It is a challenging job helping farmers out on the phone with a problem they are telling you about, but which you cannot see. Vicki Spooner has been on the help desk for ten years and has a background that means she is well acquainted with the ever-expanding range of Gallagher equipment.
Vicki spent her first nine years in Gallagher’s electronics assembly division, putting together the brains behind the company’s energizers and weighing equipment. Thanks to her time there she came to understand the ins and outs of the equipment very well, and it means anyone calling with a problem has a sympathetic and knowledgeable ear for their problems.
As the first point of contact for many customers Vicki has learnt to expect the description she receives about a piece of equipment may differ somewhat from what she has learnt it to be, and she admits to being something of a mind reader when helping some callers out.
She acknowledges it is a challenge keeping on top of Gallagher’s ever-expanding range of equipment, much of that incorporating some industry-leading innovation and smart electronic technology.
To help her keep ahead of things she is occasionally required to engage in on-farm demonstration days, giving her a good chance to interact face to face with clients (being dealer staff), and get a hands-on understanding of any new equipment, making those calls about a problem a lot easier for her and the customer to resolve successfully.
She attributes much of the company’s successful customer service to the great teamwork between customer service & key account managers, the territory managers in the field and the expertise of the company’s technical team.
Her particular favourite piece of equipment in the Gallagher range are the new TW Weigh Scales.
“They are so far ahead of what we have ever had, and what anyone else has had, they have taken things forward a long way.”
However, she is also a fan of the lightweight, portable Insulated Line Post Fencing System, offering a simple way for farmers, particularly women farmers, to put up a semi-permanent fence without dragging heavy waratah standards around.
Vicki and her husband live near Hamilton and enjoy having their grandchildren close by for lots of precious family time together.