Want to know what life’s like as part of the Customer Service front line? Meet Grace, a Geography graduate, who started her story with notonthehighstreet just before Christmas…
Can you tell me a little more about your role at NOTHS, what you do and how long you have been here for?
I’m a Customer Service Agent here. I started as a Christmas temp in October last year, and then I was offered the opportunity to stay on permanently. It wasn’t initially my plan, but I really enjoyed it so wanted to stay on after the Christmas period. I actually graduated last summer; I did Human Geography at university for 3 years, and then thought the role seemed like a great opportunity for me to get some experience in an office environment. I loved the company and Richmond so it all just suited me really well.
What does a typical working day look like?
Our early shift starts at 8am, and the late shift starts at 11:30am. I really like having a bit of variation with it too; coming in early means you get your evenings and it’s also really nice having your mornings sometimes too. Depending on what you’re allocated you could be on chat, phones or webchat and our Seniors will allocate what we’re on at the beginning of the day. As well as live CS, you could also be dealing with refunds and similar things so what you do day-to-day can really vary.
How many calls/chats do you have per day?
It changes. Mondays are our busiest days — Monday morning in particular is always manic. Chat is getting really popular now; you sometimes have to manage up to 4 people at a time which is always quite difficult to prioritise and multitask. I really enjoy this part of the role though — it’s busy and it keeps things interesting!
What’s your favourite thing about working here?
Probably the team — and the people I work with. To be honest, that’s probably one of the main reasons why I wanted to stay after temping over Christmas. When I first joined, there was a really good group of us and we all got on socially too which was great. I still remember how much Rose [Customer Service Planning & Improvements Coordinator] impressed me in my interview too. I remember thinking at the time “wow, everyone is just lovely and willing to help”. Safe-to-say, that impression was true and has stuck with me throughout my journey here.
What’s been your most memorable moment?
I think it’s got to be my first phone call. I remember how I felt really nervous about it, and was thrown a bit into the deep end. I remember one of my old colleagues just being there to provide a helping hand and he talked me all the way through it and gave me so much support! It’s weird now though because I’m the one training the newbies on their first phone calls! The best thing about Customer Service is that it moves really quickly and you learn a lot in a short space of time. You gain so much confidence in just knowing what you’re doing.
What did you do before joining notonthehighstreet?
I studied Human Geography at Liverpool Uni and graduated last year in summer [2017]. I came out of university and was a little unsure of where I should settle or what I should do; finding a job that’s related to your degree too proved really difficult. That’s the best thing about notonthehighstreet; I came along thinking it would be a temp role but loved it so much and learnt so much that I’ve just stayed on.
What was it about notonthehighstreet that made you join?
I was looking on various job sites after graduating, and remember seeing the roles with notonthehighstreet. It reminded me of a present my Dad and I had bought my Mum for her 50th birthday (a personalised destination print). She absolutely adored it, and since then I’ve just always thought it would be such a great place to work because I love everything we do. It’s also really local to me — I live not far from Richmond — so it’s all very convenient.
What’s the most challenging part of your role & why?
The most challenging part would probably be managing people’s expectations over the phone. When they’re right there it’s sometimes difficult to explain the situation in full and calm them down. You do all you can to help but sometimes it’s just not possible. Either you can’t get through to a Partner, or explaining that we’re a marketplace too can be really challenging in itself. You have to really stress how the whole structure works. It’s important in situations like these to really get down to the customer’s level, be really understanding and offer solutions as much as possible. It’s important to recognise that often the smallest gift can mean the biggest thing.
What skills do you need to make an awesome Customer Service Agent?
Be very understanding from the start, but also quite resilient as well. You’ve got to be positive, no matter the circumstance. It’s important to solve the case, keep going and then obviously convey that to the customer as well. It’s good to be upbeat, energetic but most importantly understanding and empathetic. It’s all about getting in the customer’s shoes.
If you could give advice to someone applying for a role within the CS team, what would you say?
We are currently recruiting so this question is very appropriate! It’s important to be willing to learn, both new skills but also to be open in yourself. If you’re willing to learn, you’ll get a lot of confidence from what you do here. It’s important to be able to take on criticism and be open to suggestions. To acknowledge that it’s all constructive so take it lightly and you will see improvements! Also — Christmas is intense! It’s fun and the team keep it fun but it really is constant calls and emails so brace yourself and keep calm and collected.
What are you looking forward to over the next 12 months?
I’m definitely looking forward to learning more and developing my own skills. Recently, I’ve been doing lots of other bits — dealing more with Paypal and payments and training as well which I’ve really enjoyed. I really like challenging myself and am really open to it so I’m definitely up for learning a bit more — there’s plenty to help out with which is great.
