Putting customer satisfaction back at the heart of the company: the key to success

In 2013, the artelis group needed to move to a new level of growth and called on MindForest to support them in their new business strategy.

"Knowing how to challenge yourself”

Founded in 1999, Cegecom quickly established itself as the alternative telecommunications operator in Luxembourg. In 2006, it joined forces with the Saarland-based VSE NET to create the cross-border group artelis s.a. It has five main business lines: Connectivity, Internet, Voice, Data Centre and Cloud services. Its customers are large groups, SMEs, public authorities and telecom operators. In 2013, against a backdrop of economic recession and strong sectoral competition, Cegecom has decided to review its business vision in order to offer solutions that are increasingly adapted to its local markets and to anticipate its customers’ needs. This new strategy involves adapting its customer approach, redefining its corporate culture and optimising its activities, costs and processes. A complete overhaul of the company, which Georges Muller, its director, fully supports: “It is important to know how to challenge yourself, how to take a step back and put current situations into perspective, in order to gain a clearer overview and understand, analyse and form your own opinion, before taking a decision and moving forward”, he asserts.

Gaining a better understanding of the real needs of its customers

Georges Muller went on to explain, for the group, one of the first logical steps in this process was to better understand its customers’ expectations and identify their real needs. “Before launching our new trends, it was necessary to carry out a clear market study in order to identify our strengths and weaknesses, to study our image… This, with a view to adjusting our market positioning, as well as the products and service we offer to our customers“.

Adapted solutions

In this context, the director of Cegecom then decided to call on MindForest for support. “The consultants offered us a toolbox with several options. We could draw on and choose the solutions that interested us. They also advised us on the best customer approach to adopt,” continues the manager. One of the solutions was to set up a customer satisfaction survey, which consisted of an interview guide designed to better understand customer expectations. Its objective: to measure the degree of customer satisfaction based on various criteria, such as communication with customers, availability, responsiveness, product range, value for money and the efficiency of the sales department.

Anticipating rather than reacting

MindForest regularly uses this type of approach to accompany its clients in similar experiences, whether they are administrations, SMEs or large private organisations. The satisfaction survey carried out on behalf of Cegecom lasted a month and a half. It led to the implementation of clear solutions that enabled the group to gain in efficiency and responsiveness to its customers: “Thanks to the insights we gained about customer and market expectations, we were able to refine our strategy more appropriately. The survey offered us direct solutions and rapid decision-making power,” says Georges Muller. More concretely, customers were able to express their needs related to the evolution of their own markets and business challenges. And the group was able to quickly offer them new services and products, notably the EASY|CLOUD solution launched in 2015. MindForest’s consultants also made recommendations, such as the expansion of the customer servicedepartment to establish a relationship of trust and provide more transparent communication about the company’s strategy.

In the wake of this, Cegecom continued its overhaul, conducting an in-house change management project with support from MindForest. “Thanks to the changes made, we have become much more efficient and have seen an improvement in our performance. It’s a real success story,” concludes Georges Muller. Cegecom has thus succeeded in its transformation; it is now part of a cross-border group with strong roots in Luxembourg and Germany. In the long term, whatever its activity in the coming years, Cegecom will remain as close as ever to its clients, in order to anticipate their needs and provide high added value solutions.

Expert in Communication @ MindForest

Didier Damiani

artelis-Cegecom – Dates and facts :

Since 1999, Cegecom has been providing Internet, Voice and Connectivity solutions, as well as hosting services in its Data Centres and on its Cloud to a B2B clientele: large groups and SMEs (active in industry, the financial sector and the service sector), administrations, telecom operators.
In 2006, Cegecom joined forces with the Saarland-based VSE NET GmbH to create the artelis s.a. group, today the leading alternative telecommunications operator in the Greater Region.
In 2013, Cegecom reviewed its business strategy and vision by regionalising its operational services, in order to keep in ever closer contact with its customers and to listen to them. The “Made in Luxembourg” label, which rewards Luxembourg know-how, was awarded to Cegecom in recognition of its contribution to the country’s technological and digital development.
In 2015, the company expanded its offer with EASY | CLOUD, a dedicated platform providing secure, simple and flexible Cloud services to large companies, SMEs and administrations.
Today, artelis has the largest alternative telecommunications network in Luxembourg and the Greater Region with 1,500 km of fibre optic network.
artelis s.a. currently employs 160 people and has an annual turnover of €58 million

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