A few years later, Frédéric was put charge of nationwide customers for Sonepar Nord-Est, and subsequently the cabling and wiring market. After that, he served as branch director in several different cities in Northern France. He has been with Sonepar for a total of fifteen years.
“My branch is like my own business, the place where we get our daily job experience. Running a branch is a multi-faceted undertaking—I’m constantly moving on to something different. Dealing with the unexpected is the nuts and bolts of my job, and that’s what makes it exciting. Still, we can distinguish a few key areas: budgeting, work sessions with suppliers, and nurturing customers relations.
With our suppliers, we are currently working on geothermal energy and new energy sources. We’re getting ready for the products of tomorrow.
My job involves working with 3 circles of people:
- My customer accounts; I negotiate with them and sell them new services. I strive to meet their needs and deliver sterling quality service. I basically want to make them glad they do business with us.
- My team; these are people that I respect, motivate and train so that they feel at home in our company. I provide them with greater skills so that they can meet our overarching goal of customer satisfaction. Without his people, a branch director is nobody.
- My suppliers; I meet regularly with them to get them interested in new products.
Due to my background, products still interest me, although I devote less and less time to them because I’m busy with my team, our customers and running the branch. I’m fiercely loyal to Sonepar Nord-Est. I’ve essentially spent my whole career in this company, where I’ve been able to grow and develop. Sonepar Nord-Est has always given me new challenges. I’ve been lucky enough to have this opportunity to move ahead and expand my horizons with each new experience.
If my future is in Lorraine, the first thing for me to do is to take charge of the Metz branch where I’ve just started. Maybe some day I’ll have the opportunity to head a whole mini-region for Sonepar Nord-Est. But for now, I’m taking things one day at a time.”
