A day in the life of a Customer Services Manager in the logistics industry
When you think about the role a Customer Services Manager may fulfil you probably don’t immediately think they will be booking police escorts. But working in customer services in the logistics industry is different! Ailidh Young, one of our Customer Services Manager’s, tell us more.
Where do you work?
I am part of the ARR Craib team in Dyce, which is just north of Aberdeen. ARR Craib is one of the three Scottish brands that is part of Gregory Group.
What does the role of Customer Services Manager involve?
I am the first point of contact for our customers. They might contact me to book transport for a delivery or they might want to talk about their strategic plan for renewable fuels. Between the five of us in the Customer Services team, we manage all aspects of the customer relationship.
What do you do on a day-to-day basis?
That is the joy of my role – no two days are the same. We have a very diverse customer base which means one day I could be organising transport for millions of beer cans and the next I might be organising a police escort for a wide load.
How did you end up in this role?
I have always worked in customer facing roles and before Gregory Group I worked in the food & drinks sector. After 10 years I was ready for a change. A friend shared the job advert with me and the rest is history! I enjoyed learning a new industry. While the logistics and food & drink industries are equally fast paced, I had to learn a lot about lorries!
What skills do you need for this role?
You must be adaptable and respond quickly. We support a wide range of customers, each of which have different needs. For example, our food & drink customers are constantly producing goods and customers expect these to be delivered quickly. But the volumes are always fluctuating and various external factors, such as the weather, impact customer demand. Therefore, to deliver the products, we often have to react very quickly, thinking on our feet, sourcing additional vehicles when they have volume peaks and flexing down when they don’t.
Then we have our oil and gas customers who require the same level of responsiveness but for different reasons. We help them mobilise vessels to sail to offshore rigs and often these are very last minute (usually due to an urgent need for a part). So, for these customers it is all guns blazing, with us sometimes having to get everything to port within a few hours. And that could be day or night!
So, the ability to spin lots of plates is absolutely essential!
What keeps you coming to work each day?
I love being able to help our customers achieve what they need. But I’d say the number one reason that I enjoy my job is my team. We are a small team that gets on amazingly well. We all take great pride in helping our customers and that shared passion definitely brings us together. That camaraderie makes the busy and challenging days so much easier.
What do you know now that you wish you knew earlier in your career?
It’s OK to make mistakes and OK to ask for help. It is how you learn, and you always have people there to support you.
I’d also encourage my younger self to share my opinion more. It’s good to get your voice heard because you may bring a fresh idea, or a better way of doing things, to the table.
What advice would you give to someone considering this role as a career?
In any customer service role, lean on your team for support. You all work together and everyone’s role impacts the other. Teamwork is unquestionably the key to success.
What did you want to be when you were a child?
I wanted to be an actor. Which is why I spent many years on the stage, performing various musical productions with Aberdeen’s Youth Music Theatre. My love of singing continues today, and you’ll often hear me singing something in the office!