Methods and Tools

THE SALES FACTORY ATTITUDE ACCORDING TO ARNAUD LE MASNE Arnaud Le Masne is a growth accelerator, that is to say that he works with Impact Consultants with his clients’ sales teams to boost their sales results. For this, he reminds us that the talent of the teams is not enough but that it is necessary to build and organize the essential components of a sales team, regardless of the size of the company. Then comes the human factor and everything that recent discoveries in neuroscience have taught us in recent years. The point on this virtuous and singular alliance based on two pillars: the organizational and the human. The crucial question of time and rhythm Often the techniques of «growth hacking» or other traditional sales methodologies, announce hyper fast results. Even if these methods have their virtues, they can cause disappointment. This is the first «bad news» that Arnaud announces to his clients: no, it is not realistic to think that everything is played out immediately and that it is enough to recruit good commercial talents to sell better! It is necessary -upstream- to take the time – which is in fact a precious ally- to put in place a solid and effective strategy. The first pillar: a strong organization as the backbone The first step is to focus on what truly empowers sales teams: project management, mobile teams, rhythm, data… Of course, this step should take into account several criteria: in which growth phase is the company? What mission and vision does the entrepreneur have for its growth? What goal does he have in mind? International expansion? Large accounts? Establishing the components of a sales factory, searching for SQLs, the relevant use of data, organizing appointment setting, recruiting the sales team, nurturing their skills, building sales channels—these all form the essential foundation of your approach. This science of organization enables any company, regardless of its size and stage of growth, to significantly improve the efficiency of its sales force in the future by laying the groundwork to subsequently add emotional intelligence, which will generate and ensure its success. Once the context has been analyzed and we have ensured that the other pillars of the company are functioning correctly, we turn our attention to the human element and their talents. The second pillar: the essential human ingredient In parallel with this organization (process, methodology, rhythm) and after laying all these building blocks at each stage of the sales force, you will need to acknowledge the psychological time required for the skills development of your teams. This skills enhancement primarily focuses on « emotional, » « vulnerability, » and « relationship » aspects. Let’s take this opportunity to debunk the myth of the Wall Street Wolf, the « closer, » and reassure women that they possess all the skills to be « super sales » if we finally move away from enduring stereotypes. No, the alpha male is not necessarily the Alpha and Omega of the ideal « closer » and does not necessarily guarantee your long-term growth. One must learn to sell as a CEO would, and therefore understand the business model of the company, genuinely care about the customer, know the challenges in their industry, their difficulties—in short, return to fundamental cultural and economic knowledge that will allow your « sales » to enhance the listening quality of your sales team. Also, be willing to invest time in training your teams in public speaking, role-playing, emotional intelligence that enables them to connect with others. Accept, for example, that your product or service has limitations and may not be suitable for certain customer issues. Treat the customer as an equal, as a partner with whom your team is building a project. In summary, it’s an attitude, a way of being, and a way of doing things that change the typical perception of the sales function: science and human elements must nourish each other over time and intelligently blend the company’s culture, data, and human factors. The secret of success, in a way. And for the long term. #nowandforever with Impact Consultants. Share this page

REVENUE MANAGEMENT, A SOLUTION TO FACE RISE IN COSTS Sell at the right price, to the right customer, at the right time. The «revenue management» is a set of levers allowing certain actors of the economy to increase their sales by optimizing their pricing: by modulating their rates according to the demand, these actors optimize their turnover thanks to a better pricing (segmentation and price level) and better management of stocks and oversupply. Explanations. Revenue management: a technique that has proven itself in the air. This set of techniques was born in the United States in the 1980s, following the liberalization of airspace (opening to competition and then the possibility for airlines to make any type of connection in all countries). This deregulation has provoked a price battle that has prompted airline players to optimize their sales by setting their tariffs intelligently, while making the most of their demand and stocks. Pricing (the art of setting the right price) and yield management (the art of best managing these prices) are therefore the two pillars of «revenue management» By navigating the price grid defined beforehand, the actors of the air transport have thus succeeded in optimizing their sales and their turnover. The «revenue management» then gradually spread in Europe, to all sectors that market goods and services that are not storable. An interesting technique to deal with rising costs. The hotel, catering, tourism, rail transport, culture and performing arts are among the sectors that use it. And the results obtained are very advantageous, with an increase in revenues of 8% on average. Another strong point is that revenue management makes it possible to keep prices low or even lower them by improving fill rates. The ideal tool to combine supply and demand. To keep prices low, the goal is to sell at the right time, to the right customer and at the right price, structuring offers, anticipating demand and segmenting customers as precisely as possible. The idea is to set up real-time pricing that can adapt to fluctuating demand. Big Data at the service of an increasingly efficient technique. For effective «revenue management», we can now combine the power of Big Data and human expertise. «The «revenue manager» is able to manage and optimize his entire stock. The digital tool identifies critical situations for him and offers him a series of levers to operate, increase prices, change the duration of stays… It is then up to him to make the right decisions.” explains Pascal Niffoi, co-founder and CEO of N&C, a revenue management consulting firm that is a partner of Impact Consultants. A very current solution. In an inflationary context, characterized by a deteriorated economic situation in France and abroad, «revenue management» is a real asset for companies that choose to use it. «The current situation, competition with other companies, the evolution of regulations are all factors that go in the direction of the adoption of revenue management» concludes Pascal Niffoi. It is a growth solution for now, and for a long time! Rodolphe Lenoir and Pascal Niffoi. Share this page

«SHIFTER» MOBILITY: YES BUT HOW? In 2022, mobility in France still lags behind in the ecological transition, with solo driving (or single-occupancy vehicle use) continuing to dominate. While mobility is an essential need for every individual, it remains particularly unequal and polluting. Solo driving, a real societal problem confirmed by the numbers In May 2018, the study « Mobility and Access to Daily Life Services, » conducted by ELABE for the Laboratory of Inclusive Mobility, revealed that 78% of residents in rural areas had only their personal vehicles to get around, and 33% of young French people had already turned down a job because they couldn’t get there. Since then, not much has changed. In 2022, the second edition of the « Barometer of Daily Mobility » conducted by the Foundation for Nature and Man points out that more than 13 million of our fellow citizens face difficulties in daily travel, mainly due to dependence on individual vehicles. In the same study, 87% of those living in peri-urban areas stated that the car remained their only means of transportation. On the other end of the spectrum, Vinci Autoroutes’ « Solo Driving Barometer » indicates that 85.2% of drivers are traveling alone in their cars in 2022, up from 82.6% in 2021. Additionally, the portal « notre-environnement.gouv.fr » notes that transportation remains the largest emitter of CO2 in France, and the Citepa, an organization guiding action for air and climate, states that emissions have returned to the same level as in 2019 after the period of calm due to various lockdowns. These numbers highlight the limitations of our model. They are the most glaring indicator of our civilization’s failure to move towards an inclusive, equitable, sustainable, and solidary transportation system. They come with significant financial, human, and environmental costs. Given the current societal and climate challenges, transforming our mobility is no longer an option; it has become an imperative. Local: a principle of action and innovation Ultra-local, even! Everything should start with a detailed understanding of local flows and customers: their behaviors, expectations, pleasures, frustrations, constraints, and more. In addressing the modal shift challenge and promoting collective and shared transportation, let’s apply professionalism similar to what large companies use to launch their consumer products. New technologies and access to mobility data, especially data from individual cars that make up the bulk of traffic, will enable us to recommend locally tailored solutions and manage the resources invested in these transitions. This is the focus of Mobility Metrix, in which Impact Consultants has invested. Its purpose is to observe and understand the flows and customers, offering advice and tools for « shifting. » A concrete mobility focus, ideally by the local area of life, allows for an appropriate combination between the local community setting the direction and selected private partners executing it. Innovative solutions should always have a pivotal role in accelerating these transitions. The Ile de France Mobilités innovation challenge, focused on improving the customer experience in collective and shared transportation, opens the system to innovative solutions like the winning startup Ezymob, which helps people with reduced mobility travel with others, or Nextérité, using peer-to-peer social networks as a tool for public transportation traffic information. A « Personalized » Collective Solution To facilitate the shift from solo driving to collective transportation, a solution is to deploy locally tailored collective solutions that offer accessible alternatives to individual vehicles. This includes on-demand transportation solutions (typically 9-passenger vans) with real-time route adjustments based on reservation requests, similar to a « shared taxi. » One notable technology company in this field is Padam Mobility, which provides locally configurable solutions to municipalities like Ile de France Mobilités and public transport operators like Transdev, Keolis, RATP Dev, and Prêt à Partir. These solutions put the power in the hands of customers and users who can book and use them through a local app. These solutions can accelerate modal shifts, now making it possible to transport between 8 and 10 people per hour per vehicle through a well-thought-out On-Demand Transportation solution, whether in the Ile de France, peri-urban areas, or provincial cities. These group transportation solutions are also accessible and vital for people with reduced mobility or « limited mobility. » The mobility issue is complex because it is at the center of everything. It requires rapid evolutions and real local intelligence and governance to avoid mistakes in innovations and transformations. That’s why, at Impact Consultants, we are committed to supporting local communities and entrepreneurs for maximum local impact. Share this page

A RESPONSIBLE COMMITMENT TO MOVE THE LINES A-venture/IMPACT CONSULTANTS engage together in this responsible transformation challenge. Our mission is to support the creation of innovative businesses and skilled jobs in France and across the border, contributing to the transition to more sustainable development. To achieve this goal, we provide financing, resources and tools to companies and associations with a positive and significant societal and environmental impact. To monitor the proper execution of this mission, a mission committee measures and qualifies the contributions made by the Company each year, verifying that they will meet the mission of the Company. We have a responsible influence on the growth of the companies we support.  Indeed, we are virtuous by design because we accompany startups towards success, towards qualified employment, towards technological appropriation by all. We consider that there is an urgent issue that is to contribute to fight against global warming and organize a new, greener and more inclusive growth! THE MISSION OF THE CLIMATE BUSINESS CONVENTION The Climate Business Convention is an initiative that aims to help companies take action for climate and biodiversity.  The ambition of the Climate Companies Convention is to overcome divisions and move the lines, while putting companies at the heart of the Transition! 150 companies are engaged in the adventure, their leaders will follow a journey over 8 months to understand the mechanisms of climate and biodiversity, and define the roadmap of their company to preserve them! Volunteer organizers, leaders, planet champions, guarantors, teachers, researchers, experts… it is several hundred people who work with exigency and kindness to make it a founding and transformative event. For more information on the Business Climate Convention, click here! Share this page

THE MAP OF GROWTH Together with our clients and stakeholders, we mapped the growth topics and issues that businesses and local communities need help and impact. The compass of this mapping is, first, the “now” growth of stocks and customers that are essential to the growth of the current year’s revenue. And secondly, the long-term growth of business investments (strategy, supply, talent, organisation, IT, partnerships…). The ultimate goal of this mapping is to ensure sustainable and bankable growth. Often if not always, you have to have both caps in mind to develop your business or your local community. But changes in the market and the external context, as well as in the internal organization, dictate priorities and focus needs. This is the meaning of this «growth map», identify priority levers as well as impact needs. As an example, we see today, for Q4 2021, a widespread and particularly acute need for assistance in revenue management (revenue engineering) in the fields of tourism, «travel» and mobility. The objective is to adapt the pricing policy; in an intelligent, flexible and conclusive way; to the new constraints and opportunities weighing on supply (limitations, gauges, etc.) as well as on demand (customer authorisations, distance from purchases, etc.). With our partner N&C, we have developed the right diagnostic and action tools to maximize this growth lever. Rédigé par Paul de Rosen Share this page

NOW & FOR A LONG TIME When I launched R2LAB, it was more than just a big project; it was a vague idea, desires, and intuitions. I had a desire for freedom, diversity, and the opportunity to carve my own path. I had an intuition that strategic and operational consulting, when approached with commitment, would have an increasingly significant role and real value. I quickly realized that to move forward and build, I couldn’t do it alone. Creating a collective was essential for sharing, exchanging, and creating a broader and better experience for my clients. To build this collective, I’ve been able to establish a network of strong, complementary, and trusted partners and consultants over the years. It’s a circle that continues to expand with people and companies I hold in high regard, those I can rely on, and with whom I can work with full confidence. This includes NC, e+p, StelR, Juliette & Marianne Yung, Brice Duthion, among others. But to go further and create value in what we do, I felt it was necessary to take an additional step: forming an association. It’s not an easy path. More than 50% of associations fail for various reasons. Studying these reasons and observing successful associations like those of N&C or HomeExchange, I found some key criteria: Enjoy working with each other. Share a common ambition. Shared values, as well as a similar way of working – including the same level of rigor. Complementarity. Ongoing business activities. For an association to succeed, it also involves making compromises, listening, putting aside one’s ego, and understanding others. These are qualities necessary for progress in consulting as well. The association is a significant step that I have recently taken with Paul de Rosen, with whom we share all these points. I genuinely believe in the power of association, where 1+1 can genuinely make 3. It’s both easier and more challenging. We are well aware of the necessary compromises and the difficulties ahead but are also highly motivated by the ambition to share this energy with our clients and the collaborators we work with. This is also a first step towards a larger project, an open collective that will harness collective energy. Now and for a long time!! Stay tuned, you’ll know more very soon! Share this page

TRANSFORM FOR TOMORROW Deconfinement is here. FINALLY! Will everything return to how it was in our lives, in every company? Or will we truly transform society and our businesses? Our organizations and lives have adapted at a speed no one would have believed possible: remote work in a matter of days for companies; the closure of hotels, restaurants, and cultural venues within 24 hours; a shift in fragrance production to produce hand sanitizers, textiles for masks, or industrial production for ventilators; and all of us confined. However, adapting is not the same as transforming. Adapting allows us to navigate a temporary situation. Closures will not bring back customers, and confinement only flattens the curve. To face the future sustainably, companies and organizations need to transform themselves. Some trends are beginning to emerge, such as remote work, which will reshape relationships and management. But beyond financial difficulties, the organizations that will thrive tomorrow are the ones that have successfully transformed. To achieve this goal, four key areas seem essential to me: Meaning: In the face of uncertainty, employees will need a sense of purpose more than ever to find their way back to work, and customers will need it to choose a product or service. Agility: With scenarios never written in advance, truly agile organizations will thrive and be able to develop new services or redirect their offerings quickly. Collaboration: Transformation can only happen by involving all stakeholders, including employees and customers. Digitalization: Social distancing is accelerating digitalization, and only prepared companies will be able to face the challenges of the future. I will have the opportunity to delve into each of these areas, their significance, and their application for transforming organizations in the coming weeks. What do you think? Shall we discuss this further? Share this page

RESILIENCE It is a dark period for tourism and travel. I think of all my former colleagues, friends and partners who are fighting for the survival of their business, regardless of its size. One of the most difficult parameters for all of us to manage is uncertainty: how long will containment and closure last? how long before the borders reopen and trust returns… But two things are certain: – Nothing will be the same. Whether it is the organization of work, the return to local production and a circular economy, the acceleration of digitization, etc. it will require a profound transformation of our society, our businesses and our consumption and thinking patterns. – Nothing will replace human contact and reality. Telecommuting is effective, tools are improving, we travel with museums online but after a few days we all feel the lack… Despite the unprecedented violence of this crisis, one last thing is certain: this fantastic tourism and travel industry will survive. It allows that connection and the connection between the real world, between people. It will bend but not break. Share this page

TRANSFORM FOR TOMORROW #2 – MEANING The crisis has brought forth the concept of the ‘common good’ and the desire to contribute to it, as Maurice Thévenet explains. Could one of the positive impacts of this crisis be to help us rediscover meaning? The meaning of why we work, the meaning of the service we provide, the meaning of the products we manufacture. It is from this rediscovered sense that lasting transformations can take place. Indeed, a transformation without vision, without meaning, has no chance of success because it will not gain the buy-in of the employees, who will experience it rather than being active participants. I have seen transformations without meaning too often, done to please shareholders (« let’s show that we are doing something ») or to follow the trend of the time. They are destined to fail. This imperative of meaning has three major implications for the success of a transformation: Redefining Vision and Mission: A transformation must start from the vision and serve it. It is the « why » that Simon Sinek talks about, valid for employees, collaborators, and customers. The mission can no longer be a mere façade because it will be perceived as inauthentic. It must align with the DNA, values, and actions. For example, at Vacances Bleues, we worked on this concept to give meaning to our actions, resulting in « places and connections »; connections that give meaning to employees and customers and deeply align with the social and solidarity economy (ESS) DNA of Vacances Bleues. Communication and Sharing: Top-down, incomplete communication is no longer sufficient. The transformation must be explained in advance by answering two simple but essential questions: why do we need to change? Where are we going? For example, the digital transformation of a service or retail company often involves closing branches or stores. « We need to close branches to preserve our profitability » can be an initial explanation because it ultimately preserves the company and jobs. However, this transformation, even if painful, will be easier to understand if a purpose is given and communicated. For instance, « Our mission is to provide the best customer service. » What does the customer want today? It’s continuous service, immediacy, and the ability to communicate at any moment, at the best price. This is impossible without transformation. Empowerment: Meaning makes empowerment easier. If I know why I work, why I participate in the collective that is the company, I will more willingly take on my responsibilities. Telecommuting has seen a lasting surge. However, if management methods do not change, and if no meaning is given, the situation will become untenable. Telecommuting promotes autonomy. It is impossible to control remotely in the same way, unless you become intrusive in people’s personal lives. Therefore, objective-based management based on trust must be developed. This will only work if employees find meaning and understand why they are doing it. Share this page