You might think the role of a Customer Happiness Executive seems pretty obvious; keeping our customers happy. Right? That's true, but there's also a lot more to it here at Marshmallow! We asked Tom 10 quick-fire questions about life in the Customer Operations team to find out how he's developed skills, and where he sees his career heading...
1. What team do you work on, and what’s the team’s overall goal?
I’m part of the Customer Operations (COps) team and I work in Customer Happiness. As you might have guessed, the Customer Happiness team is here to keep our customers happy. We try to provide a level of customer experience that stands above the rest of the insurance industry.
Marshmallow’s USP is all about providing an easier and friendlier experience for customers. So, it’s really rewarding to be the face of that customer promise and to make our customers’ lives simpler when they need help with their policy 💚
2. What does a typical day look like for you at Marshmallow?
Aside from the shift pattern, there isn’t really a typical day when it comes to live chats because conversations with customers often take so many different turns. And some queries can take days to unravel!
All of our customers' problems are unique - sometimes you’ll be escalating them with tech, or if someone is struggling with their documents you'll be talking to the verification team. You never know what topics you’ll be exploring.
Alongside live chats, everyone in the team has Focus Areas. Often, I work with the Claims team, looking at how we can improve our claims experience. I’m acting as the bridge between the customer side of claims and the operational side of claims which has opened up a lot of new opportunities for me 👫
3. What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve faced while working here? How did you overcome that?
Joining Marshmallow was quite a steep learning curve! You need to have a huge knowledge base working in customer relations because you’re answering a wide variety of questions. It can be difficult to get stuck-in right away as you’re constantly searching for the right answers.
The pace at Marshmallow is also very fast - we don’t want to leave customers waiting when they need us! So, we’re always switching between different customers, platforms and enquiries at speed. It’s all about mastering multitasking.
It can be hard to do so much context switching but you quickly get used to it. And it’s rewarding when the work starts to become natural to you, especially when you become an expert in certain areas. Now, people come to me for claims related questions which is great 🤓
4. What tools do you use on a daily basis to empower your work?
The main tool is our live chat platform Intercom. I work on that in my Focus Area too, thinking about news ways we can use Intercom to make customer experience even better.
The other tool we use a lot is our Agent Portal, which was built by our Efficiency team. It’s the home of Marshmallow policy and gives you all the info you need. The Efficiency team maintains it and are constantly making improvements to the Portal that make our jobs easier 💻
5. Looking back at your time at Marshmallow, what are you most proud of?
I’d probably say the working relationships that I’ve built here at Marshmallow. It’s great to have such like-minded and friendly people to work with!
On the professional side of things, I’m proud of how I’ve got to know people outside of my team on the tech-side of the business. Coming into the office and getting to know them in person has allowed me to explore new things. And working alongside the Claims team has given me lots of new challenges to take on 💪
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6. How have you developed your skills while at Marshmallow?
Marshmallow’s autonomous working environment means you can quickly develop your communication and leadership skills. For example, we have daily team meetings and everyone gets a chance to lead those.
For me, picking up Focus Areas has helped me to widen my skill set the most. I spend a lot of my Focus time managing the tagging of customer conversations and identifying patterns in the customer data which has really improved my analytical skills. Also, my Focus Areas have given me the chance to closely collaborate with other teams, and to take ownership of my own projects outside of my daily Customer Happiness work 👏
7. How do you see your career progressing at Marshmallow?
There are lots of ways that you can progress in Customer Operations. My main goal at the moment is to become a Specialist. As a Specialist, you still do live chats but you get more time to look into your Focus Area. It’s more of an expert role; you become a knowledge resource for Live Chat, you can lead squads if you want and you can help train people.
My manager Emily is fantastic and gives me clear guidance on how I can reach those higher levels. She pushes me in the right direction, saying things like: “Tom, you should lead this project or you should share this with the team.” She knows what motivates me and, most importantly, she knows how to help me reach my potential 🌟
8. Favourite Slack channel?
It has to be Cop-it-like-its-hot. It’s a fun, informal channel for Customer Operations. If a customer says something that brightens our day we share it in there, but we also share jokes with one another too. It’s a great place to informally chat and blow off steam 😆
9. Most-used emoji?
🙌 🙌 🙌
10. Favourite place to relax at lunch?
The rooftop is the best place to chill 100% - it has an amazing view over London! 😎
If you'd like to know about life at Marshmallow in our Customer Operations team, make sure to look at our jobs page here.
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