Success Stories - Mike's Story
A small company that’s big on values
“We started the company some 26 years ago, combining our technical know-how with our passion for customer service. We are still a small company – with a close-knit team of 8 people – and our customers see that as a plus. It’s not just about wages for the team here; we all have the same values and attitudes and we’re more motivated by dealing with people. We are very much part of a rural community, and most of our customers, by implication, are too. The attitude to life is different somehow. Our customers tell us that they would much rather deal with a small company. We have the potential to grow – we’re looking at having another tanker in a year or two – and we’re constantly fine tuning our deliveries to ensure that customers get the best service, but if we get to the stage where we have huge management sections and an H.R department, we’ve know we’ve lost the plot!There’s a real person at the end of the phone
We don’t use call centres; our customers tell us they don’t want to speak to some faceless person at the end of the phone, or have to ‘dial 1 for this, and 2 for that….’. One of our strengths is that our customers speak to a regular person on the phone, someone they can get to know, who is considerate, who will listen, and who understands their needs. Our customers want an answer there and then, and as much as we can we do that for them.It’s more than just a job...
Delivering gas to customers is a simple enough job: they connect the hose, put the gas in the tank, sign the ticket, take the money and drive away – and that’s it. Anyone could do it. But if customers are connecting with someone who is happy and confident with what they’re doing, they build up a trust and rapport which is so important in a long term customer relationship. And not everyone has the skill to do that. But that’s what we aim to do.I think of BDS as a small, very friendly company. I know most of them only on the phone, apart from the manager, Brian. He’s been up here and sorted out a couple of things for me. He is very personable, but then everyone’s friendly round here in Cumbria – I can say that even though I’ve lived most of my life in the South! What I like about all the staff at BDS is that they constantly excel – I know that if I have any problems I can rely on them to sort it out as quickly as possible. I don’t think they could improve on the service – maybe the price but not the service! But I appreciate that every person has to make enough profit to make a living.
I lost a customer...once...
I’d like to think that customers see us in a good light, we look after them and we try hard to work together – and we must be doing something right... we don’t generally lose customers. I did lose one once – he went to a competitor for a short while, but now he’s come back – fortunately!We have a sign on the office wall that says: ‘If we lose a customer on price, and price alone, we’ll get them back on price and price alone. If we lose a customer on service, someone gets their bum kicked!’ I think that’s a good philosophy!”
