We sat down with Chris Murphy, Retail Account Manager, Southeast/Southwest to shine a spotlight on a stellar 12-year career with Phillips 66 Limited – a love for the Kent and Sussex countryside, a customer-first approach and a life-long passion for ‘the beautiful game’.
Tell us about your career, to date, with Phillips 66 Limited.
I first joined Conoco in 2012 before the merger with Phillips 66 Limited – spending 18 months as a Sales Support Co-ordinator, looking after national accounts. I was living in Leamington Spa at the time when an opportunity arose for a Retail Account Manager role in the Southeast which involved moving to London and relocating to lovely Greenwich. Ever since then, I’ve been a Retail Account Manager for the Southeast and now the Southwest, spanning the Kent Coast to Exeter and up to Bristol. It’s been 10 years, with many miles under my belt – and I love it!
You manage nearly 35 JET branded [dealer] sites in the South of England. Tell us, what do you like most about this region?
It’s a great region – and by mid-April we’re expecting to hit 42 sites! The SE and SW are very diverse areas with lots of different cultural influences – and I really like that. You meet so many amazing people when journeying to sites. I also love the scenery. Kent is stunning and driving through Sussex along to Hampshire you discover so many great places.
Talk us through a typical working week.
I tend to spend three days on the road – prospecting and checking in on customers. This is an essential part of the new business process. I’ll go out to visit sites that aren’t JET branded to see what we can offer them. I have a pipeline of meetings in the diary, that will see me through 12-18 months at a time.
On one of the three days, I’ll arrange customer visits. I like to go in periodically, to check everything is going to plan and to make sure everyone’s happy. Relationship building and nurturing is a big part of my role – I’m on call 24/7. We need to remind customers of the benefits of being with JET and make sure they feel truly heard when issues arise.
On the remaining days, I work from my garden-shed-office. I have a one-year-old and a four-year-old, so it helps to have somewhere quiet to escape to get work done! I tend to spend my time catching up on admin work, looking at different internal reports or putting together sets of economics for dealers and calling customers to see how they are.
What do you most enjoy about your job and what’s the most challenging?
I really enjoy being out on the road, seeing my current JET dealers and meeting potential new customers. I enjoy how social my role is and meeting people face-to-face is vital to building relationships and trust. But that can also be the biggest challenge – convincing customers to entrust their business with a new brand. It helps that Phillips 66 Limited / JET has a brilliant reputation. Our currency and status in the industry continues to rise. Competitive pricing, the eye-catching yellow and blue branding, the introduction of EV charging and the Humber Refinery – are all major plusses. We have a reputation for being trustworthy, approachable and reliable. And as I mentioned before, we’re always available. I personally answer all calls from customers, and I know they appreciate that.
Tell us something about you we don’t already know.
I used to be a professional footballer! When I left school at 16, I made it onto a football scholarship for Shrewsbury Town before getting my first professional contract there, followed by another at Cheltenham Town. I still play on Sundays – there’s nothing like it for clearing your mind and keeping fit.