If you’ve read Jonty’s story, you’ll know he joined Piroto in 2021 as a customer service apprentice and hasn’t looked back! Roll on to 2025 and this is the story of his first big promotion with a move into the sales team.
Three months in and Jonty is loving his new role as Customer Account Manager. He admits that it’s a massive change, from a largely procedure driven role to having to manage his own time and priorities. With the help of Commercial Manager Kris Lines, Jonty has been watching and learning what building a great customer relationship looks like.
Joint customer visits: watching and learning
Jonty said ‘What I’ve noticed most on joint customer visits with Kris is his genuine interest in our customers’ businesses’. It’s fair to say that, although Jonty is now part of Piroto’s ‘Sales Team’, their approach could not be further from the traditional notion of ‘sales’. Furthermore, Jonty’s background in customer service feeds seamlessly into the consultative and collaborative approach that exemplifies the sales Piroto team.
Solo customer visits: in at the deep end!
As Jonty has taken on the management of his own accounts he has grown in confidence. With a natural desire to help and a canny ability to problem solve, Jonty is quickly gaining customers’ respect.
‘Each customer has different requirements, so the job is very varied’ Jonty explained. For example, one long standing food customer has limited space for storing their pack front labels, so accurate stock control is extremely important. ‘The customer needed a straightforward process for ensuring label stocks never ran low’ he went on to say. Back at the office, Jonty worked with a colleague to develop a ‘portal’ that kept track of label deliveries and usage. Needless to say, the customer was delighted.
At another visit, a logistics customer was having problems with printing pallet labels. Jonty said ‘We discussed various solutions and agreed to test pre-printed sequential barcode labels. This meant that the problematic handheld printers were no longer needed as part of the process. Problem solved!’
Going the extra mile
Successful long term customer relationships stem from building trust, delivering on promises and communicating when things occasionally don’t go to plan.
‘I’ve learnt that being open, honest and willing to help means people want to work with you’ Jonty said. When a food manufacturing customer was experiencing label printing difficulties, it looked like they needed a specialist ribbon for their thermal overprinter. Not only did Jonty help to identify the issue, but he also collected ribbon samples from the supplier, drove them to the customers site and helped them select the best option.
Going the extra mile is ingrained in the Piroto team and Jonty is already proving that he’s going to be a great addition.