Project-Based Communication with Talkspirit: Le Petit Vapoteur's Story

How do you communicate efficiently when working on projects across multiple sites? That's the challenge solved by Le Petit Vapoteur using Talkspirit since 2017.

Founded in 2012, Le Petit Vapoteur is a French company specializing in the sale of e-cigarettes and e-liquids. Starting out as a simple e-commerce site, Le Petit Vapoteur has grown into a retail network spanning the whole of France.

Key figures:

• 30 stores across France
• 200+ employees, 60% in the field and 40% in the office
• 1 million customers

Matthieu Mercier, Head of Purchasing, Logistics and Transport at Le Petit Vapoteur, looks back on the initial need, Talkspirit's rollout, and the benefits the solution has brought to both field and office teams.

A Need for Internal Communication and Information Sharing

Before implementing Talkspirit, the Purchasing, Logistics and Transport department communicated mainly by email or face to face. But as the company grew, these methods quickly became inadequate.

"We needed a solution to communicate better internally and share information across every department", says Matthieu Mercier. "The primary goal was to be able to quickly notify the logistics team of incoming product shipments, so they could be listed on the website."

Read also: Streamlining Communication Across a Retail Network: PUR etc.'s Story

A Rollout That Spread Across the Entire Company

After benchmarking and testing several solutions — including the French platform Whaller — Le Petit Vapoteur ultimately chose Talkspirit in the summer of 2017.

Initially, the company started using Talkspirit within the Purchasing, Logistics and Transport department. But very quickly, other teams felt the same need for better communication.

Le Petit Vapoteur then decided to roll out the tool across the entire company.

Better Access to Information Through Groups

During the rollout, "we started by creating groups per department. Then we shifted our approach to ensure information flowed across the entire Le Petit Vapoteur network, right down to the stores.

We created around thirty groups, including:

• product news groups
• project groups
• a warehouse group
• a stores group

Read also: 3 Best Practices for Using Groups to Roll Out Your Internal Social Network

When we launch a new product, it's published directly to a dedicated group. The web team then handles listing it on the website and notifying all stores. This workflow, made possible by Talkspirit, is far simpler and more visual than email, and allows information to circulate much faster.

Thanks to Talkspirit, everyone has access to the same level of information, regardless of their role. The tool also gives employees a voice." They can share their views directly in a group chat, or by reacting to a post — from any device.

Read also: Internal Communication: The Multi-Site Company Challenge – Breaking Employee Anonymity

At Le Petit Vapoteur, the mobile app is almost as popular as the desktop version: around 80% of users are active on it each month.

Different Uses in the Field and in the Office

"Usage varies significantly depending on the type of user.

In the field, Talkspirit is primarily used to access information and communicate. Frontline employees participate a little less, as they can't use their phones while working. So they only catch up on Talkspirit once their shift is done.

Read also: Streamlining Information Flow with Talkspirit: Gîtes de France's Story

For office teams, on the other hand, Talkspirit is a genuine work tool. Each department has its own way of using it:

• in HR and accounting, employees mainly use chat
• in other departments, groups and checklists are heavily used for project management (for instance, to collaborate on product testing)"

Project Management on Talkspirit

Project management is heavily used within the commercial team.

"For example: for Euro 2021, we ran a promotional campaign that was entirely planned and coordinated from a dedicated project group on Talkspirit.

The typical steps looked like this:

• The kickoff meeting defined the date, goal, and timeline. For Euro 2021, we decided to run a contest giving away supporter packs for any order over €30.
• Then, we created an event on Talkspirit along with a checklist listing the key tasks, assigned to specific teams:
  • some were tasked with sourcing the supporter pack items (football jerseys, caps…)
  • developers built the contest module
  • the web team promoted the contest via email and social media
  • legal handled the contest rules
  • the design team created the visuals and in-store POS materials
  • etc.
• Every week, the commercial team met with the stores to track task progress.

Between meetings, we shared project updates using the group chat."

Smoother Communication and a Stronger Team Culture

Within just a few months, Talkspirit became an indispensable communication tool for the entire retail network. "We couldn't do without it now", says Matthieu Mercier. And the numbers bear this out: 94% of users log in to the platform every month.

"Since we implemented Talkspirit, our communication flow is much smoother. We collaborate more across departments, which helps us work better together on our cross-functional projects.

Read also: Recap: "Sharing Information Better to Make Better Decisions" Webinar

"Talkspirit has genuinely broken down silos within the company", adds the Head of Purchasing, Logistics and Transport. The tool has also helped strengthen connections between employees, in particular by better bridging the gap between blue-collar (field) and white-collar (office) teams.

Talkspirit's Take on Le Petit Vapoteur

Streamlining internal communication, improving access to information, and building team cohesion are critical challenges when your workforce is spread across multiple locations.

To address these challenges, Le Petit Vapoteur turned to a platform that's easy to use and accessible to every employee — whether they work on the ground or in the office.

Thanks to its rich feature set, Talkspirit meets the specific needs of each department.

Whether exchanging information, collaborating on multi-team projects, or sharing real-time product updates, everyone gets what they need. Le Petit Vapoteur is already looking forward to testing upcoming platform features, including the shared calendar and the project management module.

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Author: Emmanuelle Abensur