Here is my 9 years journey in customer services!
9 years in the industry of customer service work is no easy feat. People can be difficult to handle, systems can be tricky to learn and even members of your team or managers may hold back your potential. Yet the process, if endured, can build character and create a strong willed character that will not be easily swayed.
My journey…
2016…I started in 2016 for a company called CHEP (a blue pallet company). In the beginning I was doing around 100 outbound calls a day! Yes, I lost my voice after a couple days and had to do emails until I recovered. It was this first job that I learned the role of multitasking – I would make calls, do emails and update the system simultaneously. It was a challenge that I endured for about 18 months until I was promoted and only required to make outbound calls. I worked in this place for about 4 years and then moved on.
2020… in the midst of a pandemic, I decided that enough was enough and I found another job. I worked another customer service role for a top global tech company. I worked with various systems (like SAP) made calls and handled back office tickets. I finally got a small break through when I became what they call “a floor walker” – basically I would call people who needed help (we worked from home) and guide them on how to do it. I took on that role but for no extra pay.
One day, about 18 months after I took on that job, just before Christmas 2022 – the project decided they did not want the English market. They sent me an email with the news but they didn’t even tell my manager! My manager was shocked and upset but could not do anything. So just before Christmas I lost my job.
2023… 5 months later, in May 2023, I found my next job. The recruiter said she was torn between me and someone else and it took a while for her to make a decision. I waited 5 days after the deadline, sent a few email before finally getting a response to say I got the job! I started a week later, spoke to a guy on the first day who is now one of my closest friends and settled in.
I worked for an insurance company now. A complex job that caused me a lot of headaches and stress, especially as I commuted 3 hours a day to and from the office. I excelled quickly in the project with my new work bestie, we created material and made the team more efficient. The input was not ignored by our manager who complimented our work. I hit top score on quality every month for 18 months and always helped my colleagues. Yet my wages were so bad that I spent all those 18 months having to use my credit card, it just wasn’t enough and I struggled.
Our company provides assessment days for career progression. It was in February 2024 that I passed my first assessment to be a business trainer, it was 10 months later that I finally got the offer! I was rescued by who I now know to be a great team leader.
Current day – so here I am today, working as a business trainer on my 6 month trial period. Learning so much every day and being part of a great team is what drives me forwards and gives me more motivation. I am now a trainer for a revolutionary electricity company and it’s great!
During this customer service journey I have been threatened, been shouted at, been called names and made to feel incompetent, had management overlook my potential and give promotions to others and at times I just wanted to throw in the towel and quit! But God had a plan, he was using all of the is to build me up as a person because He became my source of strength, my guide and my inspiration.
After all of this journey, I finally received recognition! It was at the late Christmas work party on the 18th January 2025 that I was called on the stage in front of about 1,500 people to receive the “championing our people” award….
Here’s a funny back story concerning this moment – my team manager informed me that someone from our team would win an award, to be honest my thought was it should be her for amazing management skills. Anyway, I was so desperate for the toilet during the award ceremony that I had to go. So I went and then because I had such a great view of the venue I took about a 10 second video of the place, oh and then I did pick up a drink on the way past the bar to the crowd by the stage. I could not hear the sound from the mic, but when I was at the bar I turned and saw my face on the big screen! I ran even while holding a drink. The quality manager was already on stage about to pick up the award on my behalf, then I huddled up the stairs, embarrassed to collect the award. I felt very ashamed and should have listened to my team manager! If I stayed around for just 5 minutes then I wouldn’t have missed the whole moment. Anyway, we can laugh about it now but at the time it was not so funny.
What’s the moral of all of these stories? Hard work always pays off in the end! If we give up, we could be just about to miss out on our big moment. God always has a plan! Sometimes we have to go through some trials before the triumph, but just don’t quit when the going gets tough! If I gave up, I would have only been recognised as the one who stopped trying. Hard work will pay off in the end! Perhaps not always with money, but certainly by other ways – good reputation is worth more than money and will eventually take you to higher places.
Proverbs 14:23 “All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.”
Colossians 3:23-24 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
Ps – if you do click the link for my TikTok channel below, you will see the latest video of the party. 🎉
Love and God bless
Deano
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