Philippe Vayssac, Customer Interaction Project Owner, Groupama Rhône Alpes Auvergne

SuperNova Award Category 

Next Generation Customer Experience

The Company

GROUPAMA Group is a diversified insurance & banking company.

Figures

2012: €14.2 billion in revenues (USD$ 18.9 billion), €90.4 billion Banking & Asset Management (USD$ 120.6 billion), 13 million customers, 34.000 employees, 11 Countries. Activities in France, 80% of the premium income: (number 1) agricultural insurer, local authorities, home insurer, personal health insurance and legal protection, (number 2) motor insurance, individual protection, everyday accident coverage “garantie accidents de la vie”.

Groupama Rhône Alpes Auvergne (South East of France area) has created in October 2010 the first iPhone Android app – interactive ViSUAL Callback Response, see the video:

http://bit.ly/YTEGroupamatoujoursla

GROUPAMA deploys disruptive technologies to provide High Level of Customer Service, improve Customer Experience and build new Customer Service features.

The Problem

“Most companies continue to struggle to find meaningful ways to capitalize on social networking.  Groupama’s new granvillage application is just the kind of innovation that the combination of social, mobile and localization technologies promises.” April, 15th 2013, Sheila McGee-Smith, President & Principal Analyst, McGee-Smith Analytics, L.L.C., USA, a leading US industry analyst wrote this quote after confidential webinar about the granvillage project.

Groupama was built on members (like a “Credit Union”)… So “Social Networks” are not new to the company.

Geolocation, smartphone, Social Medias, SMS, micro-blogging, contact center technologies are trendy, these technologies are in granvillage.

The Solution

We’ve built a social network, a disruptive new channel, granvillage. 

See the video in English: http://bit.ly/YTEgranvillage

See the video in French: http://bit.ly/YTFgranvillage

We enable our customers to reach their customers with a mobile feature phone, by call, by SMS, by voicemessage, by web, by smartphone. And the customers of our customers… are our prospects.

We’ve built a new channel to reach our customers, and our prospects.

The goal: create a Win-Win Customer Relationship to increase the business of our customers… to increase our own business!

The Results

SIMPLE:
One phone number for our customers to post on granvillage

+336 08 07 1194

With this only one phone number, our customers can call reach our contact center, leave a message, send a SMS… and post on granvillage timeline.

The Technology

. SMS platform - ESENDEX
. Asterisk XIVO - AVENCALL
. CIM routing, SIP, WFM platform - GENESYS
. Mobile JOIGNABILITE - ORANGE
. web, webapp, native apps development - NEWQUEST
. Smartphone - PhoneGap
. Frameworks - Zend and Symfony.
. Internal search - Elastisearch
. Cloud - OVH
. R&D, design, beta-test, telephony configuration, pilot, marketing, contact center, Community Management, project owner - GROUPAMA Group and GROUPAMA Rhône Alpes Auvergne

Metrics 

We launched the website on June 4th, 2013. The webapp will be available in July 2013, iOS and Android will be available in September 2013

Before:
Zero Customer Service interaction using social media.

After:
1 new channel to reach our customers, to provide sponsored links for campaigns, to do up-selling / cross-selling
1 (only) phone number to post on the social network, for all our customers… to reach their customers.

For Groupama customers:
They use a mobile “feature phone” to be in the SOLOMO revolution – eBusiness (social, local and mobile)
They use a mobile feature phone to post on Social Medias like facebook, Twitter, Google+, …
They use a feature phone to be followed or have followers (their customers, their prospects) who have smartphones.
They do this in so SIMPLE way.

For Groupama:
. We've created a new addictive channel to reach customers and prospects.
. We've created a new channel to reach our customers, to provide sponsored links for campaigns, to do up-selling / cross-selling.
“We will increase your business, to increase your loyalty”

Disruptive Factor

3 quotes from 3 different US Industry Analysts :
 

April, 15th, 2013:

“Groupama’s new granvillage application is just the kind of innovation that the combination of social, mobile and localization technologies promises. 
It supports Groupama’s farming and SME customers by providing a marketplace for their goods, gives consumers a creative option for finding locally sourced produce and provides an innovative marketing channel for Groupama to find both new customers and serve existing customers in new ways.” Sheila McGee-Smith, President & Principal Analyst, McGee-Smith Analytics, L.L.C., USA

May, 7th 2013:

“Disrupt the conventional mechanisms for delivering customer service, especially on the local level. By leveraging what people like most about social media and mobile technology, granVillage helps businesses establish relevant, timely connections to their customers and prospects.
Devised a new communication channel using existing technologies – this implies that it has the potential for widespread adoption and scale at a deployment cost within reach of most businesses.” Keith Dawson, Principal Analyst, Customer Experience & Interaction, Ovum, USA.


April, 22th 2013:

granvillage is “the basis for deep engagement between companies of all sizes and prospects or customers, regardless of their level of sophistication. Whether they communicate via voice, texting or typed entry via smartphones or less sophisticated devices granvillage has created super-efficient talk-paths to support meaningful conversations” Dan Miller, Sr. Analyst - Opus Research, USA.
 

Shining Moment

SoLoMo (social, local and mobile) for all, to increase customer retention.

Our goals were
“to build new Customer Service features for competitiveness!" and “to turn our customers into our salesforce"

Our customers are printing the QRCode of granvillage on their goods! The viral effect is working.
 

About Groupama Rhône Alpes Auvergne

Groupama Rhône Alpes Auvergne is part of Groupama group

About Groupama

Through its brands, Groupama, Gan, and Amaguiz, the Groupama group, France's leading mutual insurance company, develops its insurance, banking, and service activities in eleven countries. As of 2012, the group has 13 million customers and 34,000 employees throughout the world with €14.2 billion in turnover. www.groupama.com