Dedication and personal support is key to good customer service

For the past 25 years we have been providing a knowledgeable, personal service to the professions. We know personal support and dedication is key to building and developing long lasting relationships, so we spoke with Area Sales Manager Gail Cormack about her role on the front line of customer service. Tell us more about your role I am the Area Sales Manager for Braemar for Scotland, Northern Ireland and North East England and I’ve been in the role since 2002. A great deal has changed since I started nearly 15 years ago, most notably in terms of people’s buying habits, which are very different today to what they were back then. What I enjoy is that this is not a nine to five job – you need to be available at times that suit your customers to keep them informed and up-to-date with developments. I also attend as many events and trade shows as I can. What is a key characteristic you need to be successful? You need to have a flexible approach to your job because there are so many different ways to conduct business today. You need to be adaptable to your customers’ expectations and preferences, whether it’s over the phone, email or even text message. You also need to be able to plan and be logical, but enjoy change at the same time because things don’t always go according to plan. What do you enjoy most about the role? I really enjoy chatting and interacting with people. The personal aspect is very important to me – there is nothing nicer than seeing a customer in person, and it’s this dedication to a personal service that continues to set us apart. Seeing everyone in the Braemar Finance office is a real highlight – their support for the area managers and the customers is invaluable and frees us up to be 100% customer-focused. What does a typical day look like? Every working day varies, but I mostly start early by catching up on emails and correspondence before visiting customers and dealing with transactions in person. I also often attend trade shows, and because we service a number of professions, this part of the job keeps us very busy. What sets Braemar Finance apart? The quality and speed of our service – we make taking finance out as stress free and easy as we possibly can for customers. We are still very much customer focused – we get the job done with the minimum of fuss and in a timeframe very few can match. Our support team is also absolutely outstanding and what they do is very, very impressive. We truly work as a team – customers know our names and know that when they call, they’ll speak to someone they know who will provide them with the answers to their queries. What finance products do you offer? It might be easier to ask what we don’t offer! We provide everything from tax, business and personal loans to hire purchase, refinance and consolidation finance. In addition our Fast Track client finance solution is such a revolution for a lot of customers as they reap the benefits of having their professional services paid early with no need to worry about any potential non-payment.