SalesSense enrolled 71 staff members in SEAI’s Energy Academy this year. The Academy provided a great opportunity to educate their employees on energy use and energy efficiency in Ireland.

Salessense staff working in their office

SalesSense, with offices in Louth, Kerry and Galway, provides solutions for clients in sales and customer services and work as a partner to several energy providers. The 71 Energy Academy candidates were primarily energy advisors, their team leaders and operations managers, and the members of the training department that support these contracts.

Their roles involve advising customers on all aspects of their energy usage, understanding tariffs, working with smart meters, giving them insight and advice on energy saving tips (e.g. what appliances use what amount of energy).

Results

  • 71

    people enrolled

  • 115

    individual certificates of accreditation

Dave Lowe, Chief Marketing Officer, explains why management specified two programmes for 2020 ‘General Business Energy Efficiency’ and ‘Energy / Environment’.  “We wanted to accelerate our team to a greater shared understanding, and to develop a common language. Based on the success this year we will be inviting our teams in 2021 to choose their own programmes (once they have completed the first two above).”

Positive performance

The employee feedback has been really positive. “Having a deeper understanding of the Energy Market helps our teams to educate our customer. There is huge job satisfaction and pride in making a difference. Carbon footprint is on everyone’s mind, so the Energy Academy modules have helped our teams to take a step forward towards sharing a better understanding,” said Dave.

While making an obvious impact on employees’ performance, the modules are also influencing how SalesSense manages its own energy consumption. “We started with housekeeping in our own facilities – we changed lighting to LED and began managing the air con (timers and temperatures). We focused on lights, photocopiers, machines that were not in use often – ensuring standby modes and switching off when possible,” explains Dave.

“Looking further down the road, we can make a further positive contribution by being an advocate for change, promoting and endorsing sustainable energy.”  

What's next?

For 2021, the company is now looking to its fleet of some 100 vehicles, which are due for renewal in summer 2021. Providing field-based sales and services means staff are often on the road (pre-Covid-19) and SalesSense is aware of this impact on carbon emissions.

Dave volunteered to drive the fleet’s first EV so that he can report back to the fleet manager on its suitability for the company’s needs. A few weeks in and he’s already a fan. “The range is brilliant. One full charge gives me 360km and it has lasted three weeks. Granted I’m driving less due to Covid-19 restrictions, but you can see how this range would be more than enough for the typical driver.” He believes EVs are the way forward for the fleet and “this will be our most tangible contribution”.

“Looking further down the road, we can make a further positive contribution by being an advocate for change, promoting and endorsing sustainable energy.”

Energy Academy

SEAI’s free online resource is designed by experts and gives you access to high quality energy training. Learn how to save energy and grow your business through energy efficiency.

Sign up to the SEAI Energy Academy