What does Memo do and what is your role within the company?
Memo is a family business that my mum founded 30 years ago. It was started from a medical background. Today, we are committed to supporting our customers in various sectors 24/7. We are available 365 days a year, including holidays. Memo covers reception tasks and is an extension of our customers’ core business. For Dockx, we cover the reception tasks for their telephony. The most important thing in our job at Memo is the human approach, the thorough customisation, and the continuous investment in training our people. The entire group now has 120 employees.
I have been working at Memo for 17 years, and my brother and I took over Memo as of last year. In my role as operational CEO, I am responsible for all operational matters, including HR, sales, and operations while my brother is responsible for innovation, strategy, and technology as Strategic CEO.
What do you have in common with Dockx Rental?
Like Dockx, we are a family business. Accessibility, warmth, and the family touch are key values that both companies share. Moreover, Memo also has a similar story to Dockx’s, in the sense that dad or mum started the business and the two children are continuing it, with the children also being quite complementary to each other. At Dockx, Sarah is responsible for Movers and Joeri takes care of Rental. At Memo, that division is by professional area. You notice the complementarity between the two children carrying on the business and the benefits, but also the struggles it brings.
What does Memo provide for Dockx?
Dockx was looking for a contact centre with personal service for their telephony and also for a partner who really brainstorms with them. This is what we have been providing for Dockx for eight years now. We cover the reception tasks for their telephony when there is an overflow of calls during office hours, and we also handle incoming calls after opening hours and on closing days. That way, Dockx is available 24/7.
Memo provides support; we relieve staff. Because we handle the overflow of calls during office hours, Dockx can offer more quality to the customer that needs further assistance in the Dockx Service Shop at that moment, so they don’t miss out on any opportunities. If there is no answer within a number of ring tones, the calls come into Memo. Our people receive regular training and have a lot of knowledge about Dockx, so they can answer most requests for information. This includes things like questions about prices, loading volume, info about the app, etc. The only thing we don’t do yet is effectively book a vehicle. Although, this is something we may expand in the future. Thanks to the online platform Memoweb, Dockx staff can then see which phone calls have been handled and which ones they still need to answer.
What are the biggest challenges for Dockx and Memo?
We don’t want to be a cheap or expensive answering machine. We aim to be as knowledgeable as possible about Dockx’s offerings and services, so we can handle incoming calls without having to disturb Dockx with these things. Our objective is to further help and relieve Dockx in a qualitative way. Training is and will remain of the utmost importance in this regard. And that is what our team is trained to do.
Dockx is a company that continues to innovate; just look at the Dockx app they launched last year, for instance. We also provide the telephone support for this. If there is a question or a problem about an app rental, we must also be able to help and guide the customer. We receive training for this so that we are always up to date on all the processes and can continue to help customers in a qualitative way.
We also have monthly follow-up meetings at which we discuss innovations, points for improvement, changes, etc. This way, we ensure continuous follow-up. By the way, we have a permanent team of seven people for Dockx’s calls, working in three languages: Dutch, French, and English.
How do you stand out from competitors?
We do so with our expertise and knowledge, but above all, with our customisation. We have 700 customers from various niches. No two customers are the same, which is why customisation makes such a big difference. But our own people are also hugely important in this regard. We have an average seniority of 15 years, which is very high for a contact centre. Our family value and warmth play a big and important role here.
