Mauro Saro, Head of Night Shift
How did you come to your role at Bianchi?
First, I worked during the day for seven years in sales and gained a lot of experience through daily contact with customers. One night, someone was absent and I was asked whether I would like to take over the night shifts.
Until what time does a night shift last?
For us, the recording starts at 6:00 PM. Then the sales team goes home and customers dictate their orders onto the recording. Customers can place orders until 4:00 AM and then receive the goods on the same calendar day.
So you process all these orders that come in at night?
Yes, I write down all these orders, with the disadvantage compared to the day shift that I cannot ask follow-up questions. The more precise the customer’s order, the better. But there are customers who do not order precisely; they might say we should send prawns, as usual. Then I go into the system and try to find out what “as usual” means exactly. Or someone once dictated, “Send me a calf and a cow.” Now it is not clear what exactly I am supposed to send the customer.
A calf and a cow?
Yes, exactly. But I cannot call the customer and ask; they are asleep at night. Then I do some research and, based on their order history, find out what they mean. That sometimes takes time, but it is necessary. Because for us, every mistake is one too many.
Are the orders always repetitive, so that in case of doubt you can refer back to previous orders?
Well, I have been on nights for five years now. You generally get to know the customers and their preferences.
So are there, in a sense, day customers and night customers?
Yes, you could almost put it that way. We have around 250 recorded orders per night and about 250 fax and email orders.
That people still order by fax …
Many small businesses do not have a computer; they order by fax. The problem is that since the beginning of the year, Swisscom no longer guarantees faxes. Or with phone calls, you cannot always understand them perfectly. Emails are better—more precise. If all orders came in by email, that would be best. I think the younger generation is more familiar with emails anyway than the older generation.
The orders hardly all come in in German, do they?
No, of course not; we have customers in all language regions. I speak fluent Italian and French. A few come in in English. That can sometimes be very demanding, as I constantly have to think in a different language.
How long does the night shift last?
From 7:00 PM to 1:00 AM. At 10:00 PM, order processing comes in and first enters the email and fax orders into the system, and at 1:00 AM my 250 orders received by phone are added. I am usually in bed by 2:00 AM and get up around 11:00. That way I still have something of the day.
And what do you do then?
I have a family, two children, 19 and 17. And for a few families where both parents work, I do dog-sitting and take their dogs out.
Or I go swimming or play tennis. Although most people cannot play during the day because they are working, so you do not always find a partner. I like this rhythm; in the past, when the children were still smaller, I saw them more often than a father who works normal daytime hours. I would not want to swap now.
What did you do before you joined Bianchi?
I trained as a chef, and also as a waiter. Then I attended business school and completed business administration training. After that, I worked in the hospitality industry for ten years.
That training practically calls for having your own restaurant.
Yes, that was my original idea, but somehow I was never quite risk-taking enough. And today I would not want that anyway. The working hours are immense; my private life and my family are too important to me.
But all these stages give you a great deal of confidence for your current role: you know how chefs think, how businesses operate, and you know your customers’ day-to-day work from your own experience.
That is certainly true. My goal every night is that we have no complaints the next day.
And does that always work?
Basically yes. And if not, it is resolved immediately.
