If you’re reading this as a customer, or have heard about the Whip Around app for managing inspections or maintenance, today I want to give you an inside look at this company. A perspective you typically don’t get from people working behind the scenes.
Maybe you’re thinking about the Whip Around app, or maybe you stumbled across this article through a Google search or Linkedin post.
I thought it would be fun to take a minute to explain who exactly Whip Around is as an entity, and what our product does to help our customers.
At the end of the post, you’ll learn everything there is to know about Whip Around from an insider’s perspective, why I chose to work here, and what our mission is.
What Does Whip Around Do? What Makes Whip Around Different?
For anyone unfamiliar with Whip Around, one thing to know about the product and what we do in general is making the entire inspection process and maintenance aspect of dealing with vehicles and other assets as simple and easy as possible for fleet managers, drivers, mechanics, and anyone involved.
Off the top of my head, one thing that stands out is FOCUS. In the telematics space, so many vendors overwhelm you with features, all-in-one solutions, and it can be pretty overwhelming, especially for new companies that may just be getting started.
This focus comes in the form of actually speaking with customers to understand their experiences, and to create something their team will actually benefit from as a result. Most fleet managers and drivers just want a frictionless and easy way to manage their fleet and assets.
Nothing difficult over overwhelming to use, but a solution easy for drivers and managers to use every day. That’s what we strive to provide.
Focused on People and Relationships
As a company, the level of communication between teams here at Whip Around is top notch. Whip Around is made up of a team of individuals not only with extensive experience in telematics and commercial motor vehicles, but also a customer success and development team who regularly speak with customers about making our product do what it needs to do.
After all, whenever you’re building and selling software, communication with customers is critical. It has to be.
There really is a focus and emphasis on being a team. Not just in the clichéd way software recruiters define ‘teamwork’ to interested candidates, with visions of corporate outings and ping pong tables. But we have that too.
The difference at Whip Around is it actually feels like a team. I can actually set up a meeting with customer service or sales if I need feedback on an idea, and I never feel like I’m imposing. It’s actually encouraged, which is a big reason why everyone tends to stay on the same page. From product, to sales, to operations, to marketing.
Sharing Information to Build a Better Experience for Customers
The sharing of information across the teams at Whip Around, and the intentional focus on helping your teammates out every day is what separates Whip Around from a lot of companies.
You’d be surprised at the companies I’ve worked or interviewed for that don’t seem to have a vision for what problems the company is solving with software, and why getting everyone in the company to understand this vision is so important.
Working in silos and getting a different version of the company mission (depending on if you are a software engineer or sales executive) I’ve experienced firsthand before, and can be confusing especially for new employees and outsiders looking in.
The one thing I will say about Whip Around, is that the overall mission and strategy is clearly communicated at the top, help is there if and when you need it, and feedback is encouraged.
So What’s the Value Proposition? Where is the ROI?
There are several direct and indirect benefits of using Whip Around as a fleet manager or driver. Paper inspection booklets (and having to order dozens of them for your fleet) can get expensive and simply aren’t efficient when it comes to producing reports, staying compliant, and customizing them to the needs of different businesses.
Outside of these direct cost benefits, avoiding compliance fines and penalties by going digital is a huge return on investment for many companies we work with. Even those who may be using some kind of a digital DVIR solution are many times ‘pencil whipping’, inspections, causing a false sense of safety and compliance.
While work orders and maintenance are nothing new to our customers, delays caused by a lack of communication between mechanics, software systems, or paper-based systems can keep trucks sidelined, costing thousands.
Whip Around helps fleet managers and owners implement best practices like creating an inspection workflow that makes sense for drivers, as well as focusing on the maintenance of those assets. So many companies depend on
Conclusion
It’s a fun experience to be involved in an industry that’s changing the way an entire sector of the economy performs critical tasks like inspections.
Even though technology adoption isn’t the easiest transition for some companies, getting to hear daily from customers who can’t imagine life without Whip Around makes it all worth it.
What drives us to achieve our personal best and company best for our customers is to stand by our mission here in Charlotte, North Carolina:
C-H-A-R-L-O-T-T-E.
Everyone has a choice. We choose to be honest, acting in integrity in all that we do. We let our actions do the talking, respecting our peers, our prospects, and our customers.
Love is at the core of who we are, we value opportunity, and we show this by giving 100% day in and out through total energy.
This buy-in has been so important to our growth, and will continue to be as we keep growing.
After all, you want to come to work each day knowing that your company is making a big difference for both employees and business owners that use your product every day. This mission not only shapes the product we deliver, but the people who work at Whip Around.
