English - Nooteboom Giants on the Road Magazine English - Nr. 6 - 2019 | Page 41

ALL IN THE FAMILY
AFTERSALES
ALWAYS READY
MAX HILLMANN – TOGETHER WITH HAIKO THEUNISSE AND WILLEM VRIJENHOEF
– WORKS IN THE AFTERSALES DEPARTMENT OF NOOTEBOOM. ALL WEEK
THEY ARE READY TO SOLVE URGENT TECHNICAL PROBLEMS
Sometimes it concerns simple questions about operating the steering or
removing the neck of the interdolly. Those questions are almost always
solved there and then.
Max: “Sometimes a driver calls us because he has broken down and is
parked in a dangerous place. In that case we put all our other jobs on
hold for a while and discuss with the driver what the problem could
be. In the meantime someone else will have contacted a service dealer
or a workshop in the area. A problem that first seems to be as big as an
elephant sometimes proves to be no larger than a mouse.”
FOUR TASKS
Max: “Our department has four tasks. First of all, our customers can
always contact us if they have to solve a technical problem. It usually
concerns Nooteboom trailers but we frequently get questions about
other trailers too. Another important task is dealing with warranty
claims. At Nooteboom any problems we identify are immediately
passed on to the engineering department and together we find a
solution, which is then implemented in the production straightaway.
This procedure keeps our warranty costs extremely low. We carefully
assess all warranty claims. Of course a problem can be caused by a
defect in our product, but operating errors or overloading are also
common. If the complaint is due to a part from a supplier we often
settle the guarantee directly with the supplier. A third task is to provide
technical support for service dealers, customers with their own
workshop and any other companies that repair Nooteboom trailers.
And our final task is training the mechanics that work at service dealers
and customers.”
MAX HILLMANN
Within the Nooteboom organisation many young, enthusiastic people
were trained who now hold important posts in the organisation. Max
is part of this younger generation. Max: “I was brought up bilingually.
My mother speaks Polish and my father German. I also speak Dutch
and English and for my job I would quite like to learn Spanish as
well. In 2011 I joined Nooteboom as a mechanic in the overhaul
department. My father is a driver at Hegmann Transit, a loyal customer
of Nooteboom for many years. While visiting a workshop in Wijchen
he just asked: ‘Can you give my son a job at Nooteboom?’ So I started,
right in the middle of the financial crisis, but I was extremely motivated
because working at Nooteboom was my dream. My many years of
experience in the overhaul department come in handy now that I am
working in de aftersales department. As a result of my current function
I know nearly everyone in the Nooteboom organisation. We solve
technical problems with engineering and production. Our warranty
policy has a commercial side too and we solve this together with the
sales department. We also have a good relationship with all our dealers
and own branches, mostly in Europe, but some are a lot further away.
Nooteboom is a very open organisation, which means I can talk to the
management just as easily as to a colleague in production. Everyone
is after the same challenge: to further improve the quality of the
Nooteboom trailers and our service.”
IMPROVEMENTS?
Max: “In our aftersales department we can speak to our customers in
five languages: Dutch, German, English, French and Polish. We are
working on adding Spanish, because the Spanish-speaking countries are
becoming increasingly important for Nooteboom. Another area where
we would like to improve is the speed at which we react. Our customers
should expect us to react quickly. We manage to do so which is also due
to the most modern means of communication. It enables us to have
face-to-face contact, which makes it easier to communicate with our
customers. It used to be difficult sometimes to explain to a mechanic
where he could find a certain part. Now we can look together with him
via his smartphone.”
WHAT DOES YOUR WORKING DAY LOOK LIKE?
Max: “The three of us work together without having a particular
country or activity assigned to us. We all react as quickly as possible if a
customer contacts us by email or phone. But all three of us have our own
key accounts. A major part of our job is to answer simple questions,
such as ‘My manual steering isn’t working’ or ‘In which position must
the valves be when I want to uncouple the dolly?’ For questions that are
asked most frequently the customers can also consult our website or
Nooteboom app, where in our FAQ we answer these questions clearly
in text and with an instruction video. Most drivers and mechanics have
years of experience with Nooteboom trailers and we will take them
through our procedure step-by-step until we find a diagnosis for the
problem. Sometimes it happens that a driver has broken down and all
he has with him is a screwdriver. Of course that’s a challenge. In addition
to answering technical questions we also get requests nearly every day
asking for drawings and data of Nooteboom trailers, for inspection
purposes and exemption applications.”
Max: “In comparison with the numbers we produce we deal with
very few warranty claims. And I should know because if there are any
problems we’ll be informed via our department. A Nooteboom trailer is
just extremely well-constructed.”  ■
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