- Seven years ago, I used my free time to make party props and went on to decorating small events as a hobby. In 2021 I pursued this hobby into a small business and today I am the proud founder and director of the company ‘Little Miracles Events LTD. By using my skills gained from over ten years of work experience and my knowledge gained from my Business Management degree course, what started as a hobby has grown to become a successful business with over 100 events designed and styled by me in the last year. I solely cover all aspects of the business, such as bookkeeping, production, hospitality, social media marketing, marketing communications, social networking, accounts, completing legal requirements and ensuring correct safety measures are taken on all aspects of the business, budgeting, administrative work and meetings with clients. Little Miracles currently consists of a team of five, whom I manage and train to further the success of the business.

As an essential banker, I was one of the first faces a customer would meet in the branch when on the bank floor; providing customers with the correct information, booking appointments, assisting with all day-to-day banking and ensuring all security protocols are adhered to whilst accessing customer accounts were all fundamental skills gained from this role. Whilst on the bank floor it was essential to know how to use an iPad to book appointments and carry out basic tasks such as order replacement bank cards or update personal details whereas working on the desk required more in-depth knowledge to access customers’ accounts and carry out secure transactions following strong security measures. customer service and problem solving were the key factors to this role. Each customer requires the best service whilst trying to successfully resolve their banking problems, including assisting with online banking services and for this I ensured I have high communication skills.

As an office co-ordinator my job was to be responsible for the smooth running of the office, by managing office communications and facilitate key tasks as well as coordinating team meetings. The skills which I gained from this role include; SchedulingOrganizingRecord-keepingMonitoring progressTracking paperworkUpdating team members and partnersManaging information flow

Having had over two years of experience in this company and the sales industry I was listed as one of the star employees from the first month. Since i had a couple of years gap from EE working in different companies, I had some catching up to do with company policies, compliance and system changes. However, this did not take any longer than 2 shift to train myself on. I like to be independant where I can, so i started my shifts an hour early to train myself on the new system and to revise the up to date compliance and policies. This job role required me to assist new and existing customers, aiming to exceed customer satisfaction through providing high level of customer service. It is very important to provide accurate and up to date information and to collect the sufficient documents from customers for compliance purposes to gain customer trust and satisfaction. I keep on track with the amount of time i spend with each customer, based on their requirements. To do so i find out the needs of the customer and give them options based on the information they have given, me to provide the product most suitable for their needs.

Following on from working at Everything Everywhere (EE) I felt the need to experience the same role in a different environment and business to gain further experience before I graduate. Working at Vodafone made me see a different side to sales, it was a busy store with an inferior number of staff. This meant having additional responsibilities such as shop floor management, opening; running and closing store occasionally with just two members of staff. Changing POS, checking compliance and all paper work from previous days and most importantly making sales and achieving targets. Customers are the key players to this role, providing customers with what is right for them and gaining customer satisfaction was a key focus.

Sales and customer service are the key roles to this job and I enjoy the challenges when I am on role. By the 2nd month of starting this job I hit my targets and was nominated as the ‘Best’ employee. Once I started achieving my weekly targets continuously I applied to work at a busier store in Central London where I continued to perform at my highest. The importance of sales is to speak friendly and collect information from the customer by asking suitable questions to find out how I can be of assistance to them. Working in customer service has allowed me to develop my problem solving skills, as it is often necessary to think outside the box and expect the unexpected. Customers often approach me with varying levels of problems, for example some may not be satisfied with the level of customer service received whereas others may have a technical issue with a product. It is essential to find the most appropriate solution for all parties: substandard customer service can often be resolved with an apology and the awarding of vouchers whereas a technical issue would need to be resolved by determining whether a product can be fixed in store and if not offering the customer a replacement or another product that may be more suitable. I aim to exceed customer’s expectations through excellent customer service level because gaining and maintaining customers is very important for the success of a business.

During the six months of working as a customer service agent I have developed my customer service and problem solving skills. I have learnt to deal with customers under pressure and am able to manage customers under various situations. I was able to keep my average call handling time and production time within the required percentage. As well as being a customer service agent, I was also given tasks to convince customers to purchase new policies or upgrade existing policies (Sales through service) and I was always above target. The 6 months of working at Callbritannia boosted my confidence and provided me with great experience.