RS Industrial Servic Customer Ca
(My thanks to Mark Charlton, Trade Counter Branch Manager of RS Industrial Supplies, who had the task being interviewed.)
ToolBusiness: Can you give the readers a brief introduction to the business and any recent changes that have a bearing on how you now operate the business? Mark Charlton: The business was established in 2001 as RS Crane & Material Handling, providing customers with all the services associated with overhead crane maintenance and repair and the supply of lifting and handing equipment. The business quickly grew and was relocated to new 4 acre site in Billingham, In order to maintain its competitive edge, we decided to add a further divisions to our business, to provide our customers with additional services. This larger company therefore changed its name to RS Industrial Services Ltd. This company will now provide customers with a full range of Engineering & Industrial Supplies from our two trade counters in the North East of England. In March 2012, to accommodate further growth, RS Industrial decided to open
a new branch in Gateshead and purchased a large premises that also incorporates a very lively trade counter. This has been an exciting development and will open its doors on the 3rd December 2012. The Gateshead branch is located on the biggest trading estate in the North
East of England. With over 3,500 separate companies based on the estate so there is a huge customer base just as neighbours. But there is also the extra benefit of passing trade, so the customer base is potentially even greater. The Gateshead branch will sell every kind of engineering products from hand tools to power tools like Bosch, Stanley and Metabo, and Personal Protective Equipment from leading brands like Snickers, Dickies for, work wear and a lot more besides.
ToolBusiness: How do you recruit, train and retain staff and how important do you think they are to your business and to the customer experience at RS Industrial? Mark Charlton:We can't afford not to recruit and train the best staff possible. – the company is losing money for every minute that staff do not have the chance to improve their skills and productivity. We are keen to give our staff the skills to succeed and therefore give all our customers an experience that will make them want to return to our shops time after time. We provide all our staff with the opportunities to attend in-house skills and product training at our in-house training department at Billingham.
ToolBusiness: That is very emphatic Mark, and is very much in line with modern thinking that the staff are a hugely important asset in a company that relies on one- to-one relationships with customers, whether they are in the shop, on the phone or online. Next question though, who makes stocking decisions and how important is stock control? How important are IT systems in controlling stock. Mark Charlton:We currently hold about half a million Pounds worth of stock across our two branches, and this is controlled by our new upgraded computer system. This system helps us control our stock levels, orders and re-orders and suppliers. Modern IT helps us have a system that is easy to access. This means that all relevant staff have easy access to key information so we are able to ensure that customers get what they want and we can manage our stock levels at the touch of a keyboard. Our high-visibility well-stocked store provides, customer with a strong
message that product is indeed available locally now, and if not now, very soon. We are currently developing our web site with a new launch in early 2013. This
website will allow customers the added facilities to view our product range and our click and collect service. The new website will also allow customers to search by product code and to go to checkout when they wish to purchase.
Reply No. 207 16 ToolBUSINESS+HIRE
www.toolbusiness.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36