I'm delighted to be working for Accor, Saqr Fassi Fehri, SVP Guests and Hotel Services

People no longer book a hotel room in the same way as before, depending on whether they are a Sofitel, Fairmont or Ibis customer. Saqr Fassi Fehri, SVP Guests and Hotel Services, talked about the role of AI in his business, his convictions and his methods for selecting customer experience and BPO service providers in Egypt, Hong Kong and France. During a rewarding lunch.

A few years ago, I met Saqr Fassi Fehri during a report on Kapten. Given his young age, I was impressed by the precision of his answers, his skills and his vision of the challenges of the customer experience and the tools that make it possible. This mobility start-up's customer service was provided in ‘non-voice’ mode, without using the telephone, like Uber. And it worked perfectly.

I wasn't surprised to find him in a major hospitality company, in a strategic position, where he and his team are helping to transform telephone services and the overall customer relations system around the globe. WhatsApp, Egypt and South Africa, Moncton where one of the world's best call-centres in the tourism sector would be located, Foundever, 800 Teleservices, the evaluation of the employee experience, we had and took the time for a complete overview at SO/ Paris, in a place that was well suited to this exercise.

You've only worked in start-ups that have been bought out (including Getaround, whose operational quality has been called into question - listen to the programme on France Inter or read our article).
I'm happy to be working for Accor and in this business. Firstly, because the group has a real identity and culture, and decisions are taken taking into account the teams on the ground who know the business. There are a lot of hoteliers at head office who come from the field. When we plan a transformation or launch a project, they bring their expertise and experience to bear, reminding us of the constraints of the hotel business. When we combine this expertise with the desire to transform, the contribution of technology and the test phases that are always imposed, we have a good chance of success for the projects. Setting up a virtual booking agent may make sense in the budget hotel sector, but not at Fairmont or Sofitel, with customers who expect top-of-the-range service or French-style luxury.
I feel lucky to work alongside such brilliant and committed people. Alix Boulnois (General Manager Business, Digital, Tech), my boss, is an inspiring leader, combining intelligence, efficiency and kindness. Alongside her, Aude Schibi also contributes valuable energy. Working in an environment like this stimulates you and pushes you to excel by giving the best of yourself.
Beyond my day-to-day work, where the customer is at the centre of everything I do, we also want our teams to flourish because, without that, we can't deliver the level of service we expect from our guests. That's why every month we use an anonymous questionnaire to measure how our staff feel about their experience. Our return rate is close to 60%, which is very important. If even the smallest questionnaire about me relates a bad experience, Alix will want to talk to me about it, so that we can exchange ideas and understand. This level of attention to detail, on items such as team commitment, is significant and rewarding.
2,000 employees work in Accor's reservation and contact centres. To take another example, we could mention social responsibility and impact, which have become very important, particularly for young employees.
You can work in a large group and still think about the future and the people around you. That's why we've launched a number of concrete projects that are getting a lot of attention. For example, we launched the Call For Good initiative for our 2,000 contact centre employees, and more specifically for our agents. When they travel abroad, they can make a direct contribution to local communities by filling their luggage with products, clothes or appliances for distribution to local organisations and institutions such as hospitals and orphanages. It was in this context that our agents in the Luxury division raised $1 million to support local communities. If each of us helps five people where we go or around us, we reach 10,000 people.

The right call centre is...

How is Accor's customer relations system organised, particularly by telephone? How do you choose your new partners in this area?
We are starting a partnership with Intelcia in Egypt to serve the growing customer base in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia, and are consolidating our partnership with Foundever by opening two new sites, in Cape Town in South Africa and Malaga in Spain. Above all, I choose cities and destinations that are suited to the markets we want to serve, with the employment pool as my primary consideration. I want us to be the first or to be located where few call-centres are already established, so as to have a rich pool of talent. Then I choose partners who are starting up there or in the country and ready to support us. And I visit the sites. When I walk around the sites, if the manager is able to call most of the agents by their first name, that's a good sign for me and almost essential. It means he knows them personally.

And finally, I don't want call-centres with more than 200 workstations. I prefer to open another one. For example, we chose to start working with Intelcia because their regional director, Nidal Afid, is remarkable, as are the teams, and Karim (Bernoussi) has been very involved.

From experience, I've observed that, in BPO companies, when the founding boss is still there, present in the company, it performs better. The impact of the director and the length of time he has been with the company are key. In Madagascar, for example, where we have started working with Adm Value (by Tessi), Gérald Bouillaud, the site manager, attends every copil, every meeting, without interruption. He's absolutely incredible!

Of all the major players in the market, aren't you working with Concentrix or Teleperformance, the world's number 2 and number 1?
We're reducing the scope of our collaboration with Teleperformance to Lisbon, but I wouldn't rule out working with Eric Dupuy again, on new site openings.
As mentioned, we have precise selection criteria. For Japan, for example, we chose to work with 800 Teleservices, which is a remarkable service provider from Hong Kong. Our desire to be close to the market we serve is strong, and requires players adapted to the culture of our customers.

A story of cultural proximity

Does this extend to the structure of the interview, the words chosen? 
Absolutely. At Sofitel, for example, the brand promise and identity is that of French luxury. We're interested in the quality of the food, in particular with emblems of French gastronomy such as the croissant, and top-of-the-range, comfortable sleep with Sofitel My Bed bedding.

When the call is taken and from the start of the interview, we make sure that the cultural references reflect those of the brand. Whatever the customer's language, the call will begin with an assertive ‘Bonjour’ - and as far as possible the call will be directed to an agent with a French accent to push the ‘French touch’ all the way. On the other hand, at Fairmont, which has a historically North American clientele, conversations will adopt a very warm Anglo-Saxon tone, reminiscent of the ‘welcome home’ that is always the order of the day in Fairmont hotel lobbies.
Our contact centres serve the brands, which have strong and distinct identities. And management is committed to this execution. I've seen Maud Bailly, the General Manager of Sofitel, MGallery and Emblems, come in to listen to calls, encourage the teams and challenge me on compliance with the message and standards. I'm not talking about Moncton, which is probably an exception in itself.

Moncton is home to one of Accor's most efficient in-house call centres in the world.

An interview conducted by Manuel Jacquinet.

The rest of this interview can be found in En Contact magazine #135.