Q1. Prior to joining Air Impact as part of the Sales Team, what kind of work were you involved in?

Before I joined Air impact I worked in construction for about 15 years, so during that time I would have gained some hands on experience using some of the tooling I now sell. I started in Air impact in 2014 and never looked back.

Q2. Can you describe the typical customers that Air Impact serves?

Air Impact historically has had a long association with the transport industry, namely truck, bus, rail and car garages. However, lots of other industries depend on our range of products too, including engineering, manufacturing, construction, aerospace, mining and food production.

Q3. What skills are required to do your own job well?

To do this job well, you need to be able to quickly understand the problem the customer is trying to solve. The customer comes to us to find the right tool for the purpose so a good knowledge of tools is very important. Another part of my job is managing the online store, and this requires an understanding of product merchandising, email marketing and SEO.

Q4. What does a typical day look like for you in work?

One of the things I love about my job is that two days are never the same.  Apart from keeping the website up to date, every day the customer has a different problem to solve and I really enjoy finding a solution for them.

Q5. When customers ring in looking for advice, what are the most common questions you get asked?

Most customers really just want to know if a tool will do the job they need doing. There are so many versions of tools these days and they sometimes need help picking the right one for their particular application. They usually describe the job they’re doing or a job they have coming up to see if we have a tool for it, and from there I can determine which variation they may need.

Q6. How has Covid-19 impacted the work of your customers? How many are still involved in Essential Services?

The majority of our customers either work in an essential service or they supply an essential service so we’re still as busy as ever. Trucks, buses and trains are all still operating and require maintenance tools. Despite the challenges of covid, Air impact has continued to serve its customers from Donegal to West Cork.

Q7. Since you started in Air Impact over 7 years ago, have you noticed any major trends emerge?

I think the biggest and most significant trend is the advancement of cordless tools. Most garages these days would have a variety of cordless tools in their arsenal. Battery capacity is always getting bigger and better, so cordless tools are becoming more and more practical.

Q8. Where would you like to see Air Impact in 5 years’ time?

I’d love to see the online side of things continue to grow. There has been a huge jump in online sales across all sectors since covid hit, so I’d like to think that people are getting used to doing their shopping online and it will become the norm.

Q9. What do you like to do in your spare time?

I’m always busy outside of work too, I have lots of hobbies like fishing and motorcycles but most of my spare time is spent training and teaching martial arts between my own club in Tipp, and the club I trained in in Kilkenny. Covid has halted it all in the last year so most of the teaching is now done on Zoom!