Hello people,
I am starting this blog to keep a log on my journey discovering Orange store. For month, I need to live, breath and sleep in the universe of the Orange store. This is part of the integration process for newly hired people such as myself.
Prior to going to the shop, I followed a two day training called "Orange découverte" with a few other colleagues from different departments within the Group. It was a very interactive and educational as we went through the main products, offers and services provided by Orange.
Today was the first day of my journey in the Orange store in Montrouge. I went to the shop yesterday to see where it was placed. I took the line 4 that opened a new stop "Mairie de Montrouge" which is just a few meters from the shop. Hence it is very well placed to reach the shop when you are coming from Paris however I found a bus stop that is more practical for me to use when I come from my home. It takes about 10 to 15 min so I am very happy about it.
I came to the shop 15 min before the opening. The shop opens at 10 am everyday and closes at 7.30pm. When I reached the place, to my surprise there was already a client waiting outside. He came to me and started chatting about how the sellers are always punctual about their opening hours. Just when I was about to converse with him, the store manager (I will call her C.) came to greet me inside through a door that goes directly in the back office.
She was dressed in all black colors. It didn't surprise me as I was told beforehand that the people working in the stores usually wear dark colors to set them apart from the customers. I loved the back office. For me it looked like this secret place where the troupe gathers and makes decision before attacking. There is her office not very well lighted and a bit chilly in my opinion but it's cosy as it isn't very big. Some posters on the wall mainly some notes from discussions with her team of sales persons. Then you have another room which is more like a relaxing room. You have the famous coffee machine, microwave and also a table where they have lunch.
So very quickly she gave me a quick brief about her store and I was introduced to the team (a bunch of great guys). Then she showed me the different parts of the shop. When you come in on your right side you will see the accessories for mobile phones (covers, usb, chargers...) and then on one side you have a small table where is supposed to be the GDFA (an application that allows to dynamically manage queuing of customers). Sadly, it is not used because of its placement and maybe in the future the whole store will be moved around to accommodate it in a better way. Then you have all the mobiles ranging from the bottom of the range to the top of the ranges with the new 4G cellphones.
On the left side, there is the cashier. I feel it's a holy place as only some of the sales person are authorized to close the cash register. There are also the desks with computers for the sellers to process their sales with customer. Finally behind you have the stock where they store the products (phones, livebox etc) and you have in the middle of the job a TV with the new livebox play that can be used for making demos.
Since we are at the beginning of the month, one of the first things that was talked about in the house is the KPI (key performance indicators). These are the objectives that need to be achieved by the managers every trimester and sellers on a daily/month basis. I thought it was interesting this spirit of competition between the other shops and also how openly they talked about making money. I mean it's actually a breath of fresh air as we are talking about the real deal and how to increase the revenues.
Then I was introduced to the software that they use during their process of sale but to be honest it is not always about sales. Sometimes the clients just want an information, a clarification, a simple answer to their question. Others they come to the shop because they have some issues with their material and want to get it exchanged. I saw cases where the client is here just to have a friendly chatter with the sellers. Overall, it's a very warm atmosphere where we always smile, greet and are polite with each other.
The first day went by fast, many clients came in, got served and seemed satisfied. Of course, some were tired of waiting, others waited only to find out they couldn't do what they wanted initially or were referred to the client services. I didn't participate much as I was mainly observing what the others were doing. The sellers were really friendly and welcomed me with open arms. They were very happy and proud to share their daily work with me.
At 7.30, the manager closed the register and we all left the store.
Tomorrow is going to be another day :)
No comments:
Post a Comment