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An affair of the head
Page 26
Page 27
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The new boss of Renault Trucks UK is on a
mission — and he's keen to take the entire
business with him. Emma Penny reports.
Thierry Lepercq is clearly a man who loves his job. Many things about the UK truck industry and Renault Trucks are, he explains. "passionating". It's not, as we first thought, a Franglais way of saying fascinating, but an entirely different language altogether. It's marketing speak for a cross between being passionate. invigorated and dedicated.
It's a word he seems to have adopted throughout his diverse career at Renault and perhaps it's also a reflection of his parents' background.With one parent from Corsica and the other from the Basque region there was a good chance their offspring would tend towards hot-blooded.
Surprising then, that after completing a degree in engineering and gaining an MBA at the Paris Business School he decided to pursue a career as a software engineer, which many would argue is the antithesis of all things passionate. Suffice to say it only lasted four years. His colleagues spoke continually about software and satellites, he says. "From a certain point of view, it was passionating.but I wanted a more diverse life."
So he joined Renault Trucks in 1990 as a production manager in its Blainville factory and progressed to the headquarters in Lyon in 1993 where he was involved in quality assurance.
Having proved himself in both jobs, his big break and biggest challenge to date came in 1996, when he became dealer principal of Renault's Lille dealership. It wasn't an easy job. Despite being the preferred choice of many French truck operators, this particular dealership was doing badly and being beaten handsdown by the local Iveco franchise.
An unlikely choice
Lepercq's mission was to turn it around. "Noone wanted the job," he says. "The dealership was making very heavy losses, and my boss told me I was mad Ro take the position]."
But Lepercq is a man who enjoys a challenge and three years down the line the dealership was thriving. It was,he says, a question of putting the right people into the right jobs, developing a clear process for the way the business ran and, vitally, introducing a culture of quality.
-The branch was quality driven. We had quality quality, quality at the heart of the system," he says.
That has become his key goal for Renault Trucks in the UK. He believes it will grow successfully if it has a mindset of quality, particularly for customer service. In a demanding industry the network across Europe must have the same high standards, he says. "But we have very good and not so good dealers. We have to work to make sure everyone is strong. When I went to see customers, they were happy with our range, but had diverse comments on service.
"Our customers are under immense stress; 80% of them don't know what they will transport in 48 hours' time. This has consequences for us. If we have a vehicle in the workshop and promise it will be fixed by Friday morning, the customer may have agreed to do a delivery on the Friday. He is relying on that vehicle being out of the workshop on Friday morning, so we must be strong in spare parts and workshop management. Getting it wrong has terrible consequences for us.
Personal service
next 30 years
That's where Renault's five-point service charter certainly helps, but it's sometimes not enough for irate customers when things have gone wrong, and Lepercq recognises this. He believes manufacturers rarely lose sales because somethinghas gone wrong with a truck they are lost when the firm fails to manage it quickly Now staff at HQ are tasked to look after specific customer complaints and to ensure they are solved promptly and with minimum fuss. Every Friday morning, a team meets to go through Lepercq's list" customers who are unhappy and whose complaints haven't been resolved to their satisfaction. Each team member has specific customers to look after to ensure their complaint is dealt with and it's a system Lepercq is pursuing with vigour.
As well as resolving issues promptly, the system has one key aim." We aim never to get letters from our customers. If we get a letter, we have failed," he says.
Lepercq admits that he thinks British business culture seems to be one of litigation and lawyers. "It seems to be part of business life here, but people are very pragmatic. In Latin countries, if you even threaten a customer with court action you will be punished for the next 30 years and you'll
you even t reaten a customer
never sell him another vehicle!" Bear in mind that the Corsicans invented the concept of the vendetta...
Having spent five years as MD of Renault Trucks in Poland. Lepercq is particularly interested in how business is conducted in different countries. Moving to Poland another "mad move" at a time when Polish truck sales and prices collapsed gave him an insight into a completely different culture.
Some transport firms were still run under communist systems, while others were more modem than those in the UK. "There is a huge contrast. For instance, business people in Warsaw used pocket PCs very early on,but drive for half an hour outside the city and you will see people cultivating land with horses."
When he moved to the UK last year, he was amazed to hear British firms had something in common with their Polish counterparts. -Here, transport businesses tell me they are very worried about firms from new EU states coming and taking their business. But Polish firms were very worried about British hauliers coming and taking their work when they became EU members!"
Lepercq is keen to grow the brand; he's taken over a company that has, he says, the "best range of products it has ever had". Customers know that, but others who haven't tested the latest models don't know. I want to develop awareness of our range."
Big ambitions
That will mean a much bigger demonstrator fleet, and a closer relationship with body builders. While it won't be going for all market segments, there are some clear areas for growth -municipal,recovery and construction.
But when it comes to expanding market share, Lepercq, like many, doesn't want to do business at any cost. "Our ambition is not to have the best market share, but to grow in a profitable manner."
And it's clear he has a -passionating" approach and big ambitions to grow Renault's 5% market share in the UK."Ijust can't understand why the other 95% aren't driving a Renault truck!" •