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La Chaux-de-Fonds, advantage 1: we speak Portuguese
La Chaux-de-Fonds, with a population of around 40,000, is situated just 17 kilometres from the French border and is renowned for its watch production. Sandra Baptista, shop manager since 2019, and Marco Lampreia, a shop agent who’s been with Sunrise since 2015, have good reason to laugh. «People know all about our Sunrise shop in La Chaux-de-Fonds; the Portuguese in particular love us,» they agree. They both have Portuguese heritage and speak the language, which really helps them make sales. The watch industry has long attracted workers from Portugal to the area. Especially when they first arrive and need a plan quickly, it’s a real advantage to be able to communicate with them in Portuguese. «Word-of-mouth advertising helps us,» Sandra is happy to report. «Portuguese immigrants come straight to our shop because they know that we speak their language and offer a good service.» It’s no wonder they were among the top sellers in 2022 and 2023.
La Chaux-de-Fonds, advantage 2: we’re the cable monopolist
They’ve got another advantage in La Chaux-de-Fonds. «We’re a «cable town». Salt sends cable customers directly to us,» says Marco. Sandra laughs, adding, «We’re the cable monopolist!»
Challenges in Conthey – same targets for everyone
Conthey is located in Valais, not far from Sion. Stéphane Pêra, Sunrise shop manager in Conthey, has been with Sunrise for 15 years. Four employees work with him in the shop. The store is in a shopping centre, which also contains competitors Swisscom and Salt. In this region, the employees have to go to great lengths to win and retain new customers due to various factors, including sparse fibre-optic coverage, a lack of cable expansion, other Sunrise branches in Sion and Martigny and a rather reserved customer base in Valais.
However, the targets for Conthey are the same as for the shops in the rest of Switzerland. According to Stéphane, the level of effort required to achieve these targets is «more difficult in this remote region».
When asked what measures they adopt to reach and retain customers, Stéphane says: «We build a relationship of trust and provide a high-quality service to give us an edge. We also make a lot of phone calls using our personal customer records.» For example, they call customers before their plan expires or ahead of other deadlines and try to maintain direct contact with them. This is a worthwhile task, but it requires a great deal of effort and patience.
St. Margrethen – remote, but not distant
St. Margrethen in the Rheinpark shopping centre is the most northerly Sunrise shop in Switzerland, right on the border with Austria. Sevinc Vedat is himself a native of Vorarlberg. He’s been with Sunrise since 2013 and has been shop manager since December 2017. Two agents and an apprentice complete the team. When asked whether he feels «far away» from the company’s headquarters because of the shop’s location, he says, «No, actually quite close – Zurich is only 100 km away!» He also really appreciates the work of the RSM (Regional Sales Manager) and RSPM (Regional Sales Performance Manager), who are aware of the issues and needs at their shop and stand up for them at headquarters. «We’re heard,» he says. And Vedat appreciates that.
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