In the Business Première carriage of the TGV Paris-Lyon, a woman follows the hostess in her travels.
She takes notes in a notebook.
This is a specialist in the human sciences who studies the “business gestures” on SNCF trains.
Colombian, Paola Sierra is a doctor in anthropology.
Two years ago, she joined the experience and cognition team, which reports to the innovation department.
Created in 2018, this unit of the SNCF employs atypical profiles, such as a psycho-acoustician, a researcher in cognitive psychology, a designer and two anthropologists.
A feeling of closeness
Why not hire marketers to study customer satisfaction?
“Scientists carry out in-depth work, which is based on both observation and interviews, over a large number of journeys
,” explains Simone Morgagni, semiotics researcher and head of the experience and cognition team.
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With the opening up to competition and the arrival of new entrants such as Trenitalia, whose quality of reception is hailed by travellers, SNCF knows that it must improve the customer experience.
At Thalys, a subsidiary of the group, small crews are dedicated to two or three wagons rather than the whole train - like what is done in Italy.
This creates a feeling of closeness with travelers.
This choice could be extended to other SNCF subsidiaries in the future.