? How do you continue to build your employer brand when the job market is so difficult? Proximus has an answer to these two important questions.
Nathalie Arteel spoke about this with Jan Van Moer. Jan is the Omnichannel Manager at the Consumer Sales Department and is setting the pace for the Domino lead programme at Proximus.
How did the idea for Domino come about?
“When we came to the realisation that each of our employees could act as an ambassador, we looked for ways to involve our people in this. We work according to the ADKAR principle (the letters stand for Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability and Reinforcement – ed.). This means that we make our people aware of how they can contribute to our mission and vision in an individual way. Then we give them the autonomy to put things in motion. Eventually, we also envision the ability to immediately reward any positive contribution.”
What is Domino’s aim?
“Domino is a points savings programme that allows non-commercial Proximus employees to act as ambassadors and bring in new customer leads. Every employee comes into contact with people in their private circles who ask questions about Proximus services. This gives them the opportunity not only to ensure that the problem is solved as quickly as possible, but also to give the person in question advice on how to enjoy the Proximus offering even more. If the employee ensures that those questions are forwarded to the appropriate internal colleague and an additional sale results from this because of a satisfied customer, then the employee earns points. The employee can save up these points or immediately redeem them for a gift, gift certificate or experience.”
Where do most of the leads come from?
“A great many leads come through technicians who go to the customers. A technician is seen as a confidant and has an important ambassadorial role to play. They are often confronted with all kinds of questions and it is important that they can also help the customer professionally and quickly. When the technician receives such a request, they will be more motivated to provide a solution within a short period of time thanks to this programme. This way, not only can they earn extra points, but they are also supporting the sales goals for the colleague to whom they pass on the problem. This could be a colleague at the shops or someone in the office.
Thanks to the rewards programme, technicians are far more motivated to take quick action and fix things. This even motivates the outsourced technicians we work with. The programme also strengthens the bond between colleagues and different departments because the system is a two-way street. And that’s how we counteract the silo effect.”
What is the effect on the customer experience?
“Thanks to the Domino lead programme, more and more people are really taking up their role as ambassadors. Especially in these bizarre times. This has a major impact on the brand itself and the customer experience. For example, as many as 6,745 active ambassadors are registered on the Arteel platform.”
Why is the programme so successful?
“It’s nice for people to know they’re being rewarded for their positive contributions. And that it shouldn’t always be measured in KPIs. People can be rewarded spontaneously and immediately when they do something right. This strengthens the bond between the people and the brand. And positive behaviour that is rewarded will carry on. The fact that they can save, in the short or long term, is also very motivating. But apart from that, people feel very connected to the Proximus brand and are proud to be able to carry this through as ambassadors. That makes it a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic appreciation. It’s nice to know that about half of all leads end up turning into a success story.”
Why do you enjoy working with Arteel?
“In the original start-up of the programme, we had chosen an international party. After a few years, it turned out that the collaboration was very awkward. There was little flexibility, we were not listened to, there was a high turnover of partner staff, and we often had to wait for weeks before we got an answer to our questions. We then started looking for another partner, but to be honest, that wasn’t easy. It took us two years to find the right party. Since we started working with Arteel, my employees have been telling me every week how grateful they are to now be able to work with a partner who has the same values and sense of excellence as we do. Proximus sets a high bar and we expect the same from our partners. In recent years, our results have increased significantly. Whereas in 2016 we derived 1.5% of our sales from the Domino programme, by 2021 this has risen to 4%.”
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