A day in the life of an Customer Services Adviser

Stephanie Phillips

My name is Stephanie Phillips. I am a Customer Service Adviser and work in the Customer Service Centre at East Devon District Council. I have worked for the Council in this role for 6 months.

I started working for East Devon District Council on a part time basis 10 -2 but now work as a full time customer advisor. I am 21 years old and go by the name of Steph!!

Before working for East Devon District Council I was training to become a nurse specialising with adults with Plymouth University. I had been training for two years. The further I went into my nursing career, the more I knew it was not the right path for me. My expectation for nursing was hands on care. I wanted to be on a one to one basis with the patients. But it was steering so much away from that, and further into paper work and having to document all aspects of care without actually providing the care myself.

My passion is people and providing excellent service for all people. A part time job become available in the customer service centre which I saw on the internet, and thought it would it would fulfil my expectations. My expectation of becoming a Customer Service provider was that the role would involve direct customer contact and paper work - I wasn’t disappointed.

I was successful in getting the part time job working 10-2 Monday to Friday. I started work on the 7th January 2008. I trained with one of the most experienced members of the team. I started by listening to all calls and after a couple of days I was on the phone, firstly with my colleague listening to me and then I was flying solo. I would always check with my colleagues before giving out information to make sure it was all correct. I wanted to gather as much information as possible and gain the knowledge as quickly as I could.

The calls are extremely varied! The categories are street scene, planning, bus pass, street name and numbering, democratic services, dogs and pests and policy. We also have to do admin on a regular basis, which includes emails, voicemails and returns from our lagan system, taking the post and sending planning applications out to the general public. Last but not least taking calls on the main switchboard.

Our focus is to exceed customer excellence! We will prioritise our service to the customer we have on the phone, and not rush them. The customer service centre consists of 12 advisors, 1 team leader and 1 manager. We work extremely well as a team and I feel we compliment each other, especially when we have complicated calls or a distressed customers. We do have targets in the CSC but will not lack in customer service just to hit the targets.

I applied for the full time post mid April and was successful in securing the post. I felt extremely privileged as I was going up against a lot of other applicants. I now work Monday to Friday 8.30-5.00. I am very happy with the decision I made in my career and look forward to the future with EDDC.

Good Luck in your chosen career!!

Page last updated on 7 November 2008