A COO; with 20 years experience in telco across the UK and South Africa, in largely customer facing environments on functions such as sales, service and operations. An analytical and strategic thinker, Richard is a creative problem solver with an ability to switch between both right brain and left brain thinking. He is a team player and collaborator, adept at finding balanced solutions to complex problems.
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Vice President OperationsAscensosCape Town, Wc, Za -
Chief Operating OfficerC-Connect Nov 2023 - Present -
Coo - Sa DomesticSigma Connected Group Aug 2021 - Nov 2023Birmingham, England, Gb- Senior Operational Leader for multi-site, domestic focused Sigma Connected SA, part of the award winning Sigma Connected Group;- Responsible for managing, developing, and implementing strategic plans to improve the operational efficiency and profitability of all cross functional campaigns for Sigma Connected SA; - Responsible for direction, management, and evaluation of all day to day operations to ensure the achievement of budgets, organisational effectiveness, client satisfaction and legal compliance;- Oversee implementation and management of key policies within the business;- Management of key relationships with clients / vendors;- Manage and negotiate key contracts and SLAs with clients / vendors;- Manage the recruitment, training and scheduling of all people resource;- Ensure the business operates smoothly and efficiently and in line with budgets on people and technology resource;- Build, manage and measure performance plans;- Design, evaluate and implement reward and recognition schemes -
Chief Executive OfficerIsmart (Pty) Ltd Jun 2020 - Apr 2022- Responsible for overall success of the organization and delivery against annual budget;- Led transition of team from telecommunications to BPO sector over a 2 year period;- Design and develop strategy for business improvement and growth;- Lead business in key decision making around expenditure, policies and process change;- Continually evaluate and assess strategies in line with business performance;- Advise and make recommendations on key operational or strategic matters to BOD;- Develop, foster, maintain and review key and strategic relationships with stakeholders;- Identify and manage organizational processes and targets for optimisation;- Align and develop the Company’s competencies and skills continuously;- Oversee that the appropriate systems and controls are in place to manage resources and assets.- Oversee that effective systems are in place to effectively access and contribute information through-out the Company.- Build capacity within the Company to fulfil its mandates and roles through effective staff management and development;- Monitor business best practice internally and externally to the Company and implement appropriate practices across all functions.
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Chief Operating OfficerSmartmobile Oct 2011 - Jun 2020In• Responsible for the direction, development and operational performance of all customer related activities and teams for SmartMobile, an on-biller and MVNO within the South African cellular industry;• Have led cross-functional teams of up to 300 indirect reports, across sales, quality control, customer service, collections and supplier management within our own consumer business, as well as BPO;• Strategic improvement of contact centre operational performance in cross functional environment;• Provision of tactical leadership to my management team, in relation to business objectives, up-skilling and development of employees, improvement in process and efficiencies;• Management of outsourced service providers, suppliers and partners;• Responsible for business unit financial performance;• Key responsibility in the collection of all customer debit order payments on a monthly basis, managing a growing book of over 50,000 customers;• Key contributor in the set up, growth, maintenance and strategic direction of South Africa's leading post paid cellular provider, to the lower LSM market;• Manage and maintain monthly budgets in line with targets and performance;• Design, manage and monitor incentive schemes and motivational programmes to improve employee performance and outputs;• Implement and manage benchmarks for optimal service delivery;• Responsible for management of all human capital engagement processes, including recruitment, training, coaching, performance management, conflict resolution, recruitment and development of employees;• Delegate workload, manage workflow and work with team managers to deal with complex personnel or operational performance issues;• Manage change within a fast paced, ever changing market and organization;• Drive and implement key strategies for process improvement;• Design and initiate customer contact strategies for improved customer relationship management, service delivery and loyalty/retention. -
Offshore Sales And Compliance ManagerCarphone Warehouse Apr 2010 - Oct 2011• Managed off-shore, outsourced client relationship on all sales, quality and compliance operations of up to 150 sales agents and 12 team managers;• Influenced improvement in performance on FSA regulated insurance compliance, reduction of customer complaints and improvement of customer satisfaction scores via NPS;• Responsible for communication of customer strategy, key customer values, fundamental rules and business vision;• Supported outsourced Contact Centre Manager with the development and up-skilling of team managers and agents;• Mentored, coached and trained outsourced Quality and Compliance Manager to sustained improvement in business performance;• Achieved key objectives in relation to quality within 6 months of arriving on-site;• Participated in quarterly business leadership meetings with Senior Management.
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Branch ManagerCarphone Warehouse Jul 2006 - Apr 2010• Managed all customer, sales and operational activities at one of Scotland’s largest stores within Europe’s largest cellular retailer;• Managed all relations with up to 15 team members, including motivation, performance management, absenteeism management, career growth plans, on-boarding and training;• Responsible for managing P&L of store, delivery of high customer satisfaction scores via NPS, as well as motivating team to meet and exceed both financial and quality and stock control targets; • Trained regional team of 200 management and store colleagues on Customer Journey sales process, relating to the exceptional delivery of sales customer service;• Responsible for regional role within “People” team. Coordinated recruitment, FTE scheduling, absence management. Improved regional employee engagement scores of up to 200 management and store colleagues.• Elected chairperson of Retail Employee Forum, representing 10,000 + employees across the UK
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Sales ConsultantCarphone Warehouse Aug 2004 - Jul 2006• Responsible for delivering excellent customer service standards;• Recipient of 3 100% “Solve” scores;• Merchandising of store, stock rotation and management;• Quality and compliance procedures;• Meet and exceed individual sales targets;• Drove and motivated regional TalkTalk sales between May 2005 and September 2006.
Richard Anderson Education Details
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Heriot-Watt UniversityInternational Business And Languages (French And Spanish) -
Portadown CollegeA-Levels
Frequently Asked Questions about Richard Anderson
What company does Richard Anderson work for?
Richard Anderson works for Ascensos
What is Richard Anderson's role at the current company?
Richard Anderson's current role is Vice President Operations.
What schools did Richard Anderson attend?
Richard Anderson attended Heriot-Watt University, Portadown College.
Who are Richard Anderson's colleagues?
Richard Anderson's colleagues are Yonela Smanga, Xolelwa Hlakula, Jordan Mohan, Garry Mackenzie, Christine Quigley, Shehaam De Jongh, Nicole Stuurman.
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