Let us take a moment to introduce to you Mickaël, our Marketplace Director. Mickaël joined Checkatrade in October 2023 and has been building a brand-new team focused in increasing our marketplace capability. This is an exciting pivot, crucial for our scale up, and will see us shifting our focus from simply operating as a lead generation platform to true value generation across both sides of our marketplace. We caught up with Mickaël to get his thoughts on how to get there……….
Firstly, tell us more about your team? What do they do?
The Marketplace team ensures the platform works well for both consumers and tradespeople. For consumers, it’s about getting work done safely, at a fair price, and efficiently. For trades, it’s about running their businesses successfully on the platform. At a high level, to build such a Marketplace, you need to:
- Have sufficient trades and consumers in all categories and regions, with sufficient liquidity so we can find the best matches for each party
- Ensure each step of a project is smooth and efficient, leveraging new technologies along the way
- Build an environment of trust for customers, trades and the platform, where everyone feels safe to get work done
- A good Marketplace Manager is a generalist, comfortable with ambiguity, data-driven but also customer-focused, able to simplify complexity, and has the resilience to drive continuous improvement
Which departments do you and the team work in collaboration with?
We work with most departments, from customer-facing teams to tech and leadership, ensuring alignment across the board as we manage various commercial decisions.
The marketplace landscape, what are the trends and opportunities?
Marketplaces started with physical products (e.g., Amazon), but services are harder to standardize due to their complexity (e.g., renovating a bathroom). New advancements in machine learning are exciting, allowing us to better customize services for individual needs. We aim to be leaders in this digital transformation within the home improvement space.
What obstacles have you faced and how did you overcome these?
I’ve been fortunate in life, which has helped me face challenges with a positive mindset: I see obstacles as learning opportunities. At Checkatrade, we face the challenge of transforming a traditional business into a leading digital marketplace in an industry facing a skills shortage, rising costs, and the need for housing renovations to address the climate crisis.
There are great opportunities for creative problem solvers to tackle these complex issues. How do you stay ahead of the curve?
I follow the 70:20:10 learning model:
70% from tackling new challenges
20% from collaboration and networking
10% from formal learning (courses, reading)
This approach keeps me constantly learning and pushing beyond my comfort zone, which I encourage in my team as well.
And finally, we really like to get to know our people, so what is your favourite film and why?
I enjoy Christopher Nolan’s films, like Inception, The Prestige, and Memento. I appreciate the unique, puzzle-like structure of his movies, which stay with you and provoke thought long after watching.
Congratulation to you Mickaël on your success so far! We look forward to seeing what is next!