Growing Knowledge, Building Relationships and Client Insight: Q&A with Claire Fraser, Account Manager

Claire Fraser, FIS Chemicals Account Manager

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FIS: You recently celebrated 1 year with FIS – how would you describe your first year?

Claire Fraser: It’s been a busy, challenging, and exciting year full of learning opportunities (and plenty cups of tea!).

I’ve felt incredibly supported throughout the whole process, thanks in large part to Angela, who has been an amazing mentor to me. I’m so grateful to have had such a positive and encouraging start to my career at FIS and in the energy industry

FIS: What’s a typical day for you as an Account Manager?

CF: Every day at FIS is different, but one thing remains consistent – my day is always centred around our clients.

That might involve meeting with them face-to-face, jumping on calls or actioning their enquiries by gathering product information and preparing bespoke quotes. I also communicate regularly with our distributors and take part in their training sessions to stay up to date on products and services, so I can best support our customers.

My experience within the sales team so far has been unique, as I’ve worked alongside my colleague, Angela Campbell, throughout my time at FIS so far. Attending client visits with Angela has been invaluable – I’ve learned so much about how to effectively engage with clients, what kind of questions to ask to get the most out of a meeting, and how to follow up to ensure clients are fully supported. Coming from outside the energy sector, Angela’s insight and support has been pivotal in my growth and development at FIS.

Beyond the sales side of my role, I also work closely with marketing and web agency FortyTwo Studio to provide information and content for developing LinkedIn posts and website articles. One recent highlight was collaborating with them to create the 2024 edition of our annual ESG Report. It was great to get involved in such an important project for our long-term strategy and the process gave me a deeper understanding of the HSE aspect of our business. This has been particularly helpful when clients ask about our environmental initiatives and standards.

I also recently got involved in organising our golf day event at Murcar Links Golf Club – it was great fun and very rewarding to see how much our valued clients enjoyed it!

"From visiting local clients to travelling further afield for meetings, I think our personal approach is one of the real strengths of FIS Chemicals' customer service."

FIS: What do you enjoy most about the job?

CF: I’m quite an outgoing and chatty person, so I love that so much of my role involves getting out and about and speaking to people! I’d definitely struggle if I was tied to my desk every day!

From visiting local clients to travelling further afield for meetings, I think our personal approach is one of the real strengths of FIS Chemicals' customer service. We make the effort to visit and check in with our clients, wherever they’re based, to ensure they’re happy with their chemicals supply and to explore how we can support them further.

While many of our client meetings take place in offices, I often get the opportunity to look around their facilities — whether that’s visiting a workshop to see BOP machinery or lifting equipment, walking through a fish factory, or even stepping aboard a vessel! These are places most people would never normally get the chance to visit unless they worked there, so I find it fascinating to get an insight into them and see how things work. It also helps me better understand our clients’ chemical requirements and how our products are being used day-to-day.

FIS: What was your career path prior to joining the FIS team?

CF: After graduating from university, I worked as a primary school teacher for two and a half years. During that time, I taught three classes: first P4, then a P5/6, and finally in P3/4.

I genuinely adored my job as a teacher and loved getting to know all my pupils and supporting them on their learning journeys. It was such a personal, rewarding and creative role.

Ultimately, I made the difficult decision to leave teaching due to the challenges of finding a healthy work-life balance. It was incredibly hard to walk away from something I loved so much, but it was the best decision I could have made for myself.

Since joining FIS, I’ve been loving the fresh challenge and the chance to grow in a completely different industry – it’s amazing to look back and see how much I’ve learned over the past year!

"One of the first things I noticed when joining FIS was the close relationships between the team and our customers."

FIS: What are your biggest learnings since joining FIS?

CF: I’ve learned so much! When I first joined the team, I remember feeling pretty daunted by our list of 1000+ products and all the terms I had to learn to use with confidence. Over time, as I did more research, asked (lots of!) questions and had great conversations with clients, things started to click.

It's still a learning curve — I definitely don’t know every product we offer (and I’m not sure I ever will!) – but I have a solid understanding of a core group of key products and the confidence to ask questions when I don’t know the answer.

When I started, I’d never even heard of an SDS (safety data sheet), I didn't know what CEFAS (Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science) was, and I'd never taken part in a tender process — and now these are all just part of my day-to-day work and conversations with FIS clients.

FIS: What golden piece of advice would you give to someone looking to start their career in this industry?

CF: When I started out with FIS, I was told not to worry about knowing all the chemical details right away – that kind of technical knowledge comes with time and experience.

I think the most important thing is to be curious and personable — build strong relationships, ask lots of questions, take plenty of notes, and generally just be an 'information sponge'. The rest will come naturally!

FIS: What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

CF: I love spending time with my friends, family and husband-to-be! We enjoy camping, exploring Scotland, eating good food (I’m definitely a foodie!), and chilling with a nice glass of wine.

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