Customer Service Manager

CURRICULUM VITAE OF MALC WALDEN

A professional contact centre customer services and sales manager with wide experience

and a proven track record in the financial, government, utilities, telecommunications and

retail sector sectors, amongst others. I have experience of working with contact centres both

nationally and internationally, and outsource vendor management. I have extensive

experience of people development through coaching in both a sales and customer service

environment. I have excellent motivation, negotiation and interpersonal skills and can

communicate at all levels. I am hardworking, reliable and resourceful, with strong

organisational ability and a career built on delivering sales through exceptional customer

service, whilst controlling costs and increasing revenue. I take a strategic view as to how

sales and operations can be improved whilst not impacting on customer service or costs.

Status Married

Courses Passed Coaching and Counselling course

Leadership through People Skills Courses 1 & 2

Business and Strategic Planning

Impact and Intent Course

Negotiation Skills

Management Techniques

Communication Skills

Project management

Induction, Selection and Recruitment Process

Management Development Courses

Appraisal Training

BT 'ACD' & 'Symposium' operational course

Qualifications Financial Planning Certificate (Full)

Full S.I.B Authorisation

D32 & D33 Assessing the Assessor NVQ

Career History

Eon HES Sept 2011 to present

Head of Contact Centre reporting to CEO

Responsible for managing a 120 seat contact centre operation. My role is to ensure that

customer calls are answered in a timely and professional fashion by suitably trained

advisors ensuring that customers are treated fairly.

I have a direct reporting team of contact centre team managers, complaints manager, and a

retention manager. My role also involves developing the managers to help their teams

deliver a ‘first call resolution’ to the satisfaction of our customers and the business, and

achieving KPI’s.

During my employment at Eon I have instigated various process changes, introduced a

‘Help Desk’ to assist advisors whilst releasing the team managers from ‘admin roles’ so

their time can be better spent ‘managing’ their direct reports and not paper chasing.

I have also given each TM projects to work on that will further enhance the contact centre

to deliver our ultimate goal of 90% ‘First call resolution’.

I liaise on a daily basis with my peers who manage other sections of the business to ensure

a seamless operation is working to the benefit of our customers. I have also extended the

operational hours of the contact centre to 24/7/52, making substantial cost savings for the

business. This Project went ‘live’ at the beginning of Q4 2012, saving circa £250k pa.

I work very closely with the compliance manager to ensure that at all times we are acting in

a compliant manner, following set regulations whilst delivering an efficient and

professional service.

I was charged with reducing the overall abandoned rate of the contact centre to below 3%

and have achieved that whilst keeping staffing numbers within budget.

I am continuously looking to improve the customer experience via process and professional

contact centre advisors, who are highly skilled and able to take ownership of our customers

problems.

Feldon Valley Country Leisure Apr 2010 to Apr 2011

Consultant reporting to Managing Director

Responsible for training on-site retail outlet staff

Training delivered on customer care and selling techniques

Improving the customer experience

Stock purchase

Design new order processes

Maintaining records and purchase ledger

This was a temporary (self-employed) assignment whilst looking for a new and challenging

position in the contact centre arena.

Spinvox Ltd July 2007 to Dec 2009

Regional Vendor Manager reporting to Operations Director

Responsible for setting up outsourced Contact Centre operations

internationally in The Philippines, India, Middle East, South

America, South Africa, Kenya and Pakistan.

Managing circa 1200 FTE across 3 continents

Responsible for strategy and growth development of the contact

centres

Renegotiating contracts of our partners

Liaising and working with the Head of UK training and their team to

deliver initial and on-going development training to Team managers

and advisers.

Achievement of KPI’s, SLA’s, Quality assurance and customer

satisfaction.

Building strong and successful relationships with the client.

This role was working for a UK client who outsourced their quality control/customer

service requirements to various contact centres internationally. My role was to set up the

centres and then actively manage them to ensure that the business goals were achieved.

My main objective was to deliver an increase in customer satisfaction in terms of quality,

whilst reducing costs. Ensuring that all stakeholders were satisfied with the results, whilst

being mindful of the need to encapsulate the different cultures working on the project.

I did this by using different methodologies which included setting SMART objectives for

all front line staff and their managers, designing and assisting the training team to deliver

1:1 coaching and group training, analysing daily metrics and customer feedback scores and,

finally, building a team ethic.

The company was taken over by a major US operation in December 2009 and along with

many others in the UK I was made redundant.

Interim contact centre manager Sept 2005 to Apr 2007

I worked as an interim contact centre manager for 18 months for 3 different companies as

shown below, each interim contract was of differing lengths.

My roles were varied but my objectives were to help with both development of the contact

centres and its managers and advisers. Leading by example and engaging with the different

stakeholders to enable results to be achieved, with little impact on costs.

I have highlighted the roles below-:

Accident Exchange Jan 2007 to Apr 2007

Senior Operations Manager reporting to Operations Director - Interim role for 3 months

Review current processes and recommend changes where required

Review current management skills and disciplines report on strengths

and development areas

Review reports and design/implement new MI as required

Assist the Operations Director in changing strategy/focus of

management and teams to enhance customer service experience.

Performance manages existing managers and assists in recruitment

process to strengthen team.

Working closely with the permanent managers in each organisation

in a collaborative way to gain buy-in to any potential change or

proposal.

Responsible for 80 FTE

This role required me to help develop the contact centre to deliver results through

delivering fast and efficient customer service in a blended contact centre. Look at

innovative ways to improve the end product sale and ensure each case was followed

through by the same team, thus giving the customer a known point of contact and a ‘one-

stop shop’ ethos.

Connect Distribution Services Ltd Sept 2006 to Jan 2007

Head of Contact Centres reporting to Board of Directors - Interim role for 4 months

Review current processes and recommend changes where required

Review current management structure and change where required

Review current technology in use and recommend new systems with

appropriate costs involved.

Merge two call centres into one contact centre with an FTE of 140

including the Help Desk.

The main challenge here, in the first instance, was to develop and support team managers in

their day-to-day responsibilities. Help them and their teams to achieve a quality customer

service experience that would allow them to increase their sales. I designed a new

recruitment process that ensured that we employed the correct people in the correct areas –

either sales/customer service or repair/service centre.

I designed and delivered training on up-sell and cross-sell opportunities all based on the

soft-sell approach and asking the right ‘open’ questions.

Communication of the business objectives and their impact on those working in the contact

centre was also a main priority; this helped to gain buy-in of the changes that were to be

made.

Empowering the advisers to be able to, where possible, solve the customers

complaint/enquiry was another objective that I introduced.

PHS Direct Sept 2005 to Aug 2006

Senior Contact Centre Manager reporting to the Managing Director

Interim role originally for 3 months - extended by PHS to 11 months

Responsible for-:

Developing the existing management team

Deliver training to managers on how to conduct 1:1’s aimed at

increasing performance of front-line staff.

Reviewing the current salary structure and changing culture/strategy.

Observe the current management team and develop their skills to

ensure maximum efficiency for sales and customer service came

from their teams.

Introducing a new recruitment programme

Responsible for 30 FTE

This was a blended call centre and I was responsible for delivering a complete change in

operational methods, culture and performance related salary. It was a requirement to ensure

that the existing teams were comfortable with the change and were prepared, through strong

communication on a team and 1-1 basis to embrace them. This needed a hands-on approach

on the call centre floor, coupled with people and team engagement. I helped to move the

contact centre to a new location, ensuring that there was no break in the service provided

and a contingency plan was in place for the potentially ‘unexpected’ event.

Freedom Finance Oct 2004 to Sept 2005

Operations Manager reporting to the Managing Director

Design and establish a new Outbound/Inbound Contact Centre

working to FSA rules

Design and agree all processes

Ensure a quick and efficient first class customer service was

delivered

Establish and agree SLA's and KPI's

Test, evaluate and change processes where required

Recruit contact centre staff

Responsible for 3 CCM's and 30 CCR's

Plan for future expansion to circa 120 agents

Manage the day to day running of the centre

Implement incentive schemes

Design and agree bonus schemes for all staff

I was given the opportunity to build a brand new contact centre from inception. With the

exception of finding the premises, my role was to encompass all aspects of contact centre

start-up, including design of the contact centre floor, technology used and the recruitment

process. I delivered the new contact centre within 5 months, this incorporated relocation,

against a target of 6 months. Once we were ‘live’ I then managed the contact centre on an

ongoing basis, developing the managers and holding 1-1’s on a weekly basis. Supporting

the managers, delivering the results and succession planning for the future expansion of the

contact centre.

Prolog Oct 1999 to Oct 2004

Contact Centre Manager reporting to Operations Director, responsible for: -

Day to day management of 300 seat contact centre

14.000 inbound and 2000 outbound calls per day (circa 3.5m per

year)

Resourcing, using seasonality trends

Operational and strategic planning of the department and call flow,

including forecasting for seasonal trends.

Delivering a world class customer service for the various ‘Blue Chip’

clients

Maintaining and improving SLA's & KPI's

Liaising regularly with external clients and stakeholders.

Ensuring a 'seamless' service for clients and customers that exceeds

board and customer expectations

My role encompassed all aspects of running a busy ‘outsourcer’ contact centre. We worked

for various ‘Blue Chip' companies that included the following industries-: Department of

Health, Department for Education and Skills, The Energy Saving Trust, Automotive

companies, Airlines, Travel and leisure operators, Financial Services and Retail

organisations, to name but a few.

I had various and differing KPI's and SLA's to achieve, from calls answered to talk time

and of course quality of customer service delivered, whilst reducing costs.

I achieved these through team building and 1:1 coaching of team leaders and agents and I

delivered an average of 90% of all calls answered in 10 seconds, this was an increase from

80% calls answered in 15 seconds, this helped to reduce costs and increased customer

satisfaction.

Planning the correct resource at the correct times along with improved training on handling

calls effectively was another driver to this success. The customer service score also

increased from good to excellent across those companies that measured this through

mystery shopping.

I delivered a major change when I took the contact centre to a 24/7/52 operation. This

involved engagement of contact centre managers and staff, coupled with discussing and

agreeing with the Directors a new salary structure for the late/evening shifts.

I set-up a ‘rising stars’ course for agents that wanted to become team leaders of the future.

This kind of initiative reduced the staff turnover from 35% to 12% and once again led to a

decrease in recruitment costs and ensured that valuable experience remained within the

contact centre.

I incorporated the handling of e-mail, fax and white mail, into the daily routine of the

agents, encompassing both orders and customer service communications.

From 1978 to 1999 I worked as a senior manager in the Financial Services industry

managing customer facing consultants dealing with all aspects of finance and insurance and

operating a £30m budget.

Interests

My main work interest is the continual development of both myself and my staff, gaining

knowledge about all aspects of the roles that interact with mine.

Outside of work my interests are Sport, Music, Dog Breeding (German Shepherds), and

Walking.

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