WHALE EXPANDS SERVICE TEAM TO ENHANCE CUSTOMER FOCUS

Whale Tankers has expanded and restructured its service department as part of a drive to deliver a complete customer focused offering.

Leading the business side of the team is Phil Greenfield, Service Business Manager. Phil is a recent appointment for Whale, having previously spent 19 years in the service department with commercial vehicle specialist Listers.

Andy McFarlane continues to head up the technical element as Service Manager which includes coordination of Whale’s 17 field engineers operating the length and breadth of the UK and providing service support to customers.

Phil said: “We’ve created what we believe to be the best tanker service offering in the UK today. Our aim first and foremost is to give excellent service involving a quality and speedy turnaround for the operator. This in turn will ensure maximum uptime on all of our customers’ vehicles.

“Among the services we can provide are technical and electronic servicing and support as well as specialist repairs such as welding. Speed of turnaround on repairs and service is critical and making sure customers’ vehicles get back on the road as soon as possible to avoid any costly downtime is one of our main goals. We believe our new structure and method of operation will deliver this and more.”

Whale’s service team is made up of 43 staff and in addition to the engineers out on the road, there are 13 workshop based engineers which operate under the guidance of Workshop Manager, Stuart Clarke. In house technical support and an administrative team of eight complete the team.

Andy McFarlane said: “In many cases our technicians can talk through a problem with a customer and solve the problem over the phone – providing quick and easy solutions is what we are all about.

“Our service effort is extremely pro-active and involves regular communication with the customer to keep them advised of when their vehicles are due for service and when any required work will be completed, thereby helping them to manage their fleets accordingly.”

In addition to the technical back-up provision, Whale’s service team has a dedicated Finance Manager in the form of Jo Haden-Thompson, who joined in November 2017.

Phil Greenfield added: “Transport managers are very busy people and as well as making sure their vehicles are in top condition and out there earning money for their businesses, having our own service finance function is a real benefit for them. Jo can assist them with any monetary matters from quotations to invoicing and sorting any issues they may have, ‘completing the circle’ of our service offering.”