What is your background and how did you get interested in Client Experience?

At university, I studied Psychology and Education and although I never committed fully to either of those fields, I have always been extremely interested in what you might call “the human experience” – why do we think what we do, how do we learn, why do we feel what we feel? 

My first ‘grown-up job’ was working with Services Australia (then known as Department of Social Security) seeing customers face-to-face about their income support needs. The job was confronting and sometimes quite stressful, but I am incredibly grateful that it gave me the opportunity to understand what I wanted to do with my life – make a positive difference in every customer contact. 

Since then, I have worked in insurance, telecommunications, retail, and call centres – getting a unique perspective and learning more with every role. 

I joined VIQ Solutions as a humble Client Relationship Manager in 2016 with responsibility for technology sales in a single Australian state. Since then, I am grateful for the opportunities to grow with evolving roles across the business, culminating in this role. 

What are your roles/responsibilities at VIQ?

My role is to have oversight of all customer contact points with our business. Every customer from individual one-time transcript requestors to our largest contracted customers will have an “experience” associated with VIQ Solutions and I help ensure that it is a positive one. 

The Client Experience team advocates for the needs of all our clients whilst balancing the needs of VIQ as a business – in practice, that means retaining detailed knowledge of each client and facilitating productive communications across the board. The goal is for our clients to continue having a continuous relationship with us over time. 

What do you enjoy most about working at VIQ Solutions?  

Without even the need to think about this one – it is the team. To be surrounded by such talented, committed, and creative colleagues is such a pleasure. All of us in this business rely on the efforts of the whole team to be successful in our individual roles and I love that energy – we are all in this together! 

What are you most proud of/most interesting project? 

Tender submissions and business proposal projects are always interesting to me – it is a wonderful way to learn about what we can offer as a business and how we can sustainably price our offerings to be competitive and attractive to new and existing clients. 

I am most proud of our next generation of Client Experience heroes – sharing my knowledge and experience to help the Contract Administrators manage complex client contracts is immensely rewarding and they are doing amazingly. 

What are your interests and/or hobbies outside of work? 

Outside of work I am a gardening maniac. It is my happy place. Aside from that I quite like going to odd music gigs, the beach on weekends and having dinner and drinks with friends.  

This year I would like to learn how to play the drums… Watch this space! 

What does outstanding Customer Experience mean to you? Why is it important? 

Absolutely foundational is that we listen to our customers and truly understand what they need from us, and why. When we take the time to hear other perspectives and demonstrate our understanding in words and actions, this is where productive relationships live. 

What do you believe sets our company apart from others in the industry? 

We are a technology-forward business in a sector which is traditionally dominated by “services.” Our clients want to know that we are working towards the future, and we demonstrate that every day. 

What do you believe sets our company apart from others in the industrWhat are your goals and aspirations for the future, both in your personal and professional life?

In my personal life, I have some travel plans for the upcoming next 18 months, which I am really excited about because COVID cancelled a whole lot of plans I had in 2021 for overseas adventuring…and more gardening! 

In my professional life, I am starting to be really interested in the idea of an “Experience Leader” – in this type of role the entire picture of the human experience is addressed – not just clients, but also colleagues, suppliers, shareholders, and everyone that encounters our business. It would be great to have a vision of how we make people feel part of what we stand for. 

Thank you for taking time to learn more about our client experience team.