ADP Dealer Services International

Vici Programme: 1:1 Language Coaching

French was essential for a senior executive position in Europe for James Mitchell of Hungerford-based ADP, which provides software for the motor trade. Now the Vice President of France and Germany he explains how VICI Language Dynamics has helped transform his career.

Why did you come to VICI?

“I used to speak French, I spent some time at University in France and spent some time living there as a younger man. During my career I have been in and out of Europe. I took over responsibility of the French business last year in the General Manager role; in that job it was important I could speak the local language again.”“So despite the fact I had an okay grounding, albeit 20 years ago I hadn’t really used the language other than on vacation with ’holiday French’ and ’conversational French’. So to actually use it in a business situation was a daunting prospect. I realised I wasn’t going to be able to do the job successfully without being able to communicate well. So I took a refresher course to gain confidence and brush up on the language.”

What did VICI do for you?

“I had a series of 10 lessons one on one, the teacher was a French lady and she very proactively researched subject matter to meet my objectives. I had three main objectives: Firstly I wanted a basic refresher course on French grammar, to re-learn the basics of the language. Secondly I want to learn vocabulary around the subject matter I was going to head towards, i.e. the business environment, the office environment, business terminology like hiring and de-hiring, salaries associates etc, the language you don’t use in normal conversation. Thirdly I wanted to learn terminology associated with the motor trade and specifically software in the motor trade, which is where our products fit. I absolutely achieved these goals. In the first lesson I remember feeling embarrassed to speak French again. The teacher was just fabulous and she put me at ease and didn’t pick me up all the time on silly mistakes, she just encouraged me and made me feel confident to speak the language fluently again.”“Then she blended in a fairly healthy balance of the basics of grammar and vocabulary, the building blocks of language and the more interesting conversation and vocabulary around the motor trade and around the software industry. We did quite a few role play exercises around conversations with staff and conversations that might occur in the office. She did a great job at digging out material whether it was magazines clippings or YouTube content that we could use, watch, discuss and learn from.”

What was the outcome?

“I needed to speak French when I was promoted to the general manager role in France and now a year later I have been promoted to Vice President of France and Germany. I was successful in the French job and success breeds future success.”

Would you recommend VICI?

“I have recommended VICI and some of the staff in ADP have already trained with them and I would recommend Vici service in the future to others.”