Positive news here from Phil Guest: “In the Preston Brook Planning Office we’ve always tried to work on the basis that every Planner should be able to deal with every customer enquiry or order – essential in dealing with the volume of calls we receive.

However, one particular Asphalt customer, Resurf, has proved difficult to please due to the number of jobs they have on at any one time, and the number of amendments that the customer makes to each job both before and during delivery. These multiple amendments were leading to mistakes, which can be very costly on Asphalt, so we’re trialling having one Planner who manages all their orders and amendments, thus keeping much better track of the jobs.

Melissa Whitby is the Planner concerned, and so far has made a big difference in the way this customer is managed…. and it’s not just us who thinks this, it’s the customer too.  Their Order Co-ordinator (and daughter of their MD), Jodie Curphey, says: “There has definitely been a noticeable difference since working alongside Mel. Everything is running a lot smoother. We have both agreed it causes a lot less headaches for both CEMEX and ReSurf dealing with Mel only. I personally think it makes sense having one point of contact. It saves so much time and confusion when placing orders or making amendments – the process just seems a whole lot easier. Thank you Mel.”

Whilst we’ll never have the resource to handle every customer this way, we are looking to see if we could extend this to other key customers with some of the other Planners. If we get the loyalty benefits shown above, it should be BEST for Customers, and Shareholders too.”