Shell Beerwah are total winners!

Shell Beerwah total winners

By Sonia Clark

Back: Lynn Sutton, Steve Williams, Ilana Lubert, Karina Degen, and Corey Hanslow Front: Frances Ross, Troy Pritchard and Ky Degen. (not pictured are Josh Sos and Daemon Cruise)

Shell Beerwah (Coochin Creek Co-Op) had an incredibly successful evening recently, winning two top awards at the annual Viva Energy (Shell) conference and gala awards night held in Queenstown, New Zealand.

The team, represented by store manager Frances Ross, was awarded the top site for their region (Queensland, WA, SA and NT), and Frances was awarded National Service Champion of the Year. Both awards mark outstanding achievements for the locally managed business.

Frances is absolutely delighted with the awards and the recognition of the Shell Beerwah’s exceptional commitment to customer service and operational excellence.

Service Champion award winner Frances Ross with Megan Foster, general manager consumer of Viva Energy

She said the entire team worked extremely hard and were very focussed on always providing good old-fashioned country service.

“Each and every team member has contributed to our success and we strive for quality and consistency. We also consistently encourage our team to put themselves in the place of the customer and to treat every customer as if they are a secret shopper,” Frances said.

Although she may not admit it, the Service Champion of the Year was one of the most important awards of the event.

Frances competed against a field of candidates from across their region and was absolutely honoured to take out the prestigious top award.

Frances joined the team at Coochin Creek Co-op in mid-2016 and moved to the Shell side of the business later that year.

Frances said the camaraderie and support was strong within the organisation and while each individual brought their own strengths, the direction provided by management utilised those strengths in a very positive way.

“My personal philosophy is to never assume and always put yourself in the place of the customer and how you would like to be treated,” Frances said.

Her approach is to treat every customer as though they are a secret shopper - to listen to customers, record their feedback and take action wherever possible to improve results and customer experience.

Coochin Creek Co-Op general manager Steve Williams said the awards recognised the fabulous Shell Beerwah team effort led by Frances and was a great indication of the customer focussed service provided by the co-op team.

As well as taking out two top awards, Shell Beerwah also received a recognition award honouring 30 years of partnership between the Shell service station and Coochin Creek Co-Op.