Phil covers Merseyside and North Wales and has worked with MGF for 9 years, he joined in 2013 as an Administration Assistant within the Marketing department based at our Head Office in Wigan. Having successfully developed into other roles leading him to his position today, here’s what he has to say about his experience so far in the industry.
Tell us a bit about your role
Based at our Astley depot, I am responsible for managing customer accounts. It is my job to continuously build great working relationships with existing customers whilst also bringing new customers into the business and providing technical sales assistance. I am on hand to offer support whether it’s over the phone or regularly attending site meetings to discuss safe shoring solutions. If a temporary works design is required, I would request the relevant information from the customer and submit accurate design briefs that our Engineering team can work from. I also provide customers with hire and sale quotations and co-ordinate regularly with our depot team to ensure we meet our customers needs.
What do you enjoy about it the most?
I enjoy meeting new people and building relationships with both new and existing customers, I am still quite new to this role and learning more about shoring and the industry everyday with the aim of becoming an expert in this field.
What was it that made you want to follow a career in Technical Sales?
This was a natural route of progression for me, having developed a good understanding of both the business and the industry from working on the hire desk. I had the chance to work more closely with the sales teams as sales support and it was here that I realised this was the direction that I wanted to continue in. This was the first time MGF had someone progress from sales support into a junior sales role so it was new to both myself and the business. With their support, 2 years later I’m now successfully building my own reputation in the North West as a Technical Sales Representative and seeing that all the hard work is paying off.
Describe your background and how you got into the industry
MGF are the first company that I have worked for in the industry, after completing my administration apprenticeship and spending 2 years working on the hire desk at our Astley depot, in 2017 I moved into sales support where I dealt with enquires for both our North West and Yorkshire depots. I really enjoyed this role and after 2½ years I felt I had gained enough experience that when an opportunity came up to go out on the road as a junior sales for Merseyside and North Wales I jumped at the chance! It has since been a great team effort at Astley, with the training and support they have given me over the last 2 years, teaching me about the role, being on hand for advice and encouraging me to continue in my development.
What do you find to be the most interesting projects to work on?
Our location means that we have a lot of involvement in the AMP cycle works, currently at AMP7, from my experience so far I do find both AMP and Water Engineering projects the most interesting to work on. These types of projects often require large amounts of shoring as well as opportunities to work closely with key customers throughout the whole scheme. These tend to be on a longer-term basis than other sectors and require more technical knowledge and experience of temporary works designs.
What do you appreciate about having a strong working relationship with customers and how that benefits your job?
My aim is to continue to build great working relationships with our customers by ensuring that we provide them with the best service possible so that they want to keep coming back and working with us. Having only been in this role for a short amount of time I know that it takes time to build long-term relationships and to be recognised in the industry. They need someone they can rely on and trust who will go the extra mile to ensure they receive the best solution.
