Daikin | Belux Follow the sun

It was a commercial triumph. One of those successes that could take the group to new places. And a hard-won victory for the Belux teams. Go behind the scenes of the new Daikin contract with Econocom Stories.

2011 marked the start of the collaboration between Econocom and the Japanese heat pump and air-conditioning giant. That year planted the seeds for a working relationship that would grow over the years and become crucial later. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves… « We knew that our contract with Daikin would run out in 2022. So we had two years to get ourselves together and prepare for what would happen next, » explains Econocom Belux sales agent Joris Verhaeghe. That meant understanding the manufacturer’s strategic plan (Fusion 2025), identifying ways to optimize our longstanding collaboration and respecting the client’s philosophy, which can be summarized in one word from the Land of the Rising Sun: Kaizen. A portmanteau of two words, ‘kai’ (change) and ‘zen’ (better), it can be translated into English as ‘continuous improvement’.

« When we were preparing for the contract to go out to competition, we soon realized that Daikin, which was experiencing strong growth, would prioritize high quality and not necessarily pricing, a strategic issue, » Joris Verhaeghe continues. Econocom Unit Manager Ronny Sonck adds: « We were in a real race against time: gaining quick and effective feedback to learn from past mistakes and increase our quality of service even before the previous contract ended. »

Avoiding competition

We’re in the last quarter of 2022 and Econocom’s Belux teams are working overdrive to avoid a call for tender. The addition of a UK consultancy company will be crucial. Their consultants’ role will be to get the Econocom and Daikin teams around the table to check that both our philosophy and objectives are fully aligned. The conclusion: tendering isn’t an option for the Japanese manufacturer. The second variable is the strong relationship between the Belux and Daikin teams since 2011. The then junior teams have risen up to senior positions in 2022… « We found an agreement in two months, working on a contract in November that was signed in December. We had a motto that guided us throughout the negotiations: ‘keep pace & place’. Rather than running the negotiations from the consultancy company’s head office in London or from Daikin, all the working meetings were held at Econocom Belux, » Joris Verhaeghe continues. The third variable — the most important according to the people we spoke to — was the collective approach to the response: « Finding suppliers equal to the contract’s international scope and launching our innovation processes as well as the project governance demanded unfailing commitment from every member of the dedicated team, » raves Ronny Sonck.

An integrated group approach

Our new collaboration with the heat pump and air-conditioning leader is established for the next six years, an exceptional timeframe given that the maximum length of that contract type is typically five years. Econocom will join forces with Daikin across the entire EMEA zone, from Norway to South Africa, Portugal and Turkey, with one aim in sight: to ‘follow the sun’ to maintain continuity of service in all areas of operations. Finally, and this is new, Econocom will bring Daikin expertise in Products & Services, Management Services as well as TMF.

That integrated approach appeals to the Japanese giant. And as Joris Verhaeghe stresses, « we’re also responsible for the IT integration of the group’s future acquisitions. » It’s a fantastic coalition that has been painstakingly built over the last decade or so, and a triumph that will go down in the group’s history.