Zoe Smedley
Zoe Smedley has been with Vaillant for three years, working in customer engagement and customer relationship management. Her role is to connect the customer to all the digitalisation that Vaillant offers. It is crucial for her to learn about the customers first – and then use this knowledge to give them the best service and experience possible.
Zoe, since when have you been working at Vaillant?
I joined Vaillant three years ago, bringing my knowledge of loyalty schemes and customer retention. I have about twelve years’ experience of working in customer engagement and customer relationship management and the use of gamification and behavioural analytics to build knowledge of our customers, their behaviours, what products they’re buying, etc. to encourage better behaviour and loyalty towards our brand.
Could you give us a brief overview of what exactly you do at Vaillant?
I manage the UK’s two business-to-business loyalty schemes for installers, both managed through a website and an app-based solution. The goal for these loyalty schemes is twofold. The first is to gain visibility of our products after they have left a merchant by asking the installer to register them under the address where they have been installed. The second is to learn from the installers’ activities to create personalised offers and to provide support with the aim of getting them to stay with our brand, to encourage more loyal behaviour through brand advocacy.
Loyalty is something that relies on long-term relationships whereas digitalisation seems to be rather fast paced. How do you reconcile that?
Yes, digitalisation can be a scary concept for many. And a lot of our loyalty members are still more comfortable working with pen and paper. We want to help them move into a more digital mindset and feel more comfortable using the technology we can provide. There is a generation that are completely competent and expect digitalisation, so we need a fine balance of supporting and exceeding expectations. We need to understand them and their level of confidence. So, we make sure that we monitor what they are doing on our app and on our website. We see where they’re engaging, we see where they’re struggling. It’s all about making it as simple as possible and then having an infrastructure in the background to support them where they are.
So, your job is actually learning from your customers’ behaviours?
It is! It’s learning to support. And it’s using the knowledge about them to give them the best service and experience. Very basically, I am here to ensure that an installer who fitted a Vaillant boiler last week chooses a Vaillant boiler next week.
You told us you like skiing, mountain-biking and snowboarding. It’s all about speed and it’s all about body control. Are there any parallels to your work?
Yes. I like to work on a problem and I like to find the best solution. I see understanding customer behaviour as a bit of a challenge. It’s step by step, the same approach I take with my snowboarding. I always assess what I need to do first. It’s about seeing the trail and working out the best way to get to the end point. And having a bit of fun whilst doing it.
I like to work on a problem and I like to find the best solution. Understanding customer behaviour is a bit of a challenge. Step by step, I take the same approach as with my snowboarding. It’s about seeing the trail and working out the best way to get to the end point. And having a bit of fun whilst doing it.
,
What is your role in Vaillant’s digitalisation?
I guess my role is making the connections for the customer to all the digitalisation that Vaillant offers. I developed an app, I developed a website, I get them more digitally engaged. We’ve moved away from paper registration and customer journey to these digital platforms. For me, it’s about the data in the background. And making sure that the data that comes in is good data. And the data that goes out is strong, usable data. Making sure we know about people. And using this knowledge to develop systems that help our customers.
Vaillant is a pioneer in heating technology and a big player. What do you think people expect of Vaillant in terms of digitalisation?
From my experience, Vaillant is one of the leading heating brands in digitalisation. In the UK, we have a lot of competitors, but we have more opportunity with the work that we’ve done, with the products that we have. Our marketing message is “Comfort for your home”, and it definitely is that. It’s about helping installers to move into the 21st century. Getting them to use and training them on the technology that we have. Right now, I can use an app that tells me that my boiler might have a problem. And it can tell me what that problem is and how to fix that problem. That’s incredible! And we are continuing to move that forward.
Now we have a kind of game for you. You like cooking. If digitalisation were a meal, what ingredients would you add?
I guess, it’s like a good pizza. You need a good, strong base, well proven; experience on how to get it perfect is already there. For digitalisation, if you haven’t got a solid base of a good manufacturer, a good business, it doesn’t work well.
You then have your toppings; a good pizza never has just one topping, right? So, you have to have a couple of elements of digital, not just one app or not just one service. Also, what needs to go on there is the tomato sauce of a good team. Make sure that everyone works together.
There are a lot of challenges we’re facing right now. Digitalisation, climate change, Covid-19. What skills do you think are needed to face changes?
I think resilience is one of the biggest skills. And perseverance. And more than anything flexibility. So, if you’re flexible and willing to learn something new, then you’ll survive.
What would you expect of your colleagues and leaders?
Open-mindedness and support. Also a level of proactivity and fearlessness; we don’t ever move forward if we’re too afraid of making mistakes. And the only reason you would be really afraid of making mistakes is if you’re not getting support, if you’re not free to learn from mistakes and apply improvements. If you learn from a mistake and make a change as a result, it’s not a mistake, it’s an opportunity for next time.
What do you think, how do you inspire your colleagues and your team?
I’m chatty and I strongly value other people’s ideas and opinions, I will be the one who talks to people, but I also listen to what they’re working on. If I need to get involved, I will get involved. I’ve built some really strong working relationships in Vaillant. There are some brilliant people I work with. I guess, I’m the support network. A lot of people come to me when they have problems. And I like to try and encourage them and help them with a solution.
“Thinking outside the box” – what does that mean for you? Can you give us an example?
To me, “thinking outside the box” is don’t think what Vaillant can do, don’t think what our competitors are doing. Think about what you would love to be able to do. One of the things I brought to the loyalty scheme was the ability to give targeted offers. None of our competitors do it. Our system wouldn’t allow for it. But I wanted to try changing people’s behaviours directly. You cannot treat every person the same. We are human beings, and different people will do different things.
