One Thing: Adam Caulfield

12 April 2024

Continuing the series asking hire industry professionals which One Thing would make a significant difference in business, Adam Caulfield, Managing Director of Hire with the Travis Perkins builders’ merchant, highlights how important it is for a business to value its customers…

WE ALL HAVE favourite companies we like to deal with in our personal lives. This is usually based on trust, transparency and feeling valued by them as an individual.

The customers we work with every day, and those who choose to work with us in the future, are no different.

One thing I ask teams to focus on is pairing professionalism with personal connection to build trust in us as a supplier.

This doesn’t just happen overnight and takes work to make sure the individuals interacting with the customer are knowledgeable, understand the customers’ motivations and are bought into giving the best service.

Practical steps could be regular communication on a range of subjects, and asking customers for their feedback.

Skills to make a customer feel valued are not always natural, so investment and training are needed. As an industry, we train well on safety aspects of our operations, but what focus do we give to customer service?

In this fast-paced industry, people do have choices regarding whether they want to partner with you or your company. So keeping your current customers happy – and impressing your new ones – should be your top priority.

Photo: Alan Guthrie