Road trip: Up-skilling our service
“It’s helpful to see how the work of our consultants out in the field affects the team in the office – and how we can make the whole operation work better and easier for everyone.”
There are many companies content to let their service and support teams sit quietly on the sidelines. We think it’s valuable that team members have a wider awareness of the work being put in.
That’s why a recent trip by Abby out to see the other side of our operations was so important. It gave her a chance to meet some key customers, to see their operations up close, and to gain greater details on the efforts of our consultant team.
Abby joined Matt on the Auckland trip, visiting a wide range of operators, and putting many faces to the names of those she often talks with or emails daily. They covered a lot of ground.
“We visited dairy company Yashili, Foodstuffs Landing Drive DC, and three Mainfreight warehouses: Westney Road, O’Rorke Rd and Railway Road,” she says. “There was also a visit to HJ Lokerse, which is a service agent for our wrappers.”
“We also went on a bit of a tour around the areas where many of our customers are located, which helped me get a clear picture of their headquarters when I am speaking with them,” she says.
Abby was impressed by the size and scale of these distribution centres.
John from Foodstuffs Landing Drive with Abby.
Gloria from Yashili Dairy with Abby.
“Coming from our little office in Palmerston North, I was shocked how much larger these places are, and I never realised how close many businesses we supply are to each other.”
The day was also beneficial in providing Abby with a wider perspective on the business as a whole.
“It’s helpful to see how the work of our consultants out in the field affects the team in the office – and how we can make the whole operation work better and easier for everyone,” she says. “Matt provided a huge amount of detailed information.”
For Abby the best part of the day was being able to see how the operations worked and, in doing so, make connections with those she had previously often seen only as an email signature.
“It’s nice to put a face to the name, to get to know them (the clients) and what they do a bit better,” she says.
