What is a Client Experience Manager?
A General Manager of Client Experience is a position usually reserved for ASX listed companies, but Headland Technology’s focus on driving a strong service culture has seen them hire experienced manufacturing manager, Andrew Waelan.
And who is better to work on client experience than someone who has been client side for two decades – from being a Shift Manager on the factory floor, to Production Manager, to General Manager.
Andrew’s experience ranges from working for BHP, Fletcher Steel, Pact Group and Food Plastics and wants to bring all the issues a client experiences into the new role.
‘I want to look at the operational side of the business inside out. To start from the client’s point of view and experience and optimise it. We need to ask, “Are we getting everything right?”,’ says Andrew.
Customer centric philosophy
Andrew’s philosophy is one of not only reverse engineering: starting from the client’s point of view and working back, but also making more granular changes at Headland as well to ensure things are humming efficiently.
‘My approach is to get the processes right for clients, to ensure they have a positive experience, and for Headland to be able to scale up without compromising on that positive customer experience,’ says Andrew.
The vision
Of course, a philosophy has to have a practical application, and for Andrew two areas of immediate focus in the next little while is introducing a superior customer service and service delivery experience for clients. The other is improving inventory management.
‘A customer might traditionally have called a service engineer to come out and visit them when a problem arises, but those calls might coincide with the service engineer being tied up with another client, or couple of clients,’ says Andrew.
‘To improve the customer experience, we’ve introduced a call-centre model, where former Service Engineers are available to take those calls, triage them, and manage the case to completion.
‘The call centre Service Engineers, having understood the situation, set up the service engineer with the right information and to arrive on site with the right tools for the job,’ says Andrew.
A data-driven approach
In regard to inventory management, Andrew will be making the system much more data-driven. With over 10,000 parts available, overstocking can be an issue.
‘Holding every part is an expensive and unnecessary approach to inventory management,’ says Andrew.
‘Instead of holding every part, we use data to understand the purchasing habits and needs of clients, and ensure we have sufficient stock ahead of time, but not having an over supply of stock sitting there for years.
‘This data-driven inventory management system will allow Headland to be more efficient, but also allow us to send reminders to clients about what parts may be needed to optimise their production, from worn machine parts to oils,’ says Andrew.
The future
In terms of a longer-term vision for Headland and client experience, for Andrew it will be working smarter through the use of data, optimising service delivery, and a constant cycle of feedback on what is working, and what needs improving.
‘We will be looking at every area of the business for ways to improve the customer experience, service delivery, using data to optimise our processes and to take the pulse of our clients,’ says Andrew.
What is a Client Experience Manager?
A General Manager of Client Experience is a position usually reserved for ASX listed companies, but Headland Technology’s focus on driving a strong service culture has seen them hire experienced manufacturing manager, Andrew Waelan.
And who is better to work on client experience than someone who has been client side for two decades – from being a Shift Manager on the factory floor, to Production Manager, to General Manager.
Andrew’s experience ranges from working for BHP, Fletcher Steel, Pact Group and Food Plastics and wants to bring all the issues a client experiences into the new role.
‘I want to look at the operational side of the business inside out. To start from the client’s point of view and experience and optimise it. We need to ask, “Are we getting everything right?”,’ says Andrew.
Customer centric philosophy
Andrew’s philosophy is one of not only reverse engineering: starting from the client’s point of view and working back, but also making more granular changes at Headland as well to ensure things are humming efficiently.
‘My approach is to get the processes right for clients, to ensure they have a positive experience, and for Headland to be able to scale up without compromising on that positive customer experience,’ says Andrew.
The vision
Of course, a philosophy has to have a practical application, and for Andrew two areas of immediate focus in the next little while is introducing a superior customer service and service delivery experience for clients. The other is improving inventory management.
‘A customer might traditionally have called a service engineer to come out and visit them when a problem arises, but those calls might coincide with the service engineer being tied up with another client, or couple of clients,’ says Andrew.
‘To improve the customer experience, we’ve introduced a call-centre model, where former Service Engineers are available to take those calls, triage them, and manage the case to completion.
‘The call centre Service Engineers, having understood the situation, set up the service engineer with the right information and to arrive on site with the right tools for the job,’ says Andrew.
A data-driven approach
In regard to inventory management, Andrew will be making the system much more data-driven. With over 10,000 parts available, overstocking can be an issue.
‘Holding every part is an expensive and unnecessary approach to inventory management,’ says Andrew.
‘Instead of holding every part, we use data to understand the purchasing habits and needs of clients, and ensure we have sufficient stock ahead of time, but not having an over supply of stock sitting there for years.
‘This data-driven inventory management system will allow Headland to be more efficient, but also allow us to send reminders to clients about what parts may be needed to optimise their production, from worn machine parts to oils,’ says Andrew.
The future
In terms of a longer-term vision for Headland and client experience, for Andrew it will be working smarter through the use of data, optimising service delivery, and a constant cycle of feedback on what is working, and what needs improving.
‘We will be looking at every area of the business for ways to improve the customer experience, service delivery, using data to optimise our processes and to take the pulse of our clients,’ says Andrew.