We spoke to Mathieu Meulenaere from the Blanchon Group. He is the business unit manager for the Benelux and responsible for everything related to sales in the Benelux for professionals and dealers. Mathieu starts the interview with some surprising news. Ciranova had already been incorporated into the French Blanchon Group, but now it appears that the Dutch company Rigo Verffabriek has also joined the group.

Learning from each other
‘That takeover by Blanchon didn’t surprise me,’ he says at the start of our interview. ‘Blanchon only takes over businesses which fit in with the company’s know-how and is always looking for new recruits to open up certain markets. Now the Dutch market has opened up, whereby the addition of Rigo and their brands creates a very good spread.’
Obviously, we want primarily to discuss Ciranova’s approach to education and training.

‘We employ technical trainers, who provide training courses both in house and on location. We also pay a lot of attention to supporting sites, something which is equally attractive for us as for parquet traders. From our side we support parquet traders and help them, but in addition we also learn from professionals. It’s about an interaction whereby we are there to arrive at the best possible solution and get the best result. We, too, learn from interaction and absorb those experiences into our knowledge.’

Entering into dialogue
Central with all our brands is that we enter into dialogue with all our clients and look for possibilities to provide joint customised training. The Ciranova Academy plays a crucial part in that.
‘The Academy is housed in a specially constructed building. We have deliberately chosen the word Academy because it is a broad concept. Not only can you update your knowledge, but also you can come along for a full training course from scratch. The Academy is also often a meeting place.’

‘About 70% of the training courses take place in house. We can identify five distinct groups. The first group comprises invited professionals whom we try to inspire with new or existing products. Then there are dealers from our client database. Obviously, they aren’t experts and we treat them differently with technical and commercial training which is broader. Third in line are architects, interior architects, and the purchasing market in all its facets. They receive training which is mainly about the technical aspects and the DNA of a product. We also take them to our own showroom where we can inspire them and answer any questions in more depth. The fourth group comprises industrial clients. These are people who make parquet and fit a finish onto a raw plank. In our Academy they encounter a Technical Area where they see machines which they can find in their market and which we can use to make and simulate any type of parquet. The fifth group is diverse. This can be a school, but can equally be a professional association or even a novice professional.’

Lured by the Technical Area
In Roeselare they have noted that clients from the Benelux are flowing in. That applies equally to international clients, who are lured mainly by the Technical Area.

‘We involved the Academy in October 2019, when we were ready to invite all clients at Domotex. Then, the pandemic broke out. Thankfully, we’ve been able to start it up after a two-year delay and we’ve been working already with smaller groups for a few months. What we’re now seeing is that there is a big need for such an initiative.’

Finally, we’d like more clarification about their approach ‘in the field’. Mathieu Meulenaere explains: ‘We go on location in about 30% of cases. For that purpose we have dedicated technicians, some of whom specialise in parquet production. In addition, we also have people who set up and supervise sites. On the site, if necessary, we provide training or site assistance and, if clients so wish, we can also provide information sessions on their premises.’

‘It’s important to remember that here at Ciranova we aim mainly to make a difference with our technical expertise. A product has to look nice, but that’s not all. You need to use and fit products properly. It always comes down to the same reflex: What do clients need and how do they benefit?’