Commitment to Service keeps Walker’s Lube Trucks Running

Feb. 28, 2012

BECKLEY – Walker Machinery Co. just added another Lube Truck to its fleet of nine.
This one is a little easier to see coming, as it is the first wrapped in digital art. Driver Randy “Catfish” Colbird will take the truck through the Beckley and part of Walker’s Summersville territories.
According to Beckley Branch Manager Jody Green the truck is just another way to be accessible to the customer.
“It’s another door for the one-stop-shop of Walker Machinery,” Green said.
The Lube Truck is something Walker began to utilize in the mid 1990s as a way to offer the customer more services. Enclosed in the back of the box are steel tanks full of several different types of oil, oil filters and other supplies needed for Preventive Maintenance (PM). If desired, customers are able to purchase Customer Service Agreements through Walker’s Product Support Service Representatives (PSSRs) to allow scheduled service and maintenance on their vehicles.
According to Walker’s PSSR Manager Brent Samples, Walker Machinery’s PM Service and Inspection Program allow their customers to do what they do best - manage their jobsite, while Walker provides expert preventive maintenance, service and support for their customers’ equipment.
• NO SURPRISES: Maintenance costs for the services are guaranteed up front.
• ON SITE SERVICE: No need to haul equipment, Walker comes to your jobsite.
• GUARANTEED QUALITY: Cat® filters and fluids that meet or exceed Cat® specs assure quality and warranty compliance.
• NO ENVIRONMENTAL HASSLES: Walker properly disposes of used oil, filters and other fluids.
“Walker Machinery will provide all labor, parts and oil to perform the preventive maintenance at OEM recommended intervals. SOS samples are taken and forwarded to the jobsite as well,” Samples said.

Great customer service earns beckley employee exceptional reputation 

August 18, 2011

BECKLEY – Jo Ann Plumley’s reputation at Walker Machinery Co., in Beckley, is far-reaching.
According to Product Support Sales Manager Brent Samples, customers are reassured knowing that Jo Ann has reviewed their invoices.
“Customers state, ‘If Jo Ann reviews a work order, they know it is right,’" Samples said.
Jo Ann, Senior Service Clerk, has been with Walker for 38 years and has worn many hats, such as dispatcher and parts department worker. She was hired, in October of 1973, as a receptionist by then Branch Manager Denny Young. Beckley Assistant Parts and Service Manager Barney Goins was hired in August of that same year.
“When Denny Young decided to hire a shy young country girl with a crooked smile, in October of 1973, he had no idea of how competent and loyal a person she was. I would trust her with my life,” Goins said.
Since then, the two have worked closely. About 10 years ago, they both served on the DBS Computer System conversion team and traveled extensively, company-wide, and to Peoria, Ill. for training. Jo Ann is an excellent example of the best of Walker Machinery Goins said.
“No matter how busy she is, she is always ready to help anyone,” he said. “Our customers love her easy going personality.”
Despite her hectic pace of invoicing, processing work and labor orders, and a little bit of everything else, Jo Ann claims it is a relaxed atmosphere.
“I’ve been here for so long, I have a little bit of an idea of how things work and what to do, which is why I enjoy it,” she said, “especially on the service side of that.”
With the occasional problem or customer dispute, most customers are nice, she said.
“Maybe it’s because I’m a woman that they don’t give me such a hard time.”
Others have a different explanation, such as Mining Division Sales Manager Kevin Barnhouse.
“Jo Ann knows our business and our customers very well,” Barnhouse said. “Her years of service and level of integrity have earned our trust. When she says something is right; it is. We are very fortunate to have her on our team.”
Jo Ann said she always tries to do what the customers want and go the extra mile. She treats people the way she likes to be treated, she said.
“Just like Simmons Fork - they know if they call me and they need something, I will get it to them; the same with Frasure Creek Mining and any of those guys,” she said. “I always try to do what I say I will do and I don’t put it off or delay it.”
And while Jo Ann enjoys working with the customers, her co-workers have been the icing on the cake.
“Branch 30 is small,” she said. “Everyone knows everybody’s kids and grandkids. All of us have been here for years and we are just a small family.”