Before Sam Maher ever surveyed a client site for Oculus, she spent 27 years in an industry where a missed deadline meant an empty shelf. Starting out as a fabric technologist, her role evolved into total Account Management in clothing manufacture, where she developed for some of the biggest names on the British high street – M&S, Next and Ted Baker among them. In a world of tight margins, critical paths and being judged on exactly four things: quality, delivery, performance and business retention.
It turns out that’s rather good training for maintenance. Sam joined Oculus in July 2023 as Key Account Director, and as she puts it, the essence of the business is the same, just a different service. Reputation is everything, integrity and communication are what protect it, and how a contractor deals with problems is what separates the reputable ones from the rest.
As your main point of contact on maintenance contracts, Sam is accountable for delivery from first survey to final sign-off. A typical week starts with what came in overnight – emergency call-outs that need handling, new jobs to price, cover to arrange – then moves through site surveys, quotes and job reports. The CRM keeps the day-to-day organised, but Sam’s view is that the system is only half the job: the value comes from the personal touch, and from knowing when it’s needed and when it isn’t. Every client is important.
Ask what makes a great key account relationship, and her answer is immediate: trust, integrity, communication and taking the time to genuinely know your clients. Things won’t always go right; what matters is having a plan for when they don’t.
The moments she’s proudest of tell you what drives her: watching the University of Liverpool project delivered to a standard that delighted the client, and winning Sefton Council – a major client to bring on board and to work with.
Away from work, Sam is a mother of two and a lifelong swimmer. A voluntary coach at Hoylake Swimming Club and still competes in Masters swimming and triathlons. And when she’s not in the water, she bakes.
With Sam looking after your account, you get someone who has spent three decades keeping demanding clients happy on unforgiving deadlines – and who treats your site with the same care whether the job is an emergency call-out or a full planned programme.
