Auvergne Automatismes was founded in 1999 by Jean Philippe Mioche. The company installs and maintains exterior joinery for the home and industry (windows, garage doors, entrance doors, roller shutters, pergolas, fencing and motorization, automatic gates, etc.). Murielle Mioche joined her husband after working for some time in technical sales, also in the home (kitchens, closets, etc.).
When he passed away in 2002, with the support and encouragement of the company’s team, she decided to continue the adventure.

I’ve always been very interested in technical products, and I’ve learned a lot alongside my husband, by going out into the field and taking an interest in products. What’s more, all our suppliers are manufacturers of their own products, so they know them inside out and can guarantee their quality.

Muriel Mioche

Valuable customer relations

Today, the company’s activities are divided between industry (10%) and private customers (90%). For Murielle Mioche, it’s a real choice because the relationship is completely different.

Small team, strong cohesion

Auvergne Automatismes currently employs 8 people, and every decision to hire someone has to be carefully considered. Passing the 10-employee mark would require an additional sales person to create a third team, which would put a lot of pressure on the company and the team.

And for Murielle Mioche, the team is a precious resource, and she says she’s very well surrounded. “A company isn’t just about the entrepreneur, it’s about the whole team. And for the past 5 years, it’s been a real joy. The employees are all good people. Most of them self-taught, they’re always in learning mode, very committed. As soon as they’ve mastered one thing, they move on to another. “

And it was with this same philosophy that she recruited Bruno, the latest addition to the team.

Risk-mitigating devices

Bruno is a former customer of ours. We talked a lot, got on very well and, one thing leading to another, he told us he was looking for a job. As part of an agreement with France Travail, we offered him an immersion internship so that we could test each other, and the test was conclusive. We then decided to create a new, multi-skilled position, which also fitted in well with his previous career.

Bruno is 54 years old, so in the professional world he’s considered a senior citizen.

Bruno has joined a team with an average age of around forty, which has also just welcomed a young student. For Murielle Mioche, who attaches great importance to team cohesion, the golden rule is communication: communicating a lot, analyzing together situations where things haven’t worked out as planned, imagining, always together, how to do things differently, testing, evaluating, ….

What about the future?

We need to keep making progress, both in terms of sales and customer satisfaction. Murielle Mioche belongs to a national network called “Les sécuristes de France”. First and foremost a purchasing group, but also a network of companies of comparable size – peers, in short – with whom she can discuss current issues and problems. Murielle is also thinking about passing on the business. Hugo, her son, joined the company in 2015. But she’s not yet totally convinced that handing over the company to him is really a gift.