Heather Evans Email & Phone Number

United Kingdom

London, England, United Kingdom

On the Senior Management team & Head of Department. I also manage 5x Concierge teams across all regions, plus our Traveller Inspiration & Loyalty team, and look after the entire post-sales process.

London, England, United Kingdom

Managing a team in the travel industry during a pandemic is no joke. Thankfully, years of experience in travel prepares you for the unexpected. We work together to offer the sparkling service that Jacada clients deserve, and support each other at work, remotely and in person. My management style is to lead by example and empower team members to do their best work through coaching, encouraging each individual to thrive and work towards professional and personal success. We are all about feedback and viewing challenges as opportunities to learn.

London, United Kingdom

My role as Concierge developed considerably, but the principles remained the same.Every day I worked towards the goal of delighting and surprising Jacada clients and ensuring all our travellers felt they had a personal service and support of a knowledgable, competent, and enthusiastic concierge from the moment they booked the trip until after they returned home.Aside from admin, invoicing, balance payment responsibilities, and being traveller's main point of contact, I also arranged 'magic moments', making sure each trip has it's own unique and personalised 'special touch', which sets us apart from other tour operators and makes me proud to work for Jacada. Arranging these takes creativity, organisation and good teamwork. In 2019, I alone was responsible for over 60% of our magic moments, impressive since there were 8 concierges at the time. In May, one of our Travel Designers left, leaving me with a small portfolio of bookings. Although we introduced these clients to other TDs, naturally I became their sole point of contact. I am proud to say her clients were happy to rely on me and felt that I offered the Jacada service they had paid for. At the beginning of peak season in 2019, my fellow Concierge also left, leaving me with a huge portfolio of expectant clients and an unprecedented high-season workload. Just as we were discussing hiring Concierge #3, we went down just 1. I took on this challenge with positivity, enthusiasm and increased organisation. The summer went fantastically. Check out Jacada's TrustPilot reviews from Summer 2019 for more!As high season ended, we hired 2 Concierges. I found mentoring so rewarding. Despite not formally being in a senior role, I made sure they were being supported, challenged, and that we were harnessing their enthusiasm and knowledge to help the whole team. Amongst other things, this led to my promotion.

London, United Kingdom

This role taught me a lot about client complaints and how to handle them, skills I have used regularly throughout my career in the travel industry. I was often the most senior person present at Flight Centre High Street Kensington, a flagship branch. Responsibilities included: - Handling every aspect of client travel, requiring a confident phone and email manner, friendly professionalism viaLiveChat, and enthusiasm when dealing with walk-in enquiries.- Leading training, for example on sales, destination knowledge, client complaints and negotiation tactics.- I became the go-to person for daily challenges thanks to my calm manner under pressure and proactive attitude towards challenges, such as dealing with negative client feedback or difficult schedule changes, always one step ahead with a solution. In a retail environment, I had to think on my feet as an unhappy client could be sat at my desk or call out of the blue. - Motivating my team every month to hit the same KPIs. I was creative and came up with new strategies and new ways to inspire. It is important to understand what a person finds satisfying, eg. good feedback, commission, or the sense of ‘winning’, and use this to set a personal goal, while always working towards a shared goal. I enjoyed identifying strengths and potential for improvement within my team and working together to improve performance, bring out the best in people and encourage best practise.- My skill for writing and taking the appropriate tone was noted and my emails became templates for communications we send regularly to clients.- Aside from management duties, I was responsible for my clients’ accounts, overseeing the travel experience from conception to exemplary after-sales service and admiring holiday photos upon return. I built a great rapport with my clients and delivered consistent results, naturally generating a repeat client base.

London, United Kingdom

Working successfully towards high KPIs, my hard-working attitude was well-recognised in this position and I won the ‘Director’s Award for Real Service’ in October. I was also shortlisted for ‘Rookie of the Year Award’ later that year – both company-wide competitions. My position involved resourcing diverse candidates for European contracts, writing formal correspondence in a professional tone, and re-designing and proof-reading CVs. I spoke daily to high-profile international candidates, encouraging their excitement for a new role, and ensured efficient delivery to very tight deadlines. I enjoyed the fast-paced nature of recruitment - it is a high-intensity workplace with notoriously ambitious targets and employees, and I have learnt to keep calm, collected, and most importantly organised in a challenging environment. I am keen to put these multi-tasking, communication and organisational skills to use in the travel industry.Specialities: Contract Recruitment and Staffing within SAP and CRM

During my final year at University, I worked part-time as Reading’s on-campus brand ambassador. The senior team were exceptionally pleased with my work, and so they used me as a 'case study' to exemplify how a successful brand ambassador operated. My responsibilities ranged from:• Writing inspirational and engaging creative PR advertising current deals, ensuring I captured the right tone and aligned with current branding strategies. I was awarded bonuses for my successful efforts in PR.• Creating captivating visual merchandising and managing multiple social media accounts to raise the profile of the company. Updating online resources regularly, making sure everything was current and audience-appropriate.• Networking with relevant societies and sports teams, hosting popular and successful socials in order to promote STA, getting everyone excited about live sales and making sure people put their excitement into action.

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Picasso’s is TripAdvisor’s second best nightlife attraction in Siem Reap, so I was working to a very high standard. My responsibilities included:- Working professionally and sociably during shifts that often stretched over twelve hours without a break.- Managing money and balancing the register at end of trade (sometimes a challenge, as this would be in both Cambodian currency and American dollar, using a calculator and notebook rather than modern till technology).- Learning the skills of mixology and a few basic recipes for accompanying tapas.- Coming to terms with large cockroaches, smoking indoors, long hours for little pay, and other occupational hazards!During this time I also held a promotional sales position with Siem Reap Pub Crawl Cambodia, one of TripAdvisor’s best nightlife attractions, which involved daily promotion, maintaining friendly but professional relationships with local hostels and bar-owners, and supervising up to 100 tourists on a very lively pub crawl three times a week. I achieved top sales results within my first two weeks, thoroughly impressing my ex-pat superiors.I thoroughly enjoyed these roles and living in Siem Reap.

Reading, United Kingdom

My responsibilities included:- Assisting various customers with purchases, from young children to confused dads.- Advising customers with purchases, returns, and issues with their shopping experience, providing excellent customer satisfaction.- Cashing up, counting money and dealing with the float.- Restocking merchandise and arranging window displays to ensure we hit monthly targets specific to merchandise or footfall. Unfortunately my employment here was brief as this branch of Blott closed down.

Trowbridge, Wiltshire

My responsibilities included:- Interacting with customers and colleagues with a wide range of ages, backgrounds and special needs.- Mentoring new staff and assisting those with learning difficulties.- Advising and assisting customers with purchases, returns, and issues with their shopping experience, providing excellent customer satisfaction. I won several awards for customer service, perseverance with new trends, and impressive account card sales. I take pride in customer satisfaction in any role: listening skills and attention to detail are key.

Bachelor'S Degree, English Literature

Activities and Societies: Active member of the Travel Society (President), Feminism Society, English SocietyI absolutely loved my degree.

Education record

Activities and Societies: Volunteering in The Gambia, Creative Writers Club, Gifted and Talented Register,A-levels: English Literature.

English Literature

I studied abroad in Mississippi, USA for a semester in my second year at University, successfully completing modules in: - Greek and Roman.