Coffee Central delivers quality customer service with Fintrano

Coffee Central, based in the East Midlands, is one of the region's most trusted coffee suppliers with over 20 years of experience. The company supplies exceptional coffee, commercial coffee machines and provides comprehensive servicing and maintenance to cafes, gyms and businesses across the region. With a team of in-house Q Graders, roasters and experienced engineers, Coffee Central has built a reputation for quality and exceptional after-sales care.

Gav, who runs the business, has always believed that customer experience is what sets Coffee Central apart. With a background in business management and a focus on quality at every customer touchpoint, he understands that clear communication about engineer visits is essential to maintaining the company's professional reputation

The challenge

For two years, Gav had been asking his engineers to do something simple: call customers to let them know when they'd arrive for installations, services and repairs. Despite repeated requests, it just wasn't happening. There's always a barrier to communication when the engineers are busy driving.

"One day I had great customer service from a gas engineer comany. They let me know when they were coming. I thought, well, this is great service. Coffee Central could be that good. All my engineers need to do is pick up the phone and let the customer know we're going to be there in an hour. But they just don't do it. They hate doing it," Gav explains.

The younger engineers preferred apps and texts to phone calls, and the manual approach simply wasn't working. This led to wasted visits when engineers arrived at cafes that had already closed for the day, or turned up when customers weren't prepared.

At the same time, Coffee Central was struggling to collect Google reviews. Despite providing excellent service, the company had only received five reviews in five years. Gav knew that more visible customer feedback could help build trust with potential clients, but getting engineers to request reviews manually was proving impossible.

The solution

Gav discovered Fintrano during a social weekend with Iain, the founder. After years of trying to achieve better customer communication, the solution was exactly what he'd been looking for.

"Iain told me about Fintrano and I was like, so you're basically making a product that does the service I've been wanting for ages? Just sign me up. Just sign me up now."

"Iain told me about Fintrano and I was like, so you're basically making a product that does the service I've been wanting for ages? Just sign me up. Just sign me up now."

Fintrano's automated SMS notifications confirm appointments with customers, remind them the day before and track the engineer when they're on their way. For Gav, it was about perception of quality, right from the start of the customer interactions.

"For us, it was the perceived quality. Quality companies do stuff like this. Quality companies tell you exactly when they're going to be there," he says.

The system also sends automated review requests when jobs are completed, catching customers at the moment they're happiest with the service.

Coffee Central now uses Fintrano for both service visits and sales appointments. The onboarding was straightforward. Gav's salesman, Adam, set himself up independently just a few months after the company started using the platform.

The results

Since implementing Fintrano, the transformation has been remarkable. Whereas previously there would have been wasted visits when businesses might have been closed early or not been ready when the engineer arrived, now there is none of that. Customers are kept informed so they are able to plan their day accordingly. No more “we didn’t know what time you’d be here”, making all their customer interactions smooth.

"Since we've been using Fintrano, I've had no wasted visits. Like, zero. I can't remember the last time we got somewhere and someone's been like, well, no-one's here."

"Since we've been using Fintrano, I've had no wasted visits. Like, zero. I can't remember the last time we got somewhere and someone's been like, well, no-one's here."

The impact on Google reviews has been equally impressive. Coffee Central has gone from five reviews in five years to now 30 reviews within a year of using Fintrano. "Fintrano has made that easy for us," Gav notes. "The reviews happen automatically when customers are happiest, right after the job is done."

At £25 per month for approximately six to seven jobs per week, Gav sees the value as undeniable.

"Do you want your customers to think of you as a quality operator? Yes, I do [think it's great value]. It's going to cost you 25 pound a month. No-brainer."

By combining smarter communication with automated customer feedback, Fintrano has helped Coffee Central achieve the quality service standard Gav had been pursuing for years. The platform has become an essential part of the customer experience, reinforcing the company's reputation for professionalism at every touchpoint.

"If you take Fintrano away, our customer experience would be a little bit less. And I don't want it to be a little bit less."