Brian Young is the National Account Manager with TotalKare Heavy Duty Workshop Solutions. He discusses his career, product sales and support, and training
Q: Have you always worked in the transport engineering sector?
I am now 54 and I started here in 1998. It was Somers Vehicle Lifts then. It is pretty much the same company; we have just had a few name changes along the way.
Prior to this, I was in the motor industry, doing sales. I like what I do here, so that’s why I have been here for the past 20 years.
Q: How has your career progressed?
My first job was Area Sales Manager for the North of England and Scotland. Then I got seconded to working for Prolift, a company we bought. I was general manager there between 2004 and 2006. After it was decided to merge back into one company, I went on to become UK Sales Manager from 2006 to 2011. Since then I have had the National Account Manager role.
Q: What appeals to you about the sales side?
I think the side of the industry I am in is helping people find solutions and match customers’ needs. It is not so much the product, it is the aftersales and support that we have always offered and given.
Over the years you obviously develop relationships. I have always been a people person and I think most people in the company are the same. With the experience I have, it is probably why the company put me in this role because I know a lot of people in the industry.
Q: How important is the coach and bus sector for TotalKare?
Our key products enable our customers to lift heavy duty vehicles. Coaches and buses would be the main focus, but also wagons and trucks. Supporting the coach and bus industry is probably what we have built the business on in the past. Obviously, everybody uses public transport, so we can only see public transport being a growth area going forward.
Q: What is a typical day for you?
There are no two days the same. The work does not just concern clients buying lifts, it is also about servicing of them as well.
Q: What other developments is TotalKare addressing?
We do online training about using vehicle lifts. We have developed this over the last three years and a lot of large bus companies are looking at going ahead with that for next year. I am going around the country at the moment doing presentations on what we offer for the end user. It is more a competency training programme and is about health and safety.
Q: How do you see your TotalKare career developing?
Probably bringing on the young sales staff, developing new products and new markets and supporting existing ones. I will probably be heavily involved in training going forward because it is a fairly new product, but people can see the advantages of it.
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To find out more
www.totalkare.co.uk
