"For me, it’s all about giving brokers quick and easy – yet very meaningful – human interactions with us, whether that’s by phone or chat."
FR: What exactly does a senior operations manager do?
I essentially lead the team of experts who speak to our broker partners on a daily basis. Our collective goal is to make sure brokers come away from an interaction with us thinking, ‘wow, that was easy! I look forward to using Coventry again’.
FR: So how does your week typically start?
I attend a meeting with leaders from all around the business, where we essentially plan how we’re going to strike the perfect balance between product pricing and service performance over the week ahead. Our aim is to make sure we’re giving competitive rates to brokers and their clients, and exceptional service they can rely on. The two are on a very equal platform for us – our commitment to this can be seen by the advance notice we always aim to give brokers when we’re withdrawing products.
FR: Where does your day go from there?
Each day before we open for business, I sit down with my own management team to review and plan for the day ahead, fine tuning our game plan. I’m lucky because we have a great deal of expertise across our teams so rather like a game of chess, we can move our pieces across the board, placing them where we can achieve the biggest service benefit for brokers.
FR: What’s the biggest challenge in that?
Consistency – but while it’s our biggest challenge, it’s also our biggest priority. We want to be known for consistent excellent service. It’s at the heart of all we do. But we equally want to give excellent products to our broker partners. It’s a delicate balancing act between the two, which can be challenging to manage – but that’s exactly what I’m here for.
FR: And what’s your favourite part of the job?
I love being right there amongst the team, listening to calls and developing ideas that will ensure we keep building on our successes. We want to keep getting better and better at delivering the service we’re known for. After nearly 30 years at the Society, I’m still just as passionate about that as I’ve ever been!
FR: So what’s the key to excellent service?
For me, it’s all about giving brokers quick and easy – yet very meaningful – human interactions with us, whether that’s by phone or chat. We want them to get answers they can trust, while speaking to someone who’s genuinely interested in them. That’s why our team is full of helpful experts who just love to talk to brokers.
