Shining a light on the people dedicated to keeping our customers on the road.

Kicking off this content series is a talk with Mark Robbins, Strategic Account Manager, about his role at Holman and how he plays his part in driving what’s right for our customers.

What’s your role within the Holman Family?

I am one of Holman’s strategic account managers. I’ve been with the business for over three years. I work with a range of customers from various industries and organisations, and my main objective is to ensure we continue delivering exceptional service to our clients. That might be supporting quarterly or annual business reviews or problem-solving around efficiency and productivity to ensure their fleet operation is fit for purpose and future-proof. I also provide insights to aid and support key client decision-making and contract negotiations. No two days are the same, and I love the variety this role gives me.

What are the typical kind of challenges that you solve for your customers?

Helping my customers shape their fleet for the future and enabling them to turn their business objectives into reality is my primary strategic challenge, and it brings a wealth of opportunities for my customers to ensure their fleet needs are met today and ready for the challenges ahead, whatever they may be. Where there are day-to-day operational challenges, I work with our internal teams to ensure we are supporting our customers fully, however my role is also about spotting future opportunities or identifying issues before they happen. I try to stay ahead of the game to ensure our customers always have their vehicles on the road. I work with many individuals with different approaches and perspectives. The Head of HR, for example, might have a different agenda to a Finance Director, Fleet Manager or Head of Operations. I try to be flexible and adaptable and help in whatever way is best for their organisation.

What elements of your role bring you the most satisfaction?

We’re a people business, so for me, it’s building personal relationships through helping people. I try to listen to what our customers want and need so that I can offer support and insight to help them make the right decisions to support their fleet and business objectives and build customer loyalty (crucial for us in this competitive environment), so it’s a win-win for all of us.

Can you give us an example of when you and your team went the extra mile for a client?

One of my customers is a large national charity that heavily relies on keeping its fleet on the road to respond to unexpected events quickly.

They’re doing great things with small resources, so efficiency is vital to the success of their operation. We can provide ongoing analytics data, reporting and evidence around operational and contractual savings to aid their funding support case each year.

I get great satisfaction from being a trusted advisor who listens to their needs and then provides ideas, discussions, evidence, and support to help them perform better.

Are there any learning outcomes you would take away from this example?

I think having access to more stakeholder/management training resources would be helpful for me and us as a business. Sometimes we focus on the individual without stepping back and approaching the problem from a business-wide perspective – we need to keep the bigger picture in mind!

What makes Holman special?

We are genuinely a family business. I really feel that. That notion of being part of a family is so important and remains core to everything we do.

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