Francesco Bevilacqua, FBC Italia Customer Service Manager, retraces in an interview his professional career which in 2012 led him to found FBC Italia, a pioneering utility management company, the only one to guarantee the most profitable and smart management of energy and telecommunications costs . To date it has +450 customers – including BMW Italia Spa, Danone Spa, Sicuritalia Spa, Cremonini Spa Group, KFC, Randstad Italia Spa, Dompe' Farmaceutici Spa, Dsquared2 Spa, Illy Caffe Spa, Synlab Spa – with an extraordinary renewal rate 98% and healthy sales growth. From Banca Mediolanum to the FBC Italia Foundation: for Francesco Bevilacqua the professional fil rouge is always and only one, the "centrality of customer relations"
What is the motivation that prompted you to leave Banca Mediolanum and launch yourself into the world of utilities by founding a company that in just a few years has become a leader in business consultancy for the management of utilities?
Perhaps unconsciousness (ed. laughs)! I lived some extraordinary years in Mediolanum thanks to masters such as Oscar di Montigny (ed. Chief Innovation, Sustainability & Value Strategy Officer of Banca Mediolanum and President of Flowe), who was my direct boss, and who I still consider a source of inspiration. In the 4 years with him, I experienced the "centrality of customer relations", I refined some soft skills, including empathy, which later proved to be fundamental in the development of my career up to founding FBC Italia. Leaving the "permanent position" in one of the largest Italian banks was not a decision taken lightly, as you can imagine (moreover, I also had to face the fears of my parents!). The central figure in this "jump" was my brother (ed. Federico Bevilacqua, Founder and Head Of development of FBC Italia), who had been working in the utility management sector for some time and, let's put it this way, showed me a development projection or better to say a dream in which, perhaps thanks to my training, I saw my place in it.
Bet heavily on the preparation and certification of skills. How important was it to you and how necessary is it to work in your team?
First of all, I tell you that training has been central to my career both as a person and as a professional, starting with my degree in Digital Communication from the Milan State University which allowed me to arrive at Mediolanum and closely follow the launch of MCU Mediolanum Corporate University. The General Manager of the project at the time was Oscar di Montigny, as I said, and I consider myself lucky to have taken part in the launch, sharing its mission which was to become the reference institution for financial education for members of the Community Mediolanum. We were revolutionizing the financial sector through a training project that would have led to the birth of a new figure, that of the Family Banker, a professional trained ad hoc with technical skills but also with soft skills. I felt that “revolutionary” mission very much mine, it shaped me to the point that then, in the new entrepreneurial adventure, with the partners, we put it right at the center of the development of all departments. Thanks to the extraordinary work that the whole team has done over the years, we have managed to sit down at the institutional tables and get the first standard in Italy approved which indicates a training course for working with dignity also in the utilities sector.
The utilities sector… concretely, when your child asks you what you do, what do you answer?
My children are still small and so I happened to simplify to the extreme by saying: do you see the light bulb that lights up the room? I make sure that light always comes easily to everyone who uses it to work. And I make sure that everyone also has internet and a telephone to be able to communicate with colleagues, checking that expenses are correct and that there is no waste. In truth, even the 7 precious resources that make up the assistance team that I lead at FBC Italia find themselves simplifying the complex language made up of bureaucratic and technical terms, typical of the contract, not to mention all the components found in the details of the invoices – with the aim of making communications with customers increasingly effective.
And if instead it's an entrepreneur, asking you how you bring added value, savings. What do you answer?
I say that for ten years FBC Italia, therefore with experience and professionalism, has been supporting companies in the difficult and complex management of electricity, gas, telephony and connectivity utilities. It does this through advanced tools and certified skills that purchasing managers – or those who are given the task of dealing with the supply of utilities in the company – hardly possess in depth because they are concentrated in activities specific to their business. I don't like talking about savings because I think that "savings" are not a goal, but a natural consequence of our way of working: we carefully manage the contracts and invoices of the operators and therefore we work on costs, therefore it is easy for our work to bring an economic benefit but I prefer to underline the importance, the added value, of having a team of professionals at your side who constantly monitor business expenses and not in their spare time.
Let's talk about your team, what are the skills you prefer in your resources? How much technology expertise is required to manage the workflow?
The team of my department is made up of 7 employees who, every day, take care of the needs of our customers, expressed in tickets. When I do interviews, my favorite skill is undoubtedly the ability to pay attention and actively listen to the client because it is important to immediately understand who the interlocutor is, to empathize and create a strong relationship. We play a central role in our ecosystem, the operational and service delivery part is the flagship of our company. And for this reason, another quality I look for is that of responsibility: especially in critical moments we must have the necessary skills to transform criticalities into opportunities and find solutions capable of strengthening the relationship, reassuring the customer and demonstrating that we always have everything under control. As far as technological expertise is concerned, I can confirm that it is strategic for managing the operational flow: we process a lot of our customers' data starting from consumption data, both in the energy and telecommunications fields; fundamental data that allow us to carry out analyzes and that direct optimization interventions, sometimes economic ones. Our customer care model is supported by proprietary software and vertical training for the development of appropriate reporting and billing control.
What advice would you give to a young guy who wants to join your team?
I have no particular advice other than to strongly believe, as I did, in the company's project and mission because the customer care team is the beating heart of the entire commercial apparatus. If you like teamwork, the environment is the right one to find motivation and be able to achieve great goals; the management of the more or less complicated "tickets" leads to great benefits for the customers and then receiving their gratitude, I think is the most significant thing in the daily work.
In addition to private companies, could public administrations also benefit from a partner like FBC Italia? And how would the after-sales service benefit them too?
Absolutely yes. Our consultancy originates precisely in supporting complex companies, which have multiple consistencies (multi-sites) in terms of withdrawal points if we are talking about Electricity and/or Gas or the number of fixed and/or mobile telephone lines. Managing utilities requires updating and often, even in public administrations, you don't have the tools, skills and time necessary to have everything under control without wasting too much time.
If you had to quantify the savings of a customer for whom you provide assistance in hours, what number would you give me and give me an example on an annual basis?
A customer care service like that of FBC Italia has a multifaceted positive impact on the companies we follow. For example, I can tell you that thanks to our complete package, on average, our customers save 3 to 5 working days a month. Put simply, we safeguard an employee's time, relieving him of the typical annoyances of managing electricity, gas, telephony and connectivity utilities. Therefore a saving of working hours that are dedicated to other more productive activities related to one's job. I would add that purchasing managers, or human resources, who have the role of dealing with utilities within a company, often do not have the tools, skills and time necessary to have everything under control and make them more efficient. Furthermore, there are at least two variables to take into account and which require immediate intervention actions by a specialized assistance team like mine that does this job: on the one hand, the constantly changing trend of the market and technological advancement and on the On the other hand, the companies themselves, which evolve over the years, developing different needs. Therefore attention to these cost guidelines cannot be occasional but must be continuous. In this way we are able to provide a decidedly strategic service with strong added value.
Assistance and management of critical issues in the field of telecommunications and energy utilities: what type of interventions are on the agenda?
Ultimately we take care of managing the hassles on behalf of the customers (ed. laughs!). Requests for assistance in the Energy/Gas sectors are categorized in these areas: Renegotiation (of contractual conditions), Invoicing and Complaints (cost verification, monitoring of consumption, management of complaints towards the operator which we then follow up until re-credit), Meter Management (request to install a new meter, terminations, withdrawal from an offer, transfer to a new supplier, transfers, increase in power), Customer Master Data (updating company data such as the change of Iban). In the telecommunications sector, we catalog tickets in these areas: Renegotiation (of contractual conditions), Invoicing and Complaints (cost verification, consumption monitoring, management of complaints towards the operator which we then follow up to the re-credit, management of disservices or breakdowns on the lines ), line operations (request for a new line or termination, replacement of equipment, takeover, move, SIM or tariff profile change or the activation/deactivation of an option, often for abroad due to travel not recurring but occasional), Customer Master Data (updating company data such as changing the Iban). Obviously, at the base of this operational flow, all the recurring activities must be added, such as ad hoc reports on cost and consumption trends, billing control, forwarding of forecast reports and billing control.
Can you tell us 3 aspects that an operator should put into practice to facilitate the use of customer assistance services?
To simplify I tell you: the "response times" from taking charge to the resolution of the ticket; the "competence" in understanding the problem; the "tools" to support those who, like us, take care of maintaining the high quality of the services offered by the operators themselves.
What is the positive impact that quality customer service has on the administrative / purchasing department of a company that subscribes to your service?
I think the most positive impact is the continuous control of costs and having the knowledge that everything is really under control. To this we also add a simple system for recovering data (even of a simple invoice) relating to company costs and consumption. Finally, the possibility of having expenditure forecasts on one's own utilities.
How has the companies' approach to "utility management" changed after the pandemic and the conflict? Have you noticed a new sensibility and what priorities should they focus on to really reach the heads and hearts of people, of their customers?
The approach has undoubtedly changed, or rather the awareness of entrepreneurs of the importance of controlling costs relating to utilities: a cost center which, they have understood, must be followed in a professional manner by certified consultants who do this "from the morning in the evening” following the market and the changes in the companies themselves. Today it is easier to talk about our service. Many companies were burned by what happened – first with the pandemic, then with the directives on the energy transition that had raised the cost of raw materials and finally with the conflict – because they had neither the time nor the skills to manage aware of the changes.
What about your customers instead? What was their reaction to last year's geopolitical instability?
The years we have gone through have been really complex, whatever the point of view, but the effort of the darkest moments has always been repaid by the positive feedback of our customers who have recognized the importance of the choice, previously made, to rely on we. Some asked for a few more forecasts but everyone felt safe because we worked tirelessly to manage and optimize their expenses as much as possible, always responding to their current concerns. Thanks to these results and the dissemination work we do, new customers have arrived and a month ago we have also moved to larger offices, expanding our staff.
